Episodes Nearest to March 1, 1832: 1 through 25 of 25
- The Forgotten Plague
March 1, 1832
ROSS, Ohio
letter, influenza, epidemic, Ohio, 1832In present day, the “flu” is more commonly consider an inconvenient virus, which puts one out of commission for a day or two. But in 1832, influenza frequently ran its full course causing respiratory failure and death. In a letter from Fanny Wilson Johnson to her sister Eliza, Fanny discussed their father’s health, church happenings, and town affairs. Amidst her small talk, written sideways...
- Steamboats in Norfolk Harbor
March 8, 1832
NORFOLK CITY, Virginia
Economy, Migration/TransportationOn March 8, 1832, the steamship Gosport finally arrived in Norfolk, Va. It was the first steam ferry offering service across the Chesapeake, able to complete the trip in a mere five minutes, a feat that at the time was remarkably fast. Previously, ferries were man-powered or run by a blind mule or horse turning paddles by treadmill. The editors of The Norfolk Herald volunteered their confidence...
- Prediction of a Crisis to Come
March 23, 1832
GOOCHLAND, Virginia
African-Americans, Race-Relations, SlaveryOn the second day of March, 1832, a slave boy named Pompey was hard at work on the Cragwall plantation in Goochland County. All of a sudden he heard a noise high above him in the sky. The boy looked up and saw two enormous birds swooping and stabbing at each other. They began to get closer and closer to the ground until they completely fell out of the sky and landed right beside him. In complete...
- Calhoun Foreshadows Two Nations
February 6, 1832
Washington City, District of Columbia
Politics, Government, SlaveryOn February 6, 1837, John C. Calhoun made public his opinions by speaking out on slavery and the future of the Nation to the United States Senate. Calhoun stated, “I feel myself called upon to speak freely upon the subject where the honor and interests of those I represent are involved.” By this time Calhoun had taken a stand, given a reason for speaking out, and begun to foreshadow the...
- The Defiance of Chief Black Hawk
April 1, 1832
MERCER, Illinois
Black Hawk War, Native-Americans, Indian Removal Act of 1830“I fought hard. But your guns were well aimed. The bullets flew like birds in the air, and whizzed by our ears like the wind through the trees in the winter. My warriors fell around me; it began to look dismal,” said Sauk chief Black Hawk upon his surrender to the U.S 6th Infantry in August of 1832. He had fiercely resisted the continuing encroachment of white settlers into...
- 1832 Speech Given in the House of Delegates Regarding Abolition
January 21, 1832
ALBEMARLE, Virginia
African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Economy, Government, Law, Politics, SlaveryThe Virginia House of Delegates gathered around while Thomas J. Randolph, representative of Albemarle County, gave a speech in regards to possible emancipation within the state. Although it was 1832 at the time of this address, the proposed plan that Randolph spoke about would only affect slaves born after 1840 and would take 80 years to complete. Virginians would hold male and female slaves...
- Three White Men Accused of Adultery
January 10, 1832
CLARKE, Georgia
Crime/ViolenceIn the Slave South, husbands and wives grew very wary of adulterous behavior. They especially feared miscegenation. Depending on the roles played, such behavior could lead to justifiable homicide. But, in this case, a disgruntled husband accused three men of sleeping with his wife, when only one of them did it. The two innocent men were somehow dragged in to the whole mess, and they were left to...
- Celebration for Battle of New Orleans anniversary
January 3, 1832
Washington City, District of Columbia
Arts/Leisure, Urban-Life/Boosterism, WarThe Citizens of Washington decided at their December 31, 1831 meeting that an anniversary celebration of the Battle of New Orleans was appropriate. They voted in favor of the celebration and agreed to the public notice at Strother's Hotel. As an organization in the nation's capital, they wanted to celebrate the victory that helped establish the country and declare, for a final time, freedom...
- Alabama against the American System
December 21, 1831
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania
EconomyThe early nineteenth century was full of civil unrest between the states. Many of the southern states saw this time as a period of northern aggression and disregard for southern interests. "Alabama," an article published in The Banner of the Constitution provides an example of southern government officials becoming fed up with the northern led tariffs and political parties, particularly the...
- A Day In the Life of an Amelia County Physician
December 17, 1831
AMELIA, Virginia
Health/DeathLike many county and small town physicians, Dr. Stirling Ford cultivated close relationships with many of his frequent patients. Thus, when some of his patients were unable to pay their medical bills, he would extend a grace period or wave the fee altogether. This more than likely accounted for the meticulous records of his daily visits and the financial accounts of his patients. One of Dr. Ford's...
- Early Education
December, 1831
SUFFOLK, Massachusetts
EducationIn a country where education had no pull in society, one school dared to break the mold. Every morning, between fifty and sixty students between the ages of three and five made their way to a school in central Bermuda that was established in 1831. Mostly the offspring of slaves, the children were given an opportunity at improving their quality of life. Students were taught the basics of education:...
- Mulatto Man Granted Freedom
December, 1831
KNOX, Tennessee
African-Americans, Law, SlaveryIn December 1831, Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lundy published a small article in his newspaper The Genius of Universal Emancipation entitled "Important Legal Decision." The article told the story of a free mulatto man named Batkin who, after being convicted of a crime in Virginia, had been sold into slavery. Batkin had been sold to a man in Tennessee, and he petitioned that state's court...
- Female Education: Through Emma C. Emburys Eyes
December 10, 1831
KINGS, New York
Education, WomenThe United States' attitude towards the education of women was encapsulated in a speech delivered by Mrs. Emma C. Embury on December 10, 1831. Embury spoke at the anniversary ceremony for the Brooklyn Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies. She pointed out that although schooling was becoming more prevalent across the country, female education and its reputation was still lagging behind the education...
- Recognizing the Importance of Female Education
December 10, 1831
KINGS, New York
Education, Women"Let me not be misunderstood, when I thus earnestly insist upon the necessity of female education," insisted Emma C. Embury, a strong advocate for female education who spoke at the Anniversary of the Brooklyn Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies in December 1831. The idea of women's education was being discussed far more in the 1830's than it ever had been before. Embury was just one of...
- Spontaneous Combustion of a Drunkard
December 7, 1831
FAYETTE, Kentucky
Church/Religious-Activity, Health/DeathIn the year 1831, Dr. Peter Scholfield was invited to speak at the formation of a temperance society in the small town of Rustard, in Upper Canada. His speech was a direct attack on drunkenness and the dangers it entailed. Dr. Scholfield began his speech with the remark, "It is well authenticated, that many habitual drinkers of ardent spirits are brought to their end by what is called 'spontaneous...
- Judge Clayton Removed from Office
December 6, 1831
GWINNETT, Georgia
Law, Native-Americans, PoliticsAugustin Smith Clayton was a lawyer, congressman, and judge for the state of Georgia. Most of his decisions as a judge in Georgia favored state over federal laws. In 1831, however, Clayton declared unconstitutional a Georgia law that prohibited Indians from digging gold on their own land. After this decision he was not reelected for another term. Clayton was curious about his loss at reelection...
- Race and Medical Care
November 18, 1831
AMELIA, Virginia
African-Americans, Health/Death, SlaveryOn November 18, 1831 Dr. Stirling Ford paid a visit to the slave of Mrs. Evans. In his journal, Dr. Ford gives an account of the slave woman's condition and treatment prescribed for her blister to the neck and open bowels [and] debility headache. Although it might seem normal that a doctor would treat an ailing person, not all nineteenth century physicians were willing to take on African Americans,...
- Presbyterianism and the Creation of Cherokee Sovereignty
July 6, 1831 to March 3, 1832
INDIAN LANDS, Georgia
Church/Religious-Activity, Government, Law, Native-AmericansOn July 6th, 1831 Presbyterian ministers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Elizur Butler and Samuel Austin Worcester began their 110 mile march to a Georgia penitentiary from the neighboring Cherokee lands in chains. Arrested in New Echota by the Georgia Guard and detained indefinitely, Butler and Worcester were charged with the direct violation of a new Georgia state law...
- Southern Reaction to the Nullification Threat
June 28, 1832
HENRICO, Virginia
Government, Law, Politics, WarIt was the summer of 1832, and tension hung over Richmond like a thick fog. National unrest had been building throughout the United States for quite some time, and sectional pressure between the North and South was nearing its boiling point. Those people living in Virginia's capital sensed the impending conflict more than most. Mere months before the South Carolina nullification crisis erupted,...
- Nat Turner Captured Alive
October 30, 1831
SOUTHAMPTON, Virginia
African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, SlaveryFollowing the bloody aftermath of the August 22 murders by Nat Turner and his followers, was a reaction that had ripples across the state of Virginia as well as the South. Not only had the local Militias been called out to search for Turner, but the mayor of Norfolk had even sent men and naval vessels to assist in the search. The apprehension of Nat Turner proved to be less dramatic than the outcry....
- Carey Advocates Liberia as the Solution
1832
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania
Slavery, American Colonization SocietyNat Turner's methodical slaying of white civilians in Southampton County, Virginia during August of 1831 caused anxiety and concern for whites throughout the country. Although he was captured within months, his rebellion had unintended consequences. It added fuel to an already growing fire – the movement to send free blacks to Liberia.
Arguing on behalf of the American...
- Charles Knowlton and The Fruits of Philosophy
1832
NEW YORK, New York
sex, contraception, Health/DeathCharles Knowlton was one nineteenth century doctor who was not afraid to talk about sex. Despite prosecution and jail time he stood behind the ideas of his 1832 work Fruits of Philosophy. The book was deemed obscene for its discussion of sex for pleasure and birth control methods. Knowlton saw sexual desire as a passion that started in the nerves of the genital organs and extended to the...
- President Jackson Vetoes Bill for Re-chartering the Second Bank of the United States
July 10, 1832
Washington City, District of Columbia
EconomyThe Bank of the United States was a sensitive issue from its outset. The First one expired indifferently in 1811, and the Second Bank was chartered five years later, in 1816. This new edition was meant to be an independent bank, a specie paying bank, a stead and cautious, not a speculative bank. But, it had an inauspicious start, with a case sent before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1819. This case,...
- Tariff of 1832 Passed
July 14, 1832
Washington City, District of Columbia
Agriculture, EconomyWhile President Andrew Jackson dealt with the Bank War, another economic debate engulfed Congress. They debated a new tariff. This act would be a close relation to the Tariff of 1828, which was benevolently called the Tariff of Abominations. The new bill was a protectionist tariff, attempting to protect local producers from foreign competitors by setting the tariff on imported goods, or using some...
- The African American Community-free and enslaved
September 26, 1831
BRUNSWICK, Virginia
African-Americans, SlaveryOn September 26, 1831, Lucetta Morse finally confirmed her status as a free woman of color in the county of Brunswick, Virginia. In order for her freedom to be established, Lucetta was subjected to an intense physical examination of her body. The commissioner looked for any distinguishing or identifying marks and recorded all of his findings in a ledger which contained similar information about...