Episodes Nearest to December 1, 1820 to December 31, 1820: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Cowford (Jacksonville) Formally Becomes US Territory
    date December, 1820map INDIAN LANDS, Georgiatags Agriculture, Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Following the War of 1812, Isaiah D. Hart was living on a farm near the St. Mary's River in Florida. Learning of the early successes of some small stores opened by white settlers near the Ferry Crossing on the St. John's River, Hart envisioned great potential for the area. Making perhaps the most profitable decision of his life, in late 1820 Hart purchased what was then known as Cowford...

  2. Alabama Legislature Charters State University
    date December 18, 1820map CAHAWBA(BIBB), Alabamatags Education

    A year before Alabama was admitted to the Union as a state on March 2, 1819, the federal government authorized a grant for the territory to set aside land for a “seminary of learning.' With the addition of Alabama as a state came a second township of the grant. This seminary was officially established by the General Assembly of Alabama on December 18, 1820, when Tuscaloosa was the state...

  3. Essex: Starvation and Survival
    date November 20, 1820 to February 23, 1821map NANTUCKET, Massachusettstags whaling, Nantucket, cannibalism, Essex

    As the sun sank toward the horizon, the empty, blue enormity of the Pacific washed over three small whale boats. The Essex had sailed from Nantucket a year ago, scouring two oceans for the whale oil that drove the island’s economy.  On November 20, 1820, the ship was 2000 miles west of South America, over 1200 miles from the nearest island. That day, an eighty-ton sperm whale escaped...

  4. Ratification of the First Treaty of Indian Springs
    date January 8, 1821tags Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    Prior to the early 18th Century, most of Georgia was home to American Indians belonging to two groups of Native-Americans; the Cherokee Nation and a southeastern alliance known as the Creek Confederacy. The First Treaty of Indian Springs marks Georgia's first of many governmental and territorial struggles with its Native American population. The provisions of the treaty gave the U.S. government...

  5. Choctaw Treaty of 1820
    date October 18, 1820 to December 23, 1820map INDIAN LANDS, Mississippitags Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    The United States, represented by Generals Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hinds, negotiated at Doak's Stand with “Mingoes,' or head men and warriors of the Choctaw nation, over land. The United States hoped to expand white settlement specifically in Mississippi, the Choctaw homeland. In return for the Choctaw land, President Monroe agreed to a cession of about one-fifth of the state of...

  6. Sale of Thomas Blackwell's Estate
    date January 11, 1821map HENRICO, Virginiatags African-Americans, Health/Death, Slavery

    The Richmond Enquirer, the leading newspaper in Richmond, Virginia during the first half of the nineteenth century posted a notice from W. D. Wren, the executer of Thomas Blackwell's estate, about the sale off this estate to take place on January 15, 1821 (or the next fair day). The sale consisted of all household and kitchen furniture as well as horses several negroes. All items were...

  7. First Meeting of the Alabama State Legislature
    date November, 1820map CAHAWBA(BIBB), Alabamatags Economy

    After being admitted to the Union in 1819 as the 22nd state, the Alabama state legislature convened for the first time in the fall of 1820. The initial order of business was to arrange memorials for the deceased Governor Bibb and instate his younger brother, Thomas, to serve out the remaining eighteen months of the term. The focus of the first assembly was primarily financial, because with the...

  8. Territorial Capital of Mississippi Established at Jackson
    date January, 1821tags Race-Relations, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    The site of the city, a trading post known as Le Fleur's Bluff near the Natchez Trace, is located on the west bank of the Pearl River thirty-five miles southwest of the geographical center of Mississippi, and was originally owned and inhabited by the Choctaw Indians. The Choctaw were the largest tribe found in the region and their lands stretched throughout western Alabama and southern Mississippi....

  9. Mexico Permits First Anglo Settlement in Spanish Texas
    date January 17, 1821tags Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Moses Austin, originally a Connecticut merchant, migrated throughout the U.S. States and western territories developing the lead industry. After coming into economic ruin after settling in Missouri, he set his sights on economic expansion in Spanish Texas, and became the first man to obtain permission to bring Anglo-American settlers into the foreign territory. Permission was granted for the settlement...

  10. The Brig Nautius Sets Sail for African Colony
    date January 23, 1821map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    The Brig Nautius captained by a Capt. Blair sailed from the port of Norfolk on the morning of Tuesday January 23, 1821. The vessel was bound for the coast of Africa, and carried on board a number of free blacks seeking (or having sought for them) a new life in the African colony, which would later be termed Liberia. Aboard were also a number of clergy from varying denominations ranging from Methodist...

  11. The Proclaimed Truth behind the Erie Canal
    date February 7, 1821map ONTARIO, New Yorktags Robert Troup, DeWitt Clinton, Philip Schuyler, Elkanah Watson, Internal Improvements, Public Works, Lake Canal Policy, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Market Revolution, Erie Canal

    On February 7, 1821, an article in the Geneva Palladium attempted to vindicate the claims of the progenitor of the Erie Canal.  The author of the article claimed that while DeWitt Clinton was often credited with the creation of the Erie Canal, Philip Schuyler and Elkanah Watson are in fact the true progenitors of this magnificent waterway.  With the help of Robert Troup’s pamphlet published...

  12. Spain Officially Cedes Florida to the United States/ Ratification of the Adams-Onis Treaty
    date February 19, 1821map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Beginning in 1818, President Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson to Spanish Florida to subdue the Seminole Indians, who were raiding American settlements. Liberally interpreting his ambiguous instructions, Jackson led his troops deep into areas of Florida under Spanish control, capturing two Spanish forts. Because Florida held the potential of becoming a new slave state, southern congressmen eagerly...

  13. Runaway Slaves
    date October 10, 1820map FAIRFAX, Virginiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    One of the worse things that could happen to a slaveholder was to have one of their slaves run away. They ran away for many reasons. They suffered from the brutal treatment of their master. They sought to be reunited with relatives or friends that lived in the North. They could run away just to experience the taste of freedom that had been stripped away from them. Most slave holders posted news...

  14. Second Inaugural Address of President James Monroe
    date March 5, 1821map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    America's fifth president, James Monroe, was a lawyer from the state of Virginia belonging to the Democratic - Republican Party, and served as president from 1817 to 1825. His presidency encompassed what came to be called the “Era of Good Feelings.' The largest political crisis Monroe faced while in office came toward the end of his first term, when the question of slavery shrouding...

  15. South Carolina State Lottery Drawing
    date March 8, 1821map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Economy, Education

    Betting during the earlier decades of the nineteenth century was remarkably more popular among southern citizens than among citizens of the northern states. Although forms of gambling were less common up north, it was a prevalent facet of southern society in 1821. While New Orleans proved to be the major gambling center in the south, even rural South Carolinians were likely to bet on cards, dice,...

  16. The Huger House Fire in Clermont, South Carolina
    date March 17, 1821map SUMTER, South Carolinatags Health/Death, Slavery, Women

    On March 17, 1821, a woman named Harriet Lucas Huger penned an affectionate letter to her aunt, Mrs. Harriott Horry, thanking her for expressing concern over the family's well-being. Just days earlier, a catastrophic fire had destroyed the Huger's plantation home in Clermont, South Carolina; upon finding this out, Mrs. Horry had written a letter to her niece to ensure the Huger family's...

  17. The Portsmouth Fire of 1821
    date March 21, 1821map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags Economy, Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    At around 2:45 a.m. on the morning of Wed., March 21, 1821, a fire broke out in the kitchen of a vacant tenement on the corner of Main and Market Streets in Portsmouth, Virginia. The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald of Friday, March 23 reported that owing to the violence of the wind, which was blowing at the time a perfect gale from S. S. W., and the combustible nature of the buildings, the...

  18. Initial State Elections of Missouri
    date August 28, 1820map ST LOUIS, Missouritags Law

    Missouri's first state elections were scheduled to choose a governor, a lieutenant governor, Congressional representative, and membership of both houses of the General Assembly. Following the contemporary national pattern during the 1820s' “Era of Good Feelings,' Missouri did not have opposing political parties. Virtually all adult, white males were Republicans, but the most powerful...

  19. A Shocking Scene
    date August 12, 1820map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Women

    The passengers of the steamship Virginia witnessed a shocking scene on the afternoon of August 12, 1820. In fact, the scene was so unnerving and immoral that one passenger decided to write a letter to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald to express his disgust. The episode began when the steamship happened upon a small boat while traveling up the river near Fort Norfolk. Hearing cries...

  20. Mills and the Woolen Industry
    date May 11, 1821 to May 12, 1821map HENRICO, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy

    M.H. Rice posted an advertisement in The Richmond Enquirer titled Wool Wanted. Rice claimed that cash will be paid for good, clean wool. In the expanding population of the early nineteenth century the demand for woolen cloth kept well ahead of its productive capacity. In response to the increased demand for wool, a boom in mill construction occurred across America. According to...

  21. A Request from the American Colonization Society
    date July 7, 1820map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Government, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On July 7, 1820, the American Colonization Society took out an advertisement in the Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald. The ad, which was actually more of an announcement, concerned the need for equipment, tools, food, and other supplies by the colonists whom the Society sponsored. These colonists were free African Americans who had volunteered to set up a black colony on the west coast of the...

  22. Van Buren and Reservation in the South
    date 1820map HANOVER, Virginiatags Politics

    Martin Van Buren, a Democrat from New York and Vice President to Southerner Andrew Jackson was a questionable figure in the nineteenth- century South. His motives and ideas were unclear and not exactly in-line with everything that the South stood for during this time. He voted for Free Negro Suffrage; the South could not place a finger on the reasons behind his vote, resulting in an unstable opinion...

  23. Grundy and McMinn and the New Bank of the State of Tennessee
    date 1820map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Economy

    In 1820, Joseph McMinn, a farmer, state legislator, Indian agent, and governor, and Felix Grundy, a Congressman, U.S. Senator and Nashville Democrat leader, suggested to create a New Bank of the State of Tennessee; it was the central feature of his program while he was candidate for a seat in the state senate. This bank was supposed to be better than the old one, based in Knoxville: the state should...

  24. Missouri Convention
    date June 12, 1820 to July 19, 1820map ST LOUIS, Missouritags Slavery

    Southerners wasted no time after the completion of the Missouri Compromise to create a sound structure of government for the newest slave state. The 1820 Convention to establish guidelines for Missouri statehood consisted of 41 delegates, all but eight of whom were born in slave states or territories. The convention was organized with David Barton as president, William G. Pettus as secretary,...

  25. The Runaway Slave and His Broken Family
    date June 20, 1820map BALDWIN, Georgiatags African-Americans, Slavery

    John W. Bridges of Wilcox County, Alabama, desperately penned a letter to the Southern Recorder, the Columbian Telescope, the Carolina Observer, and the Georgia Advertiser on May 27, 1820, looking for a runaway slave by the name of Aaron. A few weeks prior to the publication of this letter, Aaron, a stout well-fed Negro man of 30 years standing around 5'10 had escaped from the John Bridges'...