Episodes Nearest to May 7, 1873 to May 8, 1873: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Maryland Holds a State Temperance Convention
    date May 7, 1873 to May 8, 1873map BALTIMORE, Marylandtags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity

    A State Temperance Convention assembled in Baltimore, Maryland with the purpose of forming an auxiliary to the National Temperance Convention in New York. A large presence of over three hundred delegates attended the convention, a number of which were African-Americans occupying seats in common with white delegates. The delegates, in general, were composed of a variety of distinguished figures representing...

  2. Arctic Exploration:  Dangerous Adventure or Scientific Discovery?
    date May 13, 1873map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Diplomacy/International, Science/Technology

    Arctic exploration debates the larger question encompassing nineteenth century America:  do we play it safe, or take risks to gain knowledge?  Do we preserve what we have, or seek new things?  Arctic exploration is one debate that centers on these issues, and the 1873 New York Tribune article, “Arctic Exploration,” addresses these difficult questions.  The late nineteenth century...

  3. Kentucky Holds Democratic State Convention
    date May 2, 1873map FRANKLIN, Kentuckytags African-Americans, Economy

    After the Civil War, Kentucky maintained a Democratic stronghold, where Republicans had a very difficult time even attempting to win elections. Because the border state of Kentucky had never seceded during the war, it did not have to be officially “reconstructed.' Following the war, the government established the Freedman's Bureau in Kentucky with offices created to aid African-Americans....

  4. William Pitt Kellogg is officially named Governor of Louisiana by President Grant
    date May 22, 1873map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    After a much disputed 1872 election, which saw both candidates claim governorship, Illinois carpetbagger William P. Kellogg was named governor over Democratic candidate, John McEnery in early 1873. Although The Courier-Journal reported the allegation that Kellogg's opponent, John McEnery, received almost 7,000 more votes, the Courier also revealed that Kellogg issued a bill of complaint. Here,...

  5. Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873
    date April 14, 1873map ORLEANS, Louisianatags New Orleans, Slaughterhouse Cases, Butchers, Health Codes 1873, Monopoly

    The smell of rotting, maggot infested corpses, stomach acid, and feces filled the humid air in New Orleans for years.  The look on the animal’s faces as they met their violent death was heartbreaking.   This butchering began what is now known as the controversial “Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873.”  Racial tension, public health issues, and a corrupt monopoly laid the foundation for the legal...

  6. The Atlanta Constitution reported that there have been riotous demonstrations on the part of colored men in the administrative subdivision of Louisiana called Grant parish. Here, some whites were ordered to leave the parish and after complying wi
    date April 7, 1873 to April 13, 1873map GRANT, Louisianatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    The Atlanta Constitution reported that there have been riotous demonstrations on the part of colored men in the administrative subdivision of Louisiana called Grant parish. Here, some whites were ordered to leave the parish and after complying with the demand, had their residences plundered. This account reflected the immense racial tensions within a small part of Louisiana. This eventually soon...

  7. The Political Struggle of Virginia is Forecasted
    date April 9, 1873map HENRICO, Virginiatags Race-Relations

    As the controlling Radical Republican Party mainly legislated reforms during Reconstruction, Virginia virtually avoided the reconstructive efforts because the Republicans never actually gained complete control over the state. Initially, Republicans shared power with the Democrats in the state. However, with state elections approaching in November, both parties began to prepare for the significant...

  8. The Air-Line Railroad Completed
    date April 4, 1873map SPARTANBURG, South Carolinatags Migration/Transportation, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    Organized in 1870, the Atlanta & Richmond Air-Line combined the Georgia Air Line Railway and the Air Line Railroad Company of South Carolina under president Algernon S. Buford. The line was complete by 1873. Many people of South Carolina were overjoyed by the completion of this railway, because it finally gave the people a cheap route northward. <br /><br />For these people, the railway...

  9. Democrats Control the Thirteenth Legislature in Texas
    date January 4, 1873 to June 4, 1873map AUSTIN, Texastags Race-Relations

    Controlling both houses of the Legislature, the Democrats of the thirteenth legislature furthered the efforts of “redeeming' the state from the Republicans. They would also be crucial in bringing the Texas state government back into the hands of the Democratic Party. Although the Republicans still retained a stronghold in the beginning of 1873 through the office of Governor Edmund J. Davis...

  10. Southern Higher Education after the Civil War
    date July 3, 1873map ALBEMARLE, Virginiatags Education

    R.T.W Duke received his degree in Political Economy from the University of Virginia on July 3 1873. He marveled at the signature of the Secretary of the Faculty, William Wertenbaker, the Faculty Chairman Charles L. Venable, and that of Professor of Political Economy Hokines. By earning his degree, Mr. Duke entered the ranks of college educated southerners that day in Charlottesville.

    In the...

  11. Hunting for Negros
    date January 3, 1873 to 1873map AMELIA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    Two white men were walking past their cornfield and spotted a hat moving across the field. As the men investigated it became clear that the hat belonged to an African American male. When the two white men realized this, and the fact that he was stealing their corn, they immediately chased after him with guns drawn. One of the white males opened fire on the black man undoubtedly aiming to kill. He...

  12. Miscegenation laws passed prohibiting racial intermarriage
    date July 7, 1873map WAKE, North Carolinatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    : By 1873, both Virginia and North Carolina had installed conservative, white-dominated state governments, the former having been “redeemed' in 1870; that is, white Virginians generally opposed to black rights controlled state government.' (Hartzell 135). The relative lack of Federal interference in these states' legislative actions and nearly nonexistent Republican influence...

  13. President Ulysses S. Grant Gives Second Inaugural Address
    date March 4, 1873map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    After reelection in 1872, President Grant presented his second inaugural address on a frigid March day the following year. Called “the most brilliant inauguration which ever took place in this country' by The Courier-Journal, the speech was witnessed by thousands of spectators who had been attracted to Washington simply for this occasion. The immense crowd cheered the President as he passed...

  14. Black Representation Increases in Federal and State Governments
    date March 4, 1873map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    As Reconstruction progressed, blacks became more assertive and prominent in the southern Republican Party. African-Americans began to flex their political muscles despite common obstacles of white dominance. An example of momentary white repression occurred in South Carolina to black politician Robert B. Elliott, who later took a seat in the House. It is likely that South Carolina would have had...

  15. Congress Passes the Timber Culture Act
    date March 3, 1873map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Agriculture

    Throughout the 19th Century, the American government as well as people continued to maintain the desire to push the move out West. Dealing with westward expansion and land ownership, the United States government passed a series of Homestead Laws over the decade in order to promote the settlement of Americans westward. In 1841, Congress passed the Pre-emption Act in response to the demands of the...

  16. Mississippi Passes a State Civil Rights Bill
    date February 27, 1873map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    During the time of Reconstruction, strong Republican parties grew as a result of heavy reliance of blacks as their constituency. Generating the overwhelming majority of the party's votes, blacks became the majority of the electorate in Southern states, such as South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi. As the black support increased, it was clear that policies and enactments had to be geared...

  17. Alabama Legislature Introduces a Civil Rights Bill
    date February 20, 1873map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    As acquiring civil rights became a political mark indicating the party's commitment to its black supporters, the passage of these measures demonstrated the shift of priority and power that was occurring within the Republican Party. Indeed, the black constituency in the South greatly influenced and led legislation. Needing to consolidate the crucial black vote, Republican legislators pressed...

  18. The Other John Adams
    date February 17, 1873map RICHMOND, Virginiatags African-Americans, Economy, Health/Death, Race-Relations

    They were vultures, gorging shamelessly at the lifetime accomplishments of John Adams. Though he was not the founding father with the same name, this John Adams led an equally compelling life as a free black contractor and plasterer in Richmond. He was also one of the extremely few African Americans in the South who owned a substantial amount of property before the Civil War. Now, seven and a...

  19. Ku Klux Klan pardons issued by President Grant in South Carolina
    date July 31, 1873map RICHLAND, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    The South Carolina branch of the Ku Klux Klan was established during the 1868 Presidential campaign. The KKK promptly began using violence, including political murders, as a means of terrorizing black voters and assuring a Democratic victory. Violence and aggression on the part of the KKK toward black voters and Radical white supporters spiraled out of control; in April of 1871, President Grant...

  20. “Hughes Walks Over the Tracks'
    date July 30, 1873 to July 31, 1873map CAMPBELL, Virginiatags Race-Relations

    On July 30, the Virginia Republican Party's Lynchburg convention, presided over by a colored Williamsburg delegate named Mr. Davison, nominated former Confederate supporter Robert H. Hughes as its candidate for governor. In his acceptance speech the following day, which the Richmond Dispatch promptly deemed “an insult to the people of Virginia,' Hughes lashed out at bigoted whites,...

  21. Lynching to Protect White Women
    date July 31, 1873map MASON, Kentuckytags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Health/Death, Race-Relations

    Though the exponential increase in lynching did not truly begin until the late 1880s, the upward trend had already begun a decade earlier. Casual articles with headlines like “A Rascal Lynched' were fairly common in the newspapers of the 1870s; already, much of the Southern public was blinded with fear and rage at the idea of a black man with a white woman. A lynching was most likely...

  22. Augusta, Georgia Holds an Agricultural Convention
    date February 11, 1873 to February 13, 1873map RICHMOND, Georgiatags Agriculture, Economy

    On February 11, 1873, the Agricultural Convention was held in Augusta, Georgia. The states of Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and New York were represented. Roughly two hundred delegates attended this conference. At the convention, attendees discussed the economic condition of the South, and they also proposed and passed resolutions to remedy this situation. The main issues debated included...

  23. Black Religious Revival in South Carolina sends congregation to Tennessee
    date August 5, 1873 to August 8, 1873map SPARTANBURG, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Church/Religious-Activity, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    On August 8, 1873, a correspondent for the Charleston News & Courier dispatched a report on a mass exodus led by a black preacher-prophet named Bobo, described as “the spiritual head and adviser of one of the largest negro congregations in [the] county.' Bobo's church was located slightly south of Spartanburg, and his followers came from nearly every local plantation to hear him preach....

  24. Mississippi House Signs a Social Equality Bill
    date February 5, 1873map HINDS, Mississippitags African-Americans, Race-Relations

    On Wednesday, February 5, 1873, the Mississippi House passed a bill forbidding owners of hotels, theaters, or other places of amusement, common carriers, etc., from making any distinction on account of color. Under this enactment, a proprietor would face heavy penalties for disobeying the act. An African American member of the House introduced the bill, and the proposal passed along a virtually...

  25. Southern Historical Society moves to Richmond
    date August 14, 1873map GREENBRIER, West Virginiatags Education, Migration/Transportation

    From its 1869 establishment in New Orleans, the Southern Historical Society sought to establish a branch in every southern state, but membership was low in the first four years of the its existence. In August of 1873, the SHS held a convention in White Sulphur Springs, WV to discuss the society's location, leadership, mission, and operation. Most of the delegates to the convention had been...