Episodes Nearest to January 19, 1841: 1 through 25 of 25
- Clement C. Clay's Fears for the Democratic Party
January 19, 1841
AUTAUGA, Alabama
Government, Politics, SlaveryEvidently, 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...
- William Lloyd Garrison writes the song "I am an abolitionist!"
January, 1841 to 1841
SUFFOLK, Massachusetts
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...
- Going Once. Going Twice. Resold into Slavery
January 2, 1841
RAPPAHANNOCK, Virginia
African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, SlaveryOn 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...
- Failure of the Franklin Bank of Baltimore
January 1, 1841
BALTIMORE, Maryland
EconomyIt 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...
- Lunsford Lane Denied Extension of Residency
November 3, 1840 to May 18, 1841
WAKE, North Carolina
African-Americans, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations, SlaveryA 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,...
- Abolitionists Urged to Reunite Under Common Goal
February 19, 1841
SUFFOLK, Massachusetts
Gerrit Smith, Abolitionism, Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison, AASS, American Anti-Slavery SocOn 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...
- President Martin Van Buren's Independent Treasury Sparks Controversy within the Democratic Party
December 12, 1840
ALBEMARLE, Virginia
Economy, Government, PoliticsAs 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...
- Supreme Court Decision on the Amistad Case
March 9, 1841
Washington City, District of Columbia
African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, SlaverySupreme 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...
- The Changing Public Attitude towards Slavery
March 10, 1841
NEW YORK, New York
Slavery, Anti-slavery, AbolitionIn 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...
- The Alexandria Gazette Proclaims the Promise of the Mississippi Valley
March 30, 1841
FAIRFAX, Virginia
Agriculture, Economy, Migration/TransportationThe 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...
- A chapter for young husbands
April 9, 1841
GREENVILLE, South Carolina
Health/Death, WomenA 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...
- Stolen Away: Slave Children
April 12, 1841
POWHATAN, Virginia
African-Americans, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery, WomenBeverly 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,...
- John Charles Fremont Explores the American West
May 2, 1841
ST LOUIS, Missouri
Migration/TransportationIn 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...
- One Hundred Dollar Reward
September, 1840
DINWIDDIE, Virginia
African-Americans, Race-Relations, SlaveryIn 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...
- Colonel William Jenkins Worth Takes Command of U.S. Forces in Second
June 1, 1841
ALCHUA, Florida
Health/Death, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, WarOnce 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...
- Vomito Prieto of Key West
June 8, 1841
MONROE, Florida
Health/Death, Government, Politics, Urban-Life/BoosterismThe 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...
- Slavery, Prejudice and Goodwill – The Complicated Matter of Changing Attitudes
June, 1841
BALTIMORE, Maryland
Slavery, Anti-slavery, Abolition, Slave-tradingSlave-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...
- John J. Ambler Attends Liberty Mills Acadamy
June 18, 1841
ORANGE, Virginia
EducationDuring 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...
- This episode is about an attack of the Seminole Indians on a family on Indian Key, FL.
August 17, 1840
MOSQUITO, Florida
Seminole War,, Native-AmericansMassacre 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....
- Potato Agriculture in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
May 20, 1840 to November 3, 1840
BRISTOL, Massachusetts
mid-nineteenth century, Wheaton, Agriculture, Potatoes, Textile MillsAs 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...
- The Mixed Congregation of St. John's Church in Ashwood
1841
MAURY, Tennessee
African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Race-RelationsDuring 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,...
- From Freedom to Slavery
1841
ORLEANS, Louisiana
African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, SlaveryBorn 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...
- Western Artist
1841
CHOCTAW, Mississippi
Indians, Indian PaintingsLand hungry Americans who eyed rich, sparsely settled lands in the west and their attempt to bring civilization and self-governing establishments to Indian land became known as manifest destiny. By the 1840s, the United States had become expansion-minded, and Americans began to believe they were destined to spread to the pacific. During this westward expansion, the settlers devastated the Indian...
- The Religion of Slavery: Uncovering community supplanted by religion in ‘The Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave.’
1841
ST LOUIS, Missouri
Slavery, African AmericanWilliam Wells Brown’s narrative is not one of common consistency. He was unfortunate enough to be subjected to the harsh realities of chattel slavery through years of being rented out to various owners stretching from Missouri to Mississippi. A great deal of his time was spent aboard steamships, as a hand to take care of slaves or to wait on passengers. Wells recounts that after one particular...
- The Whigs Hold a Meeting. Topic: The Presidential Election of 1840
August 4, 1840
FAUQUIER, Virginia
Government, PoliticsDuring 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...