Episodes Nearest to September 16, 1797: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The Moral Question of Slavery
    date September 16, 1797map Chatham, Georgiatags trade, evil, Economy, Slavery

    During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, America saw a rapid expansion economically and politically. Cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, and wheat were cultivated on large plantations that saw tremendous profits. A large amount of cheap labor was essential to producing these profits. This cheap labor came in the form of slavery, and it allowed an immense amount of work to be done without...

  2. Creek Trouble With Americanization
    date 1797map Southwest Territory, Southwest Territorytags Creeks, Crime/Violence

    A letter from Tennessee Governor John Sevier from 1797 emphasizes the tension between the Cherokee nation and white settlers. We begin to see retaliation from the Cherokee people who have become untrusting of White people. The attempt of whites to gain a sense of trust from the Cherokees is also evident.

    The Cherokees were very protective of their tribal lands, and after the...

  3. The accomplishment of a free Black
    date 1798map Suffolk, New Yorktags Slave, Freed Slaves

    Venture Smith, given black's social status in America, knew that his freedom was a privilege and not a right. Venture Smith was always trying to help the African American population, especially buy purchasing other slave's freedom. The first slaves venture smith purchased were his two sons, Solomon and Cuff, which cost him four hundred dollars. Venture Smith made his money by working on...

  4. Smells Like Sailor Spirit: The Angst of the Early American Sailors
    date August 5, 1796map Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniatags Sailors, Seafarers, American Sailors

    On August 5th 1796, a man by the name John Rego went to the Collector of the District of Pennsylvania and received his seaman’s protection certificate. This certificate is signed by the collector of the district, Sharp Delany.  The document describes that John is thirty seven years old and five feet seven inches tall. This paper states that John is an American citizen and that he was born in...

  5. The New England Illuminati and late 18th Century Conspiracy Theory
    date 1799map Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniatags Religion, illuminati, secret society, Conspiracy Theory

    In Reverend John Ogden’s pamphlet, he described the Bavarian Illuminati as secret organization obsessed with destroying and undermining religion and government in the United States prior to the nineteenth century. Throughout the course of the late eighteenth century the very powerful and rich, who were extensions of the individuals in Europe, met monthly as members of “the secret Clergy.”

    According...

  6. Nutritional Effects on Teeth
    date 1795map Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniatags nutrition, dentistry, Health

    As wars were breaking out in Europe during 1795, Issac Weld was sent over from Ireland to explore America and observe whether it was truly a land of “flourishing and happy condition”.  The Irish were curious whether in times of desperation they would be able to flee to America as a place of refuge.

    During his travels Weld visited Philadelphia, where tooth decay among the residents became...

  7. Opposition to the Slave-Trade
    date February 9, 1795map Wake, North Carolinatags Importation, Slavery, Slave Trade

    "By the gentleman just arrived from Raleigh, the seat of government in North Carolina, We learn that the assembly of that state have passed a law to prohibit further importation of slaves into that state, either by land or sea, from any part of the world." This strong statement described North Carolina's bill banning the importation of slaves into the state. Slaves in North Carolina worked hard...

  8. African American Families in the 18th Century
    date 1800map Montgomery, Kentuckytags Marriage, African-Americans

    In many states in the United States, African –American marriages were not legal. Since African Americans weren’t perceived the same as Whites they weren’t allowed the same rights. But marriage was a cycle of life it was scared ad honorable. This of course wasn’t ethically right, but Blacks were considered to be inferior to the Whites so they didn’t have control of the situation in the...

  9. Chemicals in the Cure-All Medicines
    date 1800map Essex, Massachusettstags Medicine, Medicine/Health

    During the 1800s numerous patent medicines were on the market to “treat” a wide range of diseases and symptoms. There were treatments for excess fat, curing female ailments, anti-pain meds and treating the common cold. Someone even made a pill for pale people. These patent medicines came in all forms; extracts, elixirs, pills, wafers, etc. The most popular of these patent medicines was Lydia...

  10. The Boston Tea Party: A Turning Point in a Revolution
    date December 16, 1790map Suffolk, Massachusettstags Boston Tea Party, Revolution

    On December 16, 1773 during one of the most important times of the Revolution, George Hewes describes “dressing] ... in costume of an Indian” and “arrived[ing] at the wharf” in Boston harbor along with about sixty other civilians.  He and his fellow Patriots began to throw the tea overboard from boats in the harbor.  This totaled about 340 chests.  While the tea was falling into the...

  11. Letter from John Jacob Astor to his merchant, Peter Smith, regarding the fur trade.
    date November 2, 1790map Albany, New Yorktags fur trade, Astor, Economy

    John Jacob Astor was America’s first multimillionaire. Mr. Astor, German born, moved to the United States in 1784. Shortly after, he began his commercial career in fur trafficking. Mr. Astor, a keen businessman, recognized early on the possibilities of immense fortune in both furs and peltries. The rich peltries of the North had been pursued by the early traders. The Indians had little knowledge...

  12. The advancement in African American rights due to the 1st Rhode Island regiment's successful defense of Major General John Sullivan's unit in the battle of Newport, Rhode Island.
    date August 29, 1790map Newport, Rhode Islandtags Revolutionary War, 1st Rhode Island Regiment, General John Sullivan

    In Major General John Sullivan’s letter to George Washington, Commander in chief of the Continental Army, he explains how both the dwindling size of his force and the great numbers of the British justify his necessary retreat from Newport, Rhode Island, where the British were rapidly approaching.  He continues, however, by praising the skillful tactics and
    brave stand the 1st...

  13. Language and Warfare of the Adirondacks and Five Nations
    date April 16, 1790 to December 1, 1790map Ontario, New Yorktags Native Americans, Journal, Five Tribes, French

    European settlers and the Native American tribes had always had barriers that prevented them from fully understanding each other. In 1768, a man named John Long had started keeping a journal where he planned to record the customs and languages of the various tribes across the land that would become the United States. By taking on this task, Americans and the Native tribes would be able to communicate...

  14. A Day in the Museum: A Review of the Philadelphia Museum
    date November, 1804tags Arts/Leisure

    Birds, mammals, fossils, insects, skeletons, paintings; all of these objects could be gazed upon with wonder within C.W. Peale's Philadelphia Museum of 1804. The Museum was one of the first of its kind and had been founded in 1785. Through a series of seven different rooms, a visitor was greeted with hours of entertainment and knowledge. By entering the "Long Room," one was dazzled by hundreds...

  15. General Sullivan’s Campaign Against Western Indians
    date June, 1790 to August, 1790map Ontario, New Yorktags Indian Removal, Westward Expansion, General John Sullivan, Iroquois Indians

    In the late months of 1778 General John Sullivan of Washington’s army began his long excursion up the eastern coast with one simple goal in mind: to conquer as much land as possible.   Sullivan’s expedition, known as “the Campaign against Western Indians,” was one of the first campaigns in a long serious of Indian Removal actions  culminating in the  official policy of President Andrew...

  16. The 1805 Constitution of Haiti: More Than a Declaration of Independence
    date July 15, 1805map Latin America, Outside UStags Constitution of 1805, Haiti

    The 1805 Constitution of Hayti (Haiti) restructured the civil liberties of the people, defined the government’s role, and provided the foundation for equality and sovereignty to a subjugated people self-determined to form social-autonomy. “Published in The New York Evening Post, on July 15, 1805 Haiti’s constitution illustrated a unique type of liberation”. To the once enslaved...

  17. Developing A Vaccination
    date February 16, 1808map Charleston, South Carolinatags vaccine, Medicine

    In a letter dated February 16, 1808, David Ramsay, a Charleston physician, discussed the grant money that was given to Dr. Edward Jenner for research on vaccinations.  Ramsay outlined why the money was funded to Dr. Jenner and what had led to the grant. He wrote to tell how a committee of physicians had met in England to discuss the efficacy of the smallpox vaccine. According to Ramsay, “the...

  18. DeWitt Clinton Explores Possible Canal Route
    date August 5, 1810map NIAGRA, New Yorktags Erie Canal, Agriculture, Transportation/Migration, Economy

    In 1810 a group of government officials were sent out to explore and navigate a route for an artificial canal between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. Among the group commissioned to take this journey was DeWitt Clinton, who was the mayor of New York City for many years prior to this exploration. Along this journey Clinton kept a personal diary in which he documented all aspects of the land that...

  19. Southern Marriage
    date August 22, 1811map HENRICO, Virginiatags Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    Benjamin Rawlings prepared eagerly for his wedding day. His brother James, concerned for Benjamin's future, wrote to him to give some pre-marital advice. In the early nineteenth century south, young marriage was encouraged. James, though a bachelor, spoke highly of marrying young, as a friend once told him, "temper and habits of the young are not come so still and uncomplying as when more...

  20. Tecumseh's Indian Unification Crusade
    date November 1, 1811 to January 31, 1812map WISCONSIN, Wisconsintags Tecumseh, Native-Americans, Indian Removal Act of 1830

    Through the autumn and winter of 1811 and into 1812, Shawnee leader Tecumseh had been on a whirlwind tour to speak to several Indian tribes. From the Eastern Seaboard, to the Old Northwest, to the Southeast, to Canada, Tecumseh sought to convince all Indian tribes to unify against the growing white intrusion into Indian lands. With a fervor born of desperation and necessity, Tecumseh addressed the...

  21. Argentina’sAnthem Reflects Spanish Past
    date May 11, 1813map Latin America, Outside UStags Latin America, National Anthem, Argentina's Anthem

    “Mortals! Hear the sacred cry: ‘Freedom, freedom, freedom!’ Hear the noise of broken chains, see the noble Equality enthroned.” The opening lines of Argentina’s national anthem, indicates the country’s citizen-driven political struggle for equality. Adopted on May 11, 1813, known as the Himno Nacional Argentino, the anthem becomes a siren for political independence...

  22. News of the Massacre of Fort Mims Reaches Nashville
    date September 18, 1813 to September 19, 1813map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Migration/Transportation, War

    Samuel Mims had built a fort not far from Mobile, a part of Mississippi Territory. On August 30, 1813, the commandant of the Fort wrote to Governor Claiborne that the fort was impregnable because it was protected in a very good way. However, the same day, some Red Sticks (the English term for a faction of Creek Indians who led a resistance movement which culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War...

  23. A Change in Feminine Duties
    date 1814map SUMTER, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    A letter from Mrs. Harriet Lucas Huger to her friend Mrs. William Lowndes reveals three things: one, that she had a lot of extra leisure time; two, that she had a sick father about whom she was concerned; and three, that she did not like the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Though her concern for her father's ill health was quite natural, it was quite surprising to learn of her distaste for...

  24. The Kingsley Plantation
    date March 7, 1814 to March 5, 1815map Florida, Floridatags plantation, Zephaniah Kingsley

    In the early years of the nineteenth century many people came to Spanish Florida. Some were forced to come to Florida to work on plantations and others like Zephaniah Kingsley sought to make their own fortunes by obtaining land and establishing those plantations. During this time alliances and politics were shifting and though some of the enslaved would later become free landowners, they had to...

  25. Andrew Jacksons Ironic Relationship with the Indians
    date October 25, 1814 to November 14, 1814map Florida, Floridatags Native-Americans, War

    On October 25, 1814, General Andrew Jackson and over 4,000 troops, including 750 Choctaw and Chickasaw allies set out for Pensacola. Finally reaching the fort on November 6, 1814, Jackson sent a surrender demand to Spanish Governor Gonzalez Manrique, but British marines opened fire on Jackson's army. Jackson next called for an immediate British evacuation of Pensacola. The Spanish governor refused...