Episodes Nearest to December 20, 1832: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Binding Contracts
    date December 20, 1832map PRINCESS ANNE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Mary James had in front of her a valuable contract of exchange that would benefit her a great deal; She was to acquire 775 worth of goods in this posthumous division of James Henley's property. In this particular transaction, however, others' loss far outweighed her gain. The property divided was Henley's eight slaves, valued from 50 for the young to 350 for the adults. These enslaved...

  2. Virginia Governor John Floyds Thoughts on Nullification
    date December 19, 1832map BEDFORD, Virginiatags Diplomacy/International, Government, Politics, War

    Virginia residents opened up their newspapers one morning in December 1832 and discovered an address from the governor, John Floyd. He wrote to the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates in regards to the South Carolina Nullification Ordinance, and the newspaper posted this as an article for locals. Floyd explained that South Carolina felt the Tariffs took advantage of it and the state had "declared...

  3. No Wampum for this land
    date December 3, 1832 to December 30, 1832map INDIAN LANDS, Georgiatags Government, Migration/Transportation, Native-Americans

    December of 1832 saw another sale of lands that were the rightful property of Cherokee and Creek Indians in Georgia. The Native Americans of Georgia were forced from their homes and lands because the state government saw the land as being underused and mismanaged by the Indian tribes. This act of selling Indian lands was known as the Georgia Land Lottery and in 1832 it again sold off native...

  4. Liberation in Liberia
    date December, 1832map PASQUOTANK, North Carolinatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    According to the Elizabeth City Star, the proposal to send free blacks to the colony of Liberia was a "scheme entirely Utopian." This North Carolina newspaper praised the American Colonization Society's ideas about how to handle the "race problem," as they deemed the growing number of newly freed blacks in America. A group of prominent Americans convened in December 1816 and established...

  5. Nullification Controversy
    date December, 1832map ROWAN, North Carolinatags Government, Law, Politics, War

    Sectional tensions between the North and South increased following the Tariff of 1828. The tariff placed a high tax on foreign goods to stimulate domestic manufacturing, and, in turn, placed strains on the Southern economy as the British reduced their imports of cotton. Many declared the tariff unconstitutional and thought that it infringed upon the individual states' rights. To quell the...

  6. Radicalism vs. Rationality
    date December 15, 1832map SPOTSYLVANIA, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Politics

    On Saturday, December 15, 1832, the Virginia Herald expressed its grief over the Nullification Crisis with the words, "alarming as the crisis...is, we cling to the hope, that for the sake of humanity and the honor of our country and her institutions, that means of averting the impending storm may yet be devised..." While regretting the approaching conflict, the Virginia newspaper never...

  7. John C. Calhoun Resigns as Vice-President of the United States
    date December 28, 1832map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags Economy

    John C. Calhoun led an ambitious political life. He sat in James Monroe's Cabinet in the 1810s and 1820s. Then, in the hotly contested presidential election of 1824, Calhoun ran, but resigned himself to second place, where he neatly fit in as John Quincy Adams' vice president. In a time when political party affiliations were never stable, Calhoun aligned himself with Andrew Jackson half-way...

  8. Runaway Slaves and Missing Steers... Equality Under Southern Law
    date December 28, 1832map NORFOLK CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Slave owners and merchants reading the December 28, 1832 edition of the American Beacon gazed with curiosity at the plethora of goods available for sale in the local market. Advertisements present in the Norfolk-based newspaper attempted to sell goods such as Christmas supplies, hats, and chlorine tooth wash. While these impersonal objects were goods commonly traded and sold in...

  9. Botanical Drops and Disease in the South
    date December 29, 1832map FAYETTE, Kentuckytags Health/Death, Science/Technology

    "A child of 8 years had lost the use of his arms, one leg was almost crippled, hip popped out of place, thigh and arms swollen..." wrote a journalist for the Kentucky Gazette. The list of this young boy's maladies continues in the article. One would think this boy had no hope for survival from whatever illness had attacked his young body. However, "on taking these Drops he recovered...

  10. Virginia in the Nullification Crisis of 1832
    date December 10, 1832map CAMPBELL, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Law, Politics

    "They have gone so far, that it is even more difficult to recede than go on; and they had rather see the Union dissolved tomorrow than that their own proposition should be accepted," proclaimed the Lynchburg Virginian in reference to South Carolina's actions in December 1832. It all began in 1828 when Congress enacted the so-called Tariff of Abominations. Many Southerners thought the highly...

  11. President Jackson Responds to Nullification
    date December 10, 1832map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Economy, Government, Law, Politics

    The crisis threatened to tear the nation apart. This crisis was the passage of the Nullification Ordinances by the South Carolina State Assembly in November of 1832. The unity and survival of the nation depended upon President Andrew Jackson's response. On December 10, 1832, President Jackson presented his response to the Congress, arguing that the justification for state nullification...

  12. Human Property
    date January 1, 1833map CAMDEN, Georgiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On January 1, 1833, when Charles Manigault moved slaves from another plantation he owned to Gowrie Plantation, several miles up stream from Savannah Georgia, he left neat columns of names to inventory his property, while at the same time, putting brackets around each slave family. Furthermore, next to each slave's name he wrote descriptions. Not physical descriptions but personality traits....

  13. The Outcast of Virginia
    date December 8, 1832map LOUISA, Virginiatags Government, Law, Politics

    "A Voice from Louisa" wrote to the Richmond Enquirer in December 1832 with the hope that a man like John Tyler would not be elected as a United States Senator once again. Instead, the writer expressed the importance of knowing the "political creed" of the candidates, as this was the only way to ensure the election of a senator who truly supported President Andrew Jackson and...

  14. Reverends Discuss Death and Religion Before Politics
    date December 5, 1832map ABBEVILLE, South Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity, Health/Death, Politics

    On December 5, 1832 Reverend James M. Chiles wrote a letter to fellow South Carolinian Reverend James C. Furman detailing the health of Chiles' family and the surge of religious revival in his area. Chiles began the letter with an apology that it had taken him so long to respond offering the explanation that he had been close to death and his youngest sister had died. Joy and sorrow flowed...

  15. Nullification Frowned Upon By Richmond Newspaper
    date December 4, 1832map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Politics

    On December 4, 1832, The Richmond Enquirer devoted several pages of its newspaper to discussion of the recent nullification crisis. In one of the articles, the editorial staff of the Enquirer expressed their feelings about nullification. The editorial staff of the Enquirer stated that although "from the moment this paper saw the light, it has been the devoted friend of the Rights of the States,"...

  16. Alexander Rives Asks James Madison for Advice about Nullification and Secession
    date December 28, 1832 to January 12, 1833map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags Government, Law, Politics

    In the early 1830s two of the most pressing questions in the nation were the issues of nullification and secession. A common trend among politicians was to use the ideas of the founders to argue both for and against these ideas, hence it is not surprising that on December 28, 1832 Alexander Rives, a Virginia lawyer, wrote to James Madison, one of the last surviving Founding Fathers, seeking council...

  17. The Interstate Slave Trade
    date December 3, 1832map ALEXANDRIA CITY, Virginiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    The Alexandria Gazette, a newspaper of Alexandria, Virginia, published a small advertisement for "200 Negroes" on December 3, 1832. This ad placed by slave traders Franklin and Armfield, requested slaves between "12 to 25 years of age, field hands, also mechanics of every description;" they were "determined to give higher prices for slaves than any (other) purchasers..." This small...

  18. Charleston Women Discuss Support of States Rights
    date January 7, 1833map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Economy, Government, Slavery, War, Women

    Women like Laura Margaret Cole Smith of South Carolina were not blind to the implications of politics for the Union as a whole. Upon receiving news of the 1832 Nullification Crisis, Laura wrote to her cousin Camille explaining her opinions on the state of the Union. Smith held steadfastly to her belief in South Carolina's states rights. Although the prospect of war saddened her because her father...

  19. Threat to the Union: Thomas Grimke on Nullification
    date December 1, 1832map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Government, Law, Politics

    Angered by a set of tariffs passed by the Federal Government that protected the interests of northern merchants without benefitting the South at all, the South Carolina state convention met in Columbia on November 19, 1832 and adopted a statement declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 "null and void" within South Carolina. Former state senator Thomas GrimkÉ felt this action was completely uncalled...

  20. A Plea for Peace Within the Union
    date December 1, 1832map LEXINGTON, South Carolinatags Government, Politics, War

    Thomas GrimkÉ wrote a letter to John C. Calhoun to persuade him to calm southerners as tensions were rising between north and south. He tries to flatter Calhoun with his many titles, Congressman, Senator, Vice-President, and he tells Calhoun that the south will listen and reason with him, "They are, in the estimate of the Union, at least, but the invisible satellites of your superior station and...

  21. South Carolina Legislature Passes the Ordinance of Nullification
    date November 24, 1832map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags Economy

    After his re-election, President Andrew Jackson faced an immediate attack at the authority of the government of the United States. The economic deeds of the summer of 1832 did not prevent Jackson's return to office, but, at the same time, they did not go unnoticed. A huge movement against the Tariff of 1832 was headed by the state of South Carolina. The state believed that this tariff was extremely...

  22. Ad in Charleston Mercury Offers Ladies Benefits of an Academy Education
    date November 17, 1832map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Education, Urban-Life/Boosterism, Women

    On Saturday, November 17, 1832 an ad appeared in the Charleston Mercury for a "Young Ladies' French and English Academy" which had just opened in Philadelphia. Such ads for girl's academies were not uncommon in the 1830s, for over the span of the early 1800s there was a growing trend for families to send their daughters to one of these schools if they could afford it. The popularity...

  23. Reaction to Nullification
    date November 4, 1832map WILKINSON, Mississippitags Government, Law, Politics

    In 1832, Sophia Hunt, a Democrat living in Woodville, Mississippi, received a letter from her father in South Carolina describing the recent crisis of his state. The Nullification Crisis threatened to hurl South Carolina into warfare with the rest of the country. In her November 4 reply, Sophia expressed her sorrow upon hearing this news, as well as her doubt that South Carolina would be successful...

  24. President Andrew Jackson Wins Re-Election
    date November 2, 1832map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Economy

    After Andrew Jackson lost the close presidential election of 1824, he focused on defeating John Quincy Adams four years later. Jackson easily succeeded, becoming the first president to hail from a state other than Virginia or Massachusetts. This distinction can help symbolize the expansion of the United States during his eight years in office. Originally, the Democrats had not anticipated Jackson's...

  25. Random Crime Shocks Charleston
    date October 29, 1832map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Government, Race-Relations, Slavery, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Today's well intended celebrations of Halloween were nothing compared to the horrors that took place one haunting October in 19th century Charleston. On a Saturday night in late October 1832, Joseph Wienand, the manager of the Neptune Hotel in Charleston, was murdered. Apparently, he was in possession of between 200 and 300 in cash. His murder was discovered by his African-American female servant...