Episodes Nearest to January 1, 1841: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Failure of the Franklin Bank of Baltimore
    date January 1, 1841map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Economy

    It is only appropriate that on the first day of the year 1841 that a major American bank would fail. After the Panic of 1837 and the continual congressional debates on the issue of a national bank, this was an issue of strong national contention and extreme public distrust. Unrest was heightened when, on the first of January, the President and Directors of the Franklin bank of Baltimore announced...

  2. Going Once. Going Twice. Resold into Slavery
    date January 2, 1841map RAPPAHANNOCK, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On the 26th of July 1840 the slave, Joe was thrown in the Rappahannock County jail, based on the charge that he was a runaway. Joe contested this charge, saying that his owner, Miss Jane Rust, of Page County died in March, and he assumed that he was a free man. Despite notices of Joe's capture, Sheriff French Strother was unable to prove the certainty behind his claim, because no one from...

  3. William Lloyd Garrison writes the song "I am an abolitionist!"
    date January, 1841 to 1841map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Abolition, The Liberator

     

    “I am an Abolitionist!”

    In the mid nineteenth century abolitionists would assemble and sing songs to inspire their movement. William Lloyd Garrison, a famous abolitionist and activist wrote “Song of the Abolitionist”, set to the famous tune “Auld Lange Syne”.  The beginning of each verse starts with the emphatic phrase “ I am an Abolitionist!”, which is repeated...

  4. Clement C. Clay's Fears for the Democratic Party
    date January 19, 1841map AUTAUGA, Alabamatags Government, Politics, Slavery

    Evidently, Clement Comer Clay had been driving Dixon Hall Lewis absolutely crazy. Clay, a U.S. senator from Alabama, was in a feeling of intense anxiety concerning the upcoming election of 1841. Lewis, an Alabama representative, was getting rather annoyed. At Clay's request, Lewis finally sat down to write a letter on January 18, 1841, to Benjamin Fitzpatrick, his brother-in-law and wealthy...

  5. President Martin Van Buren's Independent Treasury Sparks Controversy within the Democratic Party
    date December 12, 1840map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Politics

    As the year of 1840 drew to an end, the residents of Albemarle County prayed that the new year would finally bring relief and economic stability to the nation still recovering from the Panic of 1837. President Martin Van Buren echoed these sentiments in his speech to the second session of the Twenty-sixth Congress concerning the general state of the nation. As almost half of the speech discussed...

  6. Lunsford Lane Denied Extension of Residency
    date November 3, 1840 to May 18, 1841map WAKE, North Carolinatags African-Americans, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery

    A free man must go. After three years of recommendations, petitions, and court proceedings, the Senate of the state of North Carolina denied Lunsford Lane extension on his residency in the state to allow more time to purchase his wife and seven children. Lunsford had been commended and allowed by his employer, the Governor of the State, to remain employed in the Governor's office keeping order,...

  7. Abolitionists Urged to Reunite Under Common Goal
    date February 19, 1841map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Gerrit Smith, Abolitionism, Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison, AASS, American Anti-Slavery Soc

    On February 19, 1841, abolitionist Gerrit Smith urged his fellow activists to reunite in their common cause after having split into two factions. He offered a “proposition for peace amongst ourselves.” He encouraged abolitionists of every persuasion to tolerate their differences so that they can employ “against their common foe the time and ammunition, which, for the last two years, they have...

  8. Supreme Court Decision on the Amistad Case
    date March 9, 1841map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story ruled that the Amistad Africans were free men and had never been enslaved under Spanish law. This ruling came two years after Africans on the ship Amistad staged a revolt, killing the ship's captain and cook and sailing north. They landed in New London, Ct and after being arrested their cause was embraced by the New England abolitionist movement. In their...

  9. The Changing Public Attitude towards Slavery
    date March 10, 1841map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Slavery, Anti-slavery, Abolition

    In the mid-19th century, the changes in the public mindset towards slavery had not yet been fully reinforced by law but the distaste with which other countries had viewed the institution for some time was clear.  Blatant racism was still plainly evident, yet the abolition movement was now growing and the public response to prejudice was now becoming very different.  After recent written...

  10. The Alexandria Gazette Proclaims the Promise of the Mississippi Valley
    date March 30, 1841map FAIRFAX, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Migration/Transportation

    The March 30 edition of The Alexandria Gazette of the year 1841 included an article that would prove to be extremely insightful regarding the future of the America South. It opened with the lined “Valley of the Mississippi , The balance of political power in this country will soon become firmly fixed west of the Alleghany Mountains. The influx of population is so rapid and the fertility of...

  11. A chapter for young husbands
    date April 9, 1841map GREENVILLE, South Carolinatags Health/Death, Women

    A kind Providence arrests him by sickness. The editorial of the Greenville Mountaineer claimed that husbands do not spend enough time at home. By being sick, husbands were forced to spend time at home and witness the duties of their wives-a blessing in disguise the editorial claimed. After spending all their days away from their homes, only to return for meals, husbands begin to think that it is...

  12. Stolen Away: Slave Children
    date April 12, 1841map POWHATAN, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    Beverly Randolph of Powhatan, Virginia carefully planned her last will and testament to divide equally her assets amongst her children. In the late 1830s, Mrs. Randolph divided ownership of several plantations and a considerable number of slaves in her will. The bulk of her slaves went to her son Charles, but Beverly spent extra time dividing slave children to her other designated heirs,...

  13. 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...

  14. John Charles Fremont Explores the American West
    date May 2, 1841map ST LOUIS, Missouritags Migration/Transportation

    In 1841, Fremont, originally raised in Charleston, South Carolina, made the first of five major explorations of the American West. With financial assistance from his father-in-law, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, Fremont embarked westward to explore the Oregon Trail. During this journey Fremont established and mapped a route through the Rocky Mountains from the Mississippi River to South...

  15. 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....

  16. 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...

  17. 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...

  18. Colonel William Jenkins Worth Takes Command of U.S. Forces in Second
    date June 1, 1841map ALCHUA, Floridatags Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, War

    Once in command of American forces in the Second Seminole War, Colonel Worth instituted a change of strategy so successful that by April of 1842 only 300 Indians remained in Florida, his appointment truly was a tipping point in the Second Seminole War. His primary action was to remove hostiles in north Florida who lived nearby white settlements. He then maintained military operations through the...

  19. Vomito Prieto of Key West
    date June 8, 1841map MONROE, Floridatags Health/Death, Government, Politics, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    The young sailor's eyes were yellow, his face flushed. He complained of pain in his head and extremities and writhed on the bed as his pulse and breath quickened. The disease came to him in the night on a vessel in the Key West Harbor. Dr. C.C. Dupre had no doubt it was the vomito prieto, the yellow fever of Cuba, and it was rapidly progressing to its fatal termination. Yellow fever had struck...

  20. Slavery, Prejudice and Goodwill – The Complicated Matter of Changing Attitudes
    date June, 1841map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags Slavery, Anti-slavery, Abolition, Slave-trading

    Slave-trading was not fully unlawful in Baltimore by June of 1841, and slave-owning was still considered befitting to the community, particularly on the plantations.  Slave-dealing was conducted openly here.  While public attitudes were changing about the institution, the local Christian community seemed too complacent to push for change.  They instead attempted to show their pious and benevolent...

  21. John J. Ambler Attends Liberty Mills Acadamy
    date June 18, 1841map ORANGE, Virginiatags Education

    During the 1840s in central Virginia, it was not uncommon for families to send their children away for schooling. Education was a very important aspect of the Old South and was exemplified in Virginia by the work of Thomas Jefferson. The University of Virginia was the South's most original contribution to education. Ever since its opening in 1825, the University attracted young men from all...

  22. 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...

  23. 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...

  24. The Mixed Congregation of St. John's Church in Ashwood
    date 1841map MAURY, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations

    During the fall of 1841, the townspeople of Ashwood erected St. John's Episcopal Church halfway between Columbia and Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee. A Philadelphian man gave an in depth account of the church?s first service in a letter he wrote to the editor of The Guardian. As a northerner, he acted as an outside observer in this small southern town. He elaborately described the architecture, location,...

  25. From Freedom to Slavery
    date 1841map ORLEANS, Louisianatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Born and raised a freeman, Solomon Northup met a group of men in his hometown of Saratoga Springs one March day in 1841. They claimed to have heard of his propensity at the violin and requested to hire him to accompany their traveling circus performances. The pay was quite reasonable and Northup eagerly took on the job. He accompanied them the entire way down to Washington, D.C. without realizing...