Episodes Nearest to January 1, 1845 to December 31, 1870: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Buchanan throws his support behind the Lecompton Constitution.
    date October, 1857 to March, 1858map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Slavery

    Beginning in October of 1857 President Buchanan and the Southern Democrats demanded acceptance of Kansas's Lecompton Constitution. In fact, they tried to make it part of the National Democratic Party's policy. A debate ensued in the Senate with Northern Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas claimed that the Lecompton Constitution makes a ridicule of Popular Sovereignty and refused to support...

  2. Is Divorce a Northern Thing
    date January, 1858map MARION, Indianatags Divorce, Slavery, Anti-slavery

    J.D.B De Bow printed one of the most widely circulated southern agricultural chronicles of the 1800’s; the purpose of the journal was to bolster the South and the region’s economy. In one article printed in January 1858, entitled “Northern Morals,” De Bow claimed the higher rate of divorce in northern states was due to poor character, loose morals, and weak faith. Indiana’s 19th...

  3. Capturing the Moment
    date December 12, 1857map BOLIVAR, Mississippitags Arts/Leisure, Women

    In a private letter to her granddaughter, an unnamed woman described a simple scene with such poignant detail that an ordinary moment in history became remarkably touching on paper. The elderly woman wrote to her granddaughter, Kate, about several incidents in her everyday life, one of which was a portrayal of her young cousin, Harry. The writer used small, humorous anecdotes to describe both Harry...

  4. Capturing the Moment
    date December 12, 1857map BOLIVAR, Mississippitags Arts/Leisure, Women

    In a private letter to her granddaughter, an unnamed woman described a simple scene with such poignant detail that an ordinary moment in history became remarkably touching on paper. The elderly woman wrote to her granddaughter, Kate, about several incidents in her everyday life, one of which was a portrayal of her young cousin, Harry. The writer used small, humorous anecdotes to describe both Harry...

  5. Capturing the Moment
    date December 12, 1857map BOLIVAR, Mississippitags Arts/Leisure, Women

    In a private letter to her granddaughter, an unnamed woman described a simple scene with such poignant detail that an ordinary moment in history became remarkably touching on paper. The elderly woman wrote to her granddaughter, Kate, about several incidents in her everyday life, one of which was a portrayal of her young cousin, Harry. The writer used small, humorous anecdotes to describe both Harry...

  6. Capturing the Moment
    date December 12, 1857map BOLIVAR, Mississippitags Arts/Leisure, Women

    In a private letter to her granddaughter, an unnamed woman described a simple scene with such poignant detail that an ordinary moment in history became remarkably touching on paper. The elderly woman wrote to her granddaughter, Kate, about several incidents in her everyday life, one of which was a portrayal of her young cousin, Harry. The writer used small, humorous anecdotes to describe both Harry...

  7. The Lord's New Church calls for members to unite.
    date November 10, 1857 to December 30, 1857map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    On November 10th 1857 leaders of the Lord's New Church called in a broadside for believers in Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia to assemble in Baltimore at ten in the morning Wednesday December 30 1857. The leaders, Samuel H. Worchester and Arthur O. Brickman, implored all those who wished to live so as to prepare themselves for the world of heaven to congregate with them and...

  8. A Very Satisfactory Cotton Crop
    date November 27, 1857map DESHA, Arkansastags Agriculture, Economy

    Gustavus Henry believed that producing cotton could make him a wealthy man. On November 27, 1857, he wrote a letter to his wife stating that despite encountering troubles for the past month, the gin stands [had] been doing finely for the last five days. Gustavus described the recent production as delightful. He further said it was a beautiful thing that the lead pipe, which brought water from the...

  9. Pennsylvania Quaker William Still Fought Against the Evils of Slavery
    date November 25, 1857map PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvaniatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Law, Politics, Church/Religious-Activity, Crime/Violence, Health/Death

    On November 25, 1857, William Still recorded a story that told of the horrors of slavery in the South.  Still assisted a group of slaves on the journey to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad.  He was among the abolitionists during this time that believed that blacks should be afforded equal rights and opportunities that would allow them to earn a living.  Still did not feel that blacks...

  10. The General Assembly of the State of Tennessee resolved to instruct their congressmen to gather appropriations of federal funds for the leveeing of the Mississippi on the Tennessee side.
    date November 17, 1857map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Urban-Life/Boosterism

    The General Assembly of the State of Tennessee resolved to instruct their congressmen to gather appropriations for the leveeing of the Mississippi on the Tennessee side. Previously federal lands had gone to Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana for levees, and as a result the Tennessee side had aquired a greater amount of overflow “to the manifest injury of the people and the State of Tennessee'....

  11. Manners and Conduct in America during the 1850's
    date November, 1857map BRISTOL, Massachusettstags Education, Women

    In November of 1857, G. Holbrook of the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, submitted her article "The Jintlemanly Young Lady," to Rushlight. The article told the story of a young man named Patrick who gave up his seat for a young lady on a train ride. Commenting on this behavior, Holbrook wrote "The true lady and the true gentleman have many qualities in common; each should possess...

  12. Debate over the Lecompton Constitution rages in Kansas.
    date September 7, 1857 to August 2, 1858map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Race-Relations, Slavery

    Kansas began the process of beginning to apply for statehood in late summer 1857. First, the citizens had to come up with and ratify a state constitution. Proslavery forces within the state drew up the so-called “Lecompton Constitution' at a convention which Free Soil parties boycotted. Indeed, at the Convention there was never any option to vote against slavery. The proslavery forces refused...

  13. Salary denied to minister who preaches antislavery.
    date November 5, 1857map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity, Slavery

    In Cherryfield, Maine a minister sued to recover his salary which the church had refused to pay him as a result of his preaching about his antislavery beliefs. The church claimed that his contract stipulated that he was not to preach about anything political and thus he was in breach of contract. The lawsuit, when reported in the newspaper, had not yet been resolved. The writers of The Southern...

  14. Southern Commercial Convention
    date May 12, 1858 to May 15, 1858map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags Economy, Slavery

    In the 1830s, the South was increasingly aware of the North's industrial dominance. Commercial conventions emerged as a way to close this gap. The first meetings focused on single, specific issues such as direct trade with Europe or railroad construction. Later, the conventions would address a wide range of economic concerns. <br /><br />In 1858, Montgomery, Alabama hosted the...

  15. Tribulations after the Trail
    date August 14, 1857map CLARK, Washingtontags Westward Expansion, Oregon Trail

    Historian Frederick Turner once described the frontier as "the meeting point between savagery and civilization." On the journey out west, wagons were pillaged by Native Americans who stole animals and destroyed necessities, seeking revenge for the intrusion up their land. Westward travelers saw their destinations as safe havens; however, the troubles did not end when their journey did. As each party...

  16. Suspected Stolen
    date February 25, 1857 to 1857map ORLEANS, Louisianatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    Behind bars, Aaron, a free black man, was trying to figure out the contacts he could reach that would help to confirm his freedom. Was there any way he could reach his wife, other relatives, or his previous owner? Aaron was turned in to the authorities on February 25, 1857 by a white man, G.W. Mormon, suspected of being stolen from Alabama.

    The dispute between black and white authority frequently...

  17. Teaching the Catechism to Slaves
    date June 26, 1858map WAYNE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Education, Law, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Though this episode originally took place in Alabama, it was reprinted on the front page of the Ceredo Crescent in western Virginia. A Methodist preacher had been teaching the colored people out of catechism No. 1 - teaching them at the plantations, when a Baptist minister heard of his efforts and raised the alarm. The Baptist quickly called a meeting and began to denounce the practice of preaching...

  18. Liberia and American Colonization Society
    date June 27, 1858map LEON, Floridatags African-Americans, Politics, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    After reading the works of John C. Calhoun on the rights of states and slavery, Susan Bradford Eppes spoke with her parents about enslavement. While her father supported slavery as a slave owner himself, Susan learned that her mother opposed the institution. Susan said that her mother believed that white slave owners were the real slaves in the relationship. Having slaves required added work and...

  19. 409 Slaves from Africa arrive in Georgia
    date 1858map GLYNN, Georgiatags Crime/Violence, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    In 1798, Georgia banned involvement in the Atlantic Slave trade, followed a decade later by a nationwide ban. The Constitution had required the ban when signed, and Congress put it into effect on January 1, 1808. As the Hon. Joshua Giddings announced in a speech to the House of Representatives, “the United States;pronounced the African slave trade to be piracy, and those who followed that...

  20. Baton Rouge establishes a colored church
    date 1858map EAST BATON ROUG, Louisianatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations, Slavery

    After receiving a petition by Baton Rouge citizens, the local government established a colored church and hired a black Methodist preacher, George Menard, to lead the church. Besides encouraging this and other black churches, townsmen even permitted blacks to attend white churches. Although the Black Code in Baton Rouge seemed to impress a harsh code of conduct, the authorities rarely enforced...

  21. State vs. Oscar decided
    date 1858map EAST BATON ROUG, Louisianatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Slavery

    During the decades before the Civil War, Louisiana began using special tribunals to try slaves accused of violent crimes. State vs. Oscar is just one example of a case using such a tribunal, where Oscar, a slave, was on trial for the rape of a young white girl. Oscar was tried in a regular court, but his appeal went to a special tribunal. The tribunal upheld his guilty verdict, and he was subsequently...

  22. An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America published
    date 1858map CHATHAM, Georgiatags African-Americans, Slavery

    Thomas R.R. Cobb published his An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America after significant research on ancient slavery laws. Cobb was a diehard secessionist and respected a Georgia lawyer. His book is one of the only to defend slavery based on legal theory, but it is still racist in the extreme. <br /><br />In the Preface, Cobb claims that “my book...

  23. Girl Chooses Death Over Shame
    date 1858map CHARITON, Missouritags African-Americans, Health/Death, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    The majority of farms in Brunswick, Missouri used slave labor up through the Civil War. H.C. Bruce was a slave on one of these farms. Many years after the Civil War, Bruce reflected on his experiences as a slave and recorded them in a book. According to Bruce, slave owners in Brunswick believed in having their slave women live a virtuous life. About nine miles from his farm lived a slaveholder named...

  24. Jesse Willis Petitions to Keep Slave Families Together
    date 1858map MARION, Floridatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Law, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Jesse Willis, administrator of the estate of Amanda Willis, asked the Marion County court for permission to sell land (rather than slaves) from Marion's estate to repay his debts. He claimed that selling the slaves could not be done without upsetting Amanda's children. Willis added, the slaves are all of one family, and [they are] mostly children which are constantly increasing in value....

  25. Narrative of Walter Calloway, slave from Richmond, VA
    date 1858map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags Slavery, Civil War, Crime/Violence, Slave Trade

    Imagine being purchased as a slave at ten years old, forced to relocate from Virginia to Alabama, and required to endure hours of hard labor and beatings.  This was the life of Walter Calloway, born in 1848 in Richmond, Virginia.  At the age of 10, Calloway was bought by slave master John Calloway whose plantation resided just outside of Montgomery, Alabama.  As he sat on a porch outside his...