Episodes Nearest to January 1, 1840 to December 31, 1840: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Military Occupation of Florida
    date January 1, 1840 to December 31, 1840map DADE, Floridatags Migration/Transportation, Slavery, War

    Throughout the month of January, the Baltimore American followed the debates in the United States Congress over the situation in Florida, which was not yet a state and which was menaced by hostile Indians. An “immense sum' had been paid to Spain for Florida in 1821, and the territory had been a messy place since, marked by recurring wars with the Seminoles. As Senator Strange of North...

  2. The Ill-Mannered Welcome of Judge White
    date 1840map HAWKINS, Tennesseetags Government, Politics

    The honorable Judge Hugh L. White's welcome upon passing through the town of Rogersville, Tennessee, on his return trip home to Knoxville, was anything but warm. Upon his arrival, the former United States Senator was greeted with a large strip of cotton covered with insulting comments stretched across the main entrance to the town. The citizens behind this offensive act were members of the local...

  3. Soldiers Perspective in the Seminole War
    date 1840map ST JOHNS, Floridatags Seminole Revolt, Native-Americans

    William Frazer was a practical man who wrote about his interpretations of the Florida army. There were 1200 soldiers accompanying William on his journey to fight in the second Seminole war. The Second Seminole war was being fought over the Indian removal act. The act was to move all of the Indians west of the Mississippi river. Few of the soldiers accompanying William were fierce, and would take...

  4. Planter William Brisbane Becomes an Abolitionist
    date 1840map HAMILTON, Ohiotags Slavery, Religion

    W.H. Brisbane was a respected planter living outside of Charleston, South Carolina.  Upon inheritance of the family plantation and slaves, he reaped the benefits of great land and free labor.  Much like any other South Carolinian at the time, W.H. Brisbane bought into the beliefs of slavery being supported by the Bible.  He even wrote his own articles in the local newspaper about how slavery...

  5. Today is an era in my life- Big day in Washington
    date June 30, 1840map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Arts/Leisure, Government, Politics

    On Tuesday June 30, 1840, Mr. Richard Rawlins continued his stay in the nation's capital. However, this day in Washington was not your typical day. He started his diary entry by stating, Today is an era in my life. In this one day, Mr. Rawlins was able to see the Declaration of Independence, call on and present letters of introduction and converse with Henry Clay as well as John Quincy Adams....

  6. Visiting Washington
    date June 26, 1840map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Arts/Leisure, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Richard Champion Rawlins arrived in Washington D.C. from Baltimore on Friday June 26, 1840. He made the 40 mile journey by railway; this was Mr. Rawlins first time in Washington. Traveling was not as accessible when Richard Rawlins was a child. Therefore, this trip to Washington was a thrill for him. After registering at the Gadsby's Hotel in Washington, Rawlins journeyed down to the capital....

  7. Saul Runs Away
    date July 13, 1840map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Race-Relations, Slavery

    Twenty-year-old Saul had been a slave his entire life and was tired of being treated in inhumane ways and separated from his family. He ran away not only to escape the oppression of slavery, but also because he has a mother and brother in Baltimore, and it is probable he is about there. To Saul and many other slaves in the South, familial ties were strong. The deeper reasons for Saul's flight...

  8. William Gilmore Simms Publishes History of South Carolina
    date July, 1840map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Education

    William Gilmore Simms, “though no match for Poe as a literary artist, stood as the preeminent man of letters in the antebellum South.' He was known all over the nation, and his best works were compared to James Fenimore Cooper and Sir Walter Scott. Seeing a need for greater appreciation of history, especially among his fellow southerners, Simms worked hard to build up the southern literary...

  9. The World Antislavery Convention: From Emancipation to Women's Rights
    date June, 1840 to 1840map Europe, Outside US, SENECA, New Yorktags London, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Seneca Falls Convention, Women's Rights Movement., William Lloyd Garrison, Abolition, Anti-slavery

    For ten days in June 1840, abolitionists from both sides of the Atlantic met together at the World Antislavery Convention in Freemason’s Hall in London, England.  The purpose of the convention was to better organize and unite international abolitionist forces in the fight for emancipation.  Ironically, while championing the freedom of black slaves, the convention reinforced a different type...

  10. Presidential Election Campaign
    date January 1, 1840 to November 23, 1840map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    The 1840 presidential election campaign pitted the Whig ticket of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler against the sitting Democratic President Martin Van Buren. The parties spent much of their energy courting the South. Each tried to present itself as the protector of southern interests, emphasizing its candidates' “southern-ness' and anti-abolition credentials. Van Buren, running...

  11. The Whigs Hold a Meeting. Topic: The Presidential Election of 1840
    date August 4, 1840map FAUQUIER, Virginiatags Government, Politics

    During the Presidential Election of 1840 the Whig Party became more cohesive. On August 4, 1840, six members of the Whig Central Committee of Vigilance of Fauquier, R.E Scott, Samuel Chilton, Tho's T. Withers, Richards Payne, John P. Philips, and John Walden, invited the voters of Fauquier and surrounding counties to attend a Whig party meeting in Warrenton. The men made it clear that the invitation...

  12. Potato Agriculture in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
    date May 20, 1840 to November 3, 1840map BRISTOL, Massachusettstags mid-nineteenth century, Wheaton, Agriculture, Potatoes, Textile Mills

    As the New England foliage began to turn in October of 1840, Laban Morey Wheaton sold Linus Howard an astonishing twenty-five bushels of potatoes, and only a couple of short days later Linus returned for another five bushels of potatoes. What could possibly explain this surge in the demand for potatoes in Norton Massachusetts? Laban dealt with many transactions concerning potatoes as indicated within...

  13. This episode is about an attack of the Seminole Indians on a family on Indian Key, FL.
    date August 17, 1840map MOSQUITO, Floridatags Seminole War,, Native-Americans

    Massacre at Indian Key

    Doctor Perrine and his family lived on a small island known as Indian Key, which was part of Florida. The Perrine lived on Indian Key during the period of the Seminole war. The Spanish Indians were beginning to become angry with some many people stealing their territory. Unfortunately, Dr. Perrine was attacked by a group of Spanish Indians and was killed....

  14. Southerners Respond to Reports of British Cotton Schemes
    date March 1, 1840 to July 29, 1840map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Economy, Slavery

    In March of 1840, the Southern Cabinet of Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural and Domestic Economy included an article saying “our readers are aware, no doubt, that certain parties in England have lately brought up a question as to this subject, which materially concerns this country; viz. whether there is any probability that England can hereafter raise her own supplies of the raw material for...

  15. Sam Forwood's Definition of the Southern Family
    date May 7, 1840map CLARKE, Alabamatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Health/Death, Economy, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On May 7, 1840, Sam Forwood, in Clark County, Alabama, wrote to his son William on the health of his family. Numerous family letters focused on health. In this correspondence, the first paragraph tended to discuss the health of all members of the family and the history of any sicknesses since the last letter. The Forwood family was generally in sufficient health, despite a fever here and there....

  16. Democratic National Convention Meets in Baltimore, Maryland.
    date May 5, 1840 to May 6, 1840map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Agriculture, Economy, Slavery

    On May 5th and 6th the Democratic Convention met in Baltimore to prepare for the national election campaign. The delegates unanimously renominated President Martin Van Buren of New York, but the subject of the Vice-Presidential nomination brought a “marked diversity of opinion, and a spirited encounter.' Several delegations from the West pushed for the selection of Colonel Richard M....

  17. Governor Claiborne Remembered 23 Years After Death...
    date January 20, 1840 to August, 1840map ORLEANS, Louisianatags New Orleans, Government, Politics, Urban Society, Governor Claiborne, Law, Urban-Life/Boosterism, War, Battle of New Orleans

    All the earth stood silent on December 20, 1803, as the Mississippi territorial governor rode in on the streets of New Orleans. Beautiful women adorned the balconies that hung over the Place d' Armes. Each country, represented by its own amount of officials and military, watched as the France flag descended and the American flag ascended succinctly down the pole, meeting halfway to acknowledge...

  18. 1840 North Carolina Gubernatorial Campaign and Election
    date January 1, 1840 to August 1, 1840map WAKE, North Carolinatags Economy

    The 1840 gubernatorial campaign in North Carolina featured John Morehead, a Whig, and the Democratic Judge Romulus Saunders. The Whigs had won the previous election in 1836 and once again emphasized government-supported economic development in their platform. Paralleling the national election campaign, the parties focused personal attacks on each others' candidates and trumpeted their records...

  19. One Hundred Dollar Reward
    date September, 1840map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In September of 1840 a slave named Davy managed to escape from the Petersburg plantation of his master, Henry Davis. Apparently, Davy had escaped with another slave from a nearby plantation. The man with whom Davy escaped was captured outside of Sussex County, upon his capture he revealed a possible location for Davy's whereabouts and gave up their plans for escape. Davy's companions told...

  20. The South Views the Foundation of the Liberty Party
    date April, 1840map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity

    Gerrit Smith, a wealthy New Yorker, was a leading member of the abolitionist cause and desired for his movement to take the fight more aggressively and effectively in to American politics by forming a national party based on an abolitionist platform. He, along with Lewis Tappan and others formed the Liberty Party in April of 1840. The founders chose James Birney and Thomas Earle to run for president...

  21. Augusta County and the Election of 1840
    date March 5, 1840 to May 23, 1840map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Government, Politics, Slavery

    It is not hard to fathom why Augusta County, Virginia showed overwhelming support for the Harrison/Tyler ballot in the Election of 1840. One of the newspapers that circulated in Augusta County, the Staunton Spectator, commented on the results of the county's nomination for president. The Spectator was certain that their nomination of William Harrison and John Tyler would receive a hearty...

  22. Newspapers Report that Trinidad Offers Aid to Free Black Immigrants
    date March 18, 1840map WAKE, North Carolinatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    According to the Raleigh Star, in 1840 the colonial government of Trinidad, a possession of Great Britain, began to offer financial aid to any people of African descent who wished to move to the island. The law was passed in order to speed the economic development of the island, but it had a second effect of encouraging freed slaves in the United States to emigrate. This gave free blacks an alternative...

  23. Hired farm labor in the 1840's
    date February 13, 1840 to April 9, 1840map BRISTOL, Massachusettstags Farm Labor, Agriculture

    Between February 13th and April 9th, 1840, Joseph Borden was absent from work multiple times. He worked as a hired farm hand for Laban Morey Wheaton. Sometimes he was gone a half day or the entire day, but Wheaton took note of every absence in his daybook. Borden seemed to be a loyal and favored worker, however, for he continued to be paid for his labor over the months. There...

  24. Native American Relations Challenged in Fleming Woods Trading Post Case
    date February 15, 1840 to February 18, 1840map VAN BUREN, Arkansastags Economy, Government, Law, Native-Americans, Race-Relations

    In July of 1837, the states of Arkansas and Missouri functioned as major areas of activity as Americans moved westward. Travelers relied on local people along these western routes to help provide them with necessary equipment and foodstuffs they needed on their journeys. Looking to capitalize on the growing market, Fleming Wood and his partner Egbert Harris hoped to establish a trading post in the...

  25. A Former Slaveholder Finds Justification Through Religion
    date February 12, 1840map HAMILTON, Ohiotags Religion, Slavery, Abolition

    In the 1830s a young South Carolina preacher and slaveholder delivered a sermon that justified the institution of slavery in America within the realms of Christianity.  Years later, a reverend in Cincinnati gave a sermon about his endeavor to find proof of the injustices of slavery and the rightful backing of abolitionism through Christianity.  Both of these preachers were able to find justification...