Episodes Nearest to April 12, 1850: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Reaction to the death of John C. Calhoun
    date April 12, 1850map PICKENS, South Carolinatags Government, Politics

    It was a solemn scene to witness wrote the Keowee Courier on April 1st, 1850. One of the greatest political figures of the 19th century had just died and the atmosphere surrounding his death was incredible. Both Chambers were crowded to overflowing, and the stillness that pervaded the vast assemblage told plainly that some great calamity had happened to the country. Calhoun, born in Abbeville in...

  2. Slave Trade
    date April 12, 1850map PICKENS, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Economy, Slavery

    Enticing a willing buyer to purchase a slave was not easy. But there were characteristics that Norton and Steele dramatically emphasized to gain interest in the slaves they wanted to sell. They offered young boys and girls who were desirable, because they are smart and 'copper coloured' and also posses other skills like being good nurses. Choosing to find a willing buyer through the newspaper,...

  3. Typhoid As A Slave Killer
    date April 16, 1850map DOOLY, Georgiatags African-Americans, Health/Death, Slavery

    On April 16, 1850, a plantation slave died from typhoid fever after having been sick for six weeks. The slave got up after four weeks of bed rest and subsequently entered a delusional state. The plantation's overseer, Hal Sonbeck, sent for the Doct and he cupt it and bled it and blistered it but he cold not rase it anymore. In a letter to the plantation owner, Iveson Lewis Brookes, Hal informed...

  4. The Burial of John C. Calhoun, Statesman
    date April 26, 1850map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags Health/Death, Politics

    In the early months of 1850, tuberculosis was shaping up to be the one opponent John C. Calhoun was unable to beat. Come March 4, Senator James Mason of Virginia had to read one of Calhoun's last speeches in the Senate, an ominous prediction of what the slavery debate would ultimately do to the cords which bound these states together in one common union. Calhoun never saw the cords finally snap...

  5. Opium Abuse in Barnwell, SC
    date May 7, 1850map BARNWELL, South Carolinatags Health/Death

    On May 7, 1850, Dr. John William Ogilvie traveled eight miles to a plantation in Barnwell County, SC in response to a reported overdose of Laudanum, or a tincture of opium. The patient had attempted suicide, swallowing the tincture at 4:15 that morning. Arriving at 7:15 AM, Dr. Ogilvie found him still alive. Apparently in a state of melancholy, the patient was conscious and calm, but expressed regret...

  6. Arguments of a Slaveholding Society
    date May 12, 1850map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    J. W. Parmalee, a South Carolina businessman, maintained close correspondence with an individual by the name of "Wheeler" in a series of letters spanning from 1848 to 1850. One topic of interest evident in Parmalee's letters was politics, with a particular focus on the sectional tension between the North and South. Parmalee's commentary on the sectional crisis echoed the sentiments shared...

  7. Feelings of Dissent in Alabama
    date May 16, 1850map MADISON, Alabamatags Government, Politics, Slavery

    In 1849, each state in the Union was allotted one stone in the newly constructed Washington Monument, on which it was to put its name along with a brief inscription. The inscription chosen by Governor Chapman of Alabama read as follows: Alabama. A union of equality, as adjusted by the Constitution. This dedication was authorized by the Alabama General Assembly on December 4, 1849.

    The editor...

  8. Dividing up for Rights
    date March 7, 1850map MONTGOMERY, Marylandtags Government, Politics

    After the revolution, it became even more important for government regulation for boundaries to be established between states. Since America remained dedicated to keeping power in state governments, officials came together and established the exact separation of the regions that respective governments oversaw. One such circumstance arose when it came time for the Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware...

  9. A Meeting of the Knox County Colonization Society
    date June, 1850map KNOX, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    During the week of June 16, 1850, the Knox County Colonization Society convened for a meeting. This was of great significance because it marked the second anniversary of the Society in the city of Knoxville. At this time, the Chairman of this society declared that 15 to 20 free blacks of the city were ready to begin the process of emigration to Liberia. During the meeting, officers for the following...

  10. Advancing Culture: Harper’s New Monthly Magazine
    date June, 1850 to 1850map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Arts/Leisure, Economy, Politics, Modernization

    Current issues, events, and ideas were spread and divided among many American journals, newspapers, and periodicals, but in June of 1850 Harper & Brothers of New York sought to “remedy this evil” and provide all of this information in one place for anyone who wished to read it.  The firm introduced Harper’s New Monthly Magazine as the first general interest magazine in America.  They prefaced...

  11. The Education of Women - Mid 1800's
    date February 1, 1850map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Education, Women, Education

    Fredrika Bremer was a well-known writer living in Sweden.   By invitation in late 1849, she came to America for a visit.  As she was very much an advocate for the betterment of women in her country, her trip was much anticipated as she had heard of the high regard for American women.  Her writings were very well known in America at the time and she was well received during her two-year visit...

  12. The People of Appomattox County
    date June 30, 1850map APPOMATTOX, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Race-Relations

    The 1850 census of Appomattox County revealed the social order of this western Virginia county and determined that although most Virginians were proponents of slavery, very few residents of Appomattox County actually owned slaves. Compiled by Stuart McD. Farrar, the census polled residents of the county on June 30, 1850 and organized the data by household. Each household was numbered and every...

  13. Governor Aaron V. Brown of Tennessee and the Question of Slavery
    date 1850map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Government, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In 1850, Governor Aaron V. Brown of Tennessee spoke at a benefit for an orphan's asylum in Nashville, Tennessee. During his speech at Odd Fellow's Hall, he addressed the recent progress of the United States in regarding the escalating question of slavery. Governor Brown expressed the feelings of many southerners who felt threatened by the anti-slavery rhetoric in the North. The Governor...

  14. Mass Slave Runaway from McIntosh, GA Plantation
    date 1850 to December, 1850map MC INTOSH, Georgiatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Crime/Violence, Economy, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Things were looking promising on Mr. Thomas' plantation, Peru, in 1850. He owned over 150 slaves and 15,000 acres, all of which produced great wealth in the form of cotton and other crops. Most of his slaves had been reared on his plantation alongside him and his son ten-year old son, Edward. Both father and son felt they were very good to their slaves and provided them with ample food, clothing,...

  15. A Different Type of Honor
    date 1850map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Health/Death, Education

    University honor systems meant something very different in nineteenth century South from what they do in the twenty-first century. The Honor Systems essentially were guides on how to be a Southern Gentlemen. The University of Virginia's Honor Code, which in the twentieth century the university defined as only outlawing lying, cheating, and stealing, included rules against spitting in public...

  16. The Montpelier Guard Repairs to Charleston
    date 1850map ORANGE, Virginiatags Government, Politics, War

    In 1859, John Brown endeavored to start a liberation movement among enslaved people in Virginia. A staunch abolitionist, Brown was the first white American to set about culling up a slave insurrection. He first gained the nation's attention when he led a volunteer militia during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of the previous decade. Following his involvement in that conflict, Brown was responsible...

  17. The Virginia Census of 1850
    date 1850map KANAWHA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Government, Race-Relations

    The composition and make-up of Virginia was complicated and had changed since the last census, so the editors of the Martinsburg Gazette, Norman Miller and George A. Porterfield, published the 1850 census of Virginia in March 1851. It showed the free white, free colored, slave, and total population in each county of the Commonwealth Virginia. As the census broke down the Virginia population...

  18. Hydraulic Mining in California
    date 1850map EL DORADO, Californiatags hydraulic mining, gold fever, Agriculture

    Gold fever broke out in the nation, and thousands of immigrants came to California joining in the greatest mass migration in America history in 1849. Many Americans traveled to California by sea, and they arrived at the southern tip of South America in the summer of 1849.  The route posed a great risk of disease, but that could not stop gold seekers' ambition. At the beginning of 1849, San Francisco...

  19. In this episode, a historical essay titled The Underground Railroad by Levi Coffin is described. Coffin was an active abolitionist who dedicated nearly 20 years to helping slaves escape to freedom. In his essay, he details his experience.
    date 1850map WAYNE, Indianatags Abolition, Slavery

    The Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses, was established to lead slaves to freedom in Canada. In order to be successful, slaves needed the shelter, food, and safety of various abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. For the slaves, the long journey was anything but easy, but those who helped them along the way faced their own challenges. In his 1850 essay...

  20. Steamboating on the Cumberland
    date July 6, 1850map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Economy, Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    As both a cotton and tobacco dealer, and a forwarding and commission merchant, A. Hamilton ran a regular advertisement for his services in The Nashville Daily Union. In the advertisement he ran on Saturday, July 6, 1850, Hamilton reassured his former patrons that he planned to remain in the business of buying and selling cotton. Hamilton thanked the public for the business they provided him in that...

  21. The Early Plight of Women in the Medical Field
    date January 1, 1850map SUFFOLK, Massachusettstags Women, Education, Health, Medicine/Health

    Late in 1849, famed author Fredrika Bremer arrived in America on a visit from Sweden.  Her writings were well known in America and upon an invitation to visit she gladly accepted.  Well aware of the high regard for women in America, she was intent on studying their position and value.

    During her two year stay in America, Ms. Bremer visited and was entertained by some of the most prominent...

  22. An advertisement for a runaway slave appears in The Republican Banner
    date August 3, 1850map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Slavery

    On August 3, 1850 a notice appeared in The Republican Banner for a runaway slave. A slave boy named Tom who “in appearance resembles an Indian' had run away from a Dr. Waters. (The Republican Banner, August 3, 1850) The note suggests that Tom would not be intellectually capable of escaping all the way to freedom without needing the assistance of Whites, and thus Dr. Waters published this...

  23. Prospectus for 1850
    date December 13, 1849map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Education, Government, Law, Politics, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    During the antebellum period newspapers frequently published editorials that prophesized the events to come. These special prospectuses gave readers a direct insight into the minds of the editors by outlining their principles and beliefs. The National Era was a weekly abolitionist newspaper and the editor of the paper, Mr. Bailey, was interested in publishing literary ideas as well as developments...

  24. Furman Promises Appropriate Education for Women
    date August, 1850map ANDERSON, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Church/Religious-Activity, Education, Women

    Reverend James C. Furman delivered a speech for opening convocation on the anniversary of Johnson Female Seminary in August of 1850. He addressed the crowd of students with the words, "women's sphere lies within the limits of private life. Home is the true scene of her influence." He stressed the meaning of women as mothers, mistresses, advisors, physicians, judges, and educators. ...

  25. The Single Inaugural Address of President Zachary Taylor
    date December 4, 1849map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Compromise of 1850, Inaugural Address, Taylor, President, Politics

    President Zachary Taylor's only inaugural address of the year 1849 is, at first glance, a rather typical political address from a rather typical president. He is one president in the long line of ex-military men to join politics. Like many, he was not especially interested in politics and more coerced into it. Taylor and his address are an important because he is one of the presidents in the run-up...