Episodes Around: 18580512 to 18580515

  1. First Transatlantic Telegram
    date 1857 to August 16, 1858map WASHINGTON, Virginiatags Economy, Migration/Transportation

    Following the success of a New York-Newfoundland telegraph line, philanthropist Cyrus Field convinced the governments of American and Great Britain to fund a transatlantic line. It would take 2,500 miles of cable to complete the job, and construction was interrupted often by errors. Cables snapped, ships wrecked, and money was running out. Meanwhile, the American South was watching the progress...

  2. 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...

  3. 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...

  4. 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...

  5. 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...

  6. 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...

  7. 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...

  8. 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....

  9. A View of Southern Women
    date January 1, 1858 to December 31, 1859map ORANGE, Virginiatags Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    Fannie Page Hume, a woman from Orange County, Virginia, kept an extensive diary between the years of 1858-1859. She had an entry for each day during these two years in which she talked about such things as her clothing, visits made by family and friends, the weather, and illnesses. Included in her diary were brief mentions of her slaves, who had been recently hired out to other plantation owners...

  10. 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...