Episodes Nearest to November 1, 1855 to January 30, 1856: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The Pains of Being a Democrat in Richmond
    date November, 1855 to January, 1856map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Crime/Violence, Politics, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    In 1855, John Sergeant Wise, the young son of the newly elected Governor Henry Wise, was desperately trying to adapt to his new home in Richmond, Virginia. Having previously come from a rural town, John Wise was mocked by his schoolmates for being a provincial bumpkin. However, most of the abuse from his fellow students was due to his father's political persuasion as a Democrat. In one particular...

  2. Virginians Advocate Death for Slave Stealing
    date December 17, 1855map GOOCHLAND, Virginiatags Migration/Transportation, Slavery

    The escape of slaves was common during the year of 1855. Much of this began to be blamed upon the northern states, such as Massachusetts, who was not upholding the Fugitive Slave Act. There was a southern anticipation regarding the northerners' influence on the escape and uprisings of slaves. A large part of this view that northern abolitionists were involved was because of the Underground...

  3. Violence Resulting from the Kansas-Nebraska Act Leads to the “Wakarusa War.'
    date November 29, 1855map PLATTE, Missouritags Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Slavery

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 led to a passionate desire to populate the territories with either pro-slavery or free-soil voters. One of the problems that arose from this situation involved the Platte County, Missouri, which, according to the Times-Picayune, some desired to be annexed to Kansas by pro-slavery factions on the border between Missouri and Kansas. This heightened tensions between...

  4. Governor Adams of South Carolina Proposes Changing Laws Regarding Colored Seamen at Ports
    date November 27, 1855map LEXINGTON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Slavery

    In 1855 there still existed a law in South Carolina that allowed for the imprisonment of colored seamen who arrived at their ports. This act was causing tensions with the British vessels that landed in South Carolina, but then lost seaman to the jails. In February 1855, the new Governor of South Carolina visited Charleston and was asked by Robert Bunch to change the Negro Seamen Acts in South...

  5. Reward
    date November 21, 1855map ORLEANS, Louisianatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Be on the look out for a runaway slave. Wednesday morning, November 21, 1855 found Patrick finnegan, a slave owner, in a dismal mood. His slave, Edmund, became one of the many attempted runaways across the country. If only he could make it across the border line, Edmund would find himself a safe haven to live out the rest of his life.

    Edmund was described as a 5 feet high, stout built and...

  6. Letter of Henry A. Wise
    date November 18, 1855map ACCOMACK, Virginiatags Law

    Henry A. Wise was elected Governor of Virginia in 1855, defeating the Know-Nothing candidate Thomas S. Flournoy, attacking him on religious intolerance and Know-nothing sects of pro-slavery forces in the north. Wise's priority was the institutions of the South and, despite his concerns with state issues; he was ardent on his views against growing northern power over the south. For wise, the...

  7. Bill Passed to Incorporate the Mississippi Central and Tennessee Railroad Company
    date November 14, 1855map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Economy, Migration/Transportation

    During 1855 there was a strong movement to expand the railroads in the southern states. Although railroads were well established in the far southeastern states, there was still a need and desire to expand into the west and into the midwestern states. During the 1850's there was a particular expansion of railroads in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Railroads were also built more upon...

  8. Escape through Death: The Story of Fugitive Margaret Garner
    date January 27, 1856 to January 28, 1856map HAMILTON, Ohiotags Law, Women, Slavery, african americans

    Deemed “a tale of horror” by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Margaret Garner, a fugitive slave, took the life of her child in order to save her from a life of slavery.  This is the story that Cincinnati woke up to on the morning of January 29, 1856.  Two nights earlier, sixteen slaves had escaped from Kentucky into Ohio, eight of whom included Garner and her family.  According to The...

  9. Meeting of Delegates representing the Agricultural Society
    date October 25, 1855map MADISON, Tennesseetags Agriculture

    The agricultural societies' delegates of Haywood, Fayette, Shelby, and Madison met to set up the governing board of the society in Tennessee. This movement for agricultural initiation influenced the role of the government in helping the farmer's of Tennessee. The creation of fairgrounds shows the impact of agricultural groups. Governor Johnson persuaded the legislature to purchase land...

  10. National Women's Convention in Cincinnati
    date October 8, 1855map MONTGOMERY, Ohiotags women's rights, Female Unionists

    On Thursday October 8, 1855 the crowd of government and union officials at the The National Convention of Women’s Rights in Cincinnati fell silent as Lucy Stone Blackwell took the stage.  The preceding speaker Mr. Wise, had discussed gender inequality in education. Wise theorized that America was the home of a generation of “disappointed women.” who had been denied equal access to educational...

  11. Education by Gender
    date March 1, 1856map YORK, South Carolinatags Arts/Leisure, Education, War, Women

    The Charleston Mercury ran an advertisement in March 1856 for the creation of a "Preparatory Military School" in Yorkville, South Carolina. Though the school was set to open nine years later, in 1865, the headmasters were thinking far ahead. The basic courseload for the school had arithmetic, history, geography, and grammar, while the advanced lessons included surveying, mythology, French,...

  12. Politics in 1855
    date October 1, 1855map NEW YORK, New Yorktags African-Americans, Politics

    "Two of the nominees are negroes," is a statement not heard in everyday life. Today it is not that big of a deal that a black man is running for president, or for any office in the government. However, one hundred and fifty years ago, a black man was not even considered a person, much less someone who could run for political office, especially Secretary of State. Fredrick Douglass, a former slave,...

  13. Steamboats denied docking privileges for fear of yellow fever or cholera
    date September 29, 1855map ST LANDRY, Louisianatags Health/Death, Economy

    Fear of deadly diseases like yellow fever and cholera brought a panic into towns and had a negative affect on business activity. This fear caused townspeople to speak out against any possible event that could import the disease into their areas, especially areas located near ports, where there was a risk that ships could be carrying these diseases. This fear was commonly spread by reports in the...

  14. Family Divided Over Know-Nothings Membership
    date September 18, 1855map ORANGEBURG, South Carolinatags Politics

    The Hammond Family of Georgia dispersed in the 1850s. One son spent years in Europe; another took to the hills of the Blue Ridge; Jake Hammond lived as far west as San Francisco, California. General J. N. Hammond and his wife, the heads of the family, moved to a plantation in southwestern South Carolina. Still, as far apart as the family became geographically, the sons kept in touch with their parents...

  15. Interracial Sex
    date September 5, 1855map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Slavery

    Angry voices yelled out through the night as the dim lights of the Levee shown on several slave girl's faces. The police broke apart their gathering on September 5, 1855. Ther girls were arrested for pilfering and prostitution and were taken to the New Orleans jail until their owners called for them.

    Occurences such stealing and prostitution were not uncommon in the streets of New Orleans....

  16. The Spartanburg Female College
    date August 22, 1855map SPARTANBURG, South Carolinatags Economy, Education, Government, Women

    On a hot sunny date in the upcountry of South Carolina, S. Bobo, the President of the Board of Trustees of the Spartanburg Female College, delivered an inauguration address for the founding of the all women's college. He carefully described the faculty, which included a minister, and the courses of study, ranging from reading and writing to arithmetic and geography. He pleaded with the audience...

  17. Jefferson Davis on Indian Removal
    date April 14, 1856 to April 15, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    Secretary of War Jefferson Davis wrote to Governor James S. Broome of Florida regarding the War Department's plan for dealing with Indian populations in that state. Relations between Seminoles and white Floridians were marred with animosity, which occasionally resulted in violence. Davis' plan included peaceful emigration, a ban on trade with Indians, the construction of roads leading...

  18. U.S. Senator Pierre Soule files a complaint against bawdyhouses
    date August 7, 1855map ORLEANS, Louisianatags African-Americans, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    A brothel located next to the home of United States Senator Pierre Soule was so disturbing to him that he filed a complaint against the “crib' where “whites and blacks meet indiscriminately' and “make the night the accomplice of their vices and the time for their hellish amusements.' It was fairly common for white men and free women of color to be in semi-permanent arrangements,...

  19. Cause of the Kansas Troubles
    date May 1, 1856map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Politics, Slavery

    The Know-Nothing Party was blamed for the disorder in Kansas in the 1850s. On May 1 1856, the Nashville Union and American published an article criticizing the party. The article claimed that the aim of the recently created Know-Nothing Party was the abolition of slavery and, in particular, to "defeat any attempt to introduce Kansas into the union as a slave state." Know-Nothingism was...

  20. Condition of Train System in mid-1800s
    date May 1, 1856map DINWIDDIE, Virginiatags Migration/Transportation

    "The passenger car ran off the track, was pitched to the ground...dislocating my left shoulder and fracturing the end of the arm bone that fits into the shoulder." J.M. Siller wrote these words in a letter detailing a recent trip he had made from his home in Lynchburg, Virginia to Anderson, South Carolina. He was on his return trip, just outside of Petersburg, Virginia, when his...

  21. Defeated at Last: The End of the Third Seminole War
    date May 1, 1856map ALACHUA, Floridatags Native-Americans, Race-Relations, War

    The ongoing Seminole Wars between the Seminole Indians and the U.S. army began in November 1817. According to an issue of the New York Herald, the U.S. army and the Seminoles renewed this guerilla-style conflict in May of 1856, marking the Third Seminole War. Billy Bowlegs led the Seminoles in this Third War, but did not enjoy much success against the U.S. troops.

    In the article,...

  22. Agricultural Survival and Wealth
    date May 2, 1856map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Agriculture, Economy, Politics

    On May 2, 1856 in western Virginia, Congressman John Letcher wrote a letter to his friend Alexander H.H. Stuart, who was also a politician. Letcher was born in Lexington, where he owned a law firm and began his political career. He later served as the governor of Virginia beginning in 1859. Stuart, on the other hand, was born in nearby Staunton where he was greatly involved with politics. Although...

  23. The Runaway Daniel
    date May 2, 1856map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Law, Race-Relations, Slavery

    On Friday, May 2, 1856, an ad was put out in the Daily National Intelligencer from a subscriber living near Upper Marlboro', Prince George's county (Md), offered a 100 reward for the return of a "run away." On the "4th of April, Negro boy Daniel" ran away from his master to, the master believed, Washington City. Daniel's master, J. Berry, understood that "he is hired in Washington...

  24. Student Withdraws After Beating Slave Girl
    date May 3, 1856map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Slavery

    In May 1856, students and faculty at the University of Virginia were consumed by the news that the faculty board forced a student to withdraw after beating a slave child. The removal of a student from the Academical Village over a slave whipping was difficult for many to believe since whipping was a common disciplinary action for misbehaving servants. Confusion mixed with curiosity...

  25. Border Ruffians Leave For Kansas
    date May 3, 1856map JACKSON, Missouritags Migration/Transportation, Politics, Slavery

    On May 3, 1856 a group of settlers left Westport, Missouri for the Territory of Kansas. Led by Major Buford, the diverse group consisted of pro-slavery activists of all stripes. They came from several Southern states, including Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Leaving to much fanfare, the settlers departed after a reception at the Farmer's Hotel in Westport. There, Major Buford,...