Southerners wasted no time after the completion of the Missouri Compromise to create a sound structure of government for the newest slave state. The 1820 Convention to establish guidelines for Missouri statehood consisted of 41 delegates, all but eight of whom were born in slave states or territories. The convention was organized with David Barton as president, William G. Pettus as secretary,...
As the United States' population exploded, the government continued to look westward to expand the country's wealth, power, and size. In some cases, US explorers tried to live alongside Native-Americans who called the West their home, but hostility from both peoples often caused conflict. Americans embraced the mindset that not only was it acceptable, but it was even their duty to organize...
The passengers of the steamship Virginia witnessed a shocking scene on the afternoon of August 12, 1820. In fact, the scene was so unnerving and immoral that one passenger decided to write a letter to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald to express his disgust. The episode began when the steamship happened upon a small boat while traveling up the river near Fort Norfolk. Hearing cries...
In a letter to her father, Louisiana Cocke wrote that she missed him and was looking forward to his return. Louisiana wrote, I begin to be quite impatient for your return, as I am anxious to return to my studies... This demonstrates the close relationship of General Cocke and his daughter. He also apparently, served as her tutor while he was home. Families in the antebellum South were close- knit...
The beginning of the nineteenth century brought significant misfortune to Savannah, Georgia. While the city struggled to achieve public improvements and increase urban development, a disproportionate number of natural disasters struck, such as the hurricane of 1804. Incidents of yellow fever and cholera outbreak resulted in large-scale mortality and interference with business. A vast fire, “on...
Jean Lafitte's mean have attacked again Pirates in Louisiana Again? Hide the valuables
These were a few thoughts that went through the minds of the citizens that read the newspaper of St. Francisville on January 8, 1820. An articles reported the robbery of a station in Attackapas by three men associated with the legendary pirate, Jean Lafitte. To the readers' relief, the article related...
Missouri's first state elections were scheduled to choose a governor, a lieutenant governor, Congressional representative, and membership of both houses of the General Assembly. Following the contemporary national pattern during the 1820s' “Era of Good Feelings,' Missouri did not have opposing political parties. Virtually all adult, white males were Republicans, but the most powerful...
The Missouri Territory had requested admission to the US as a slave state as early as 1818. This otherwise routine petition became a complicated national debate over slavery. At the time, the nation held a balance of eleven slave and eleven free states, and although Missourians were undivided in their desire for unrestricted slavery, implementing such a system in a new state could cause bitter...
One of the worse things that could happen to a slaveholder was to have one of their slaves run away. They ran away for many reasons. They suffered from the brutal treatment of their master. They sought to be reunited with relatives or friends that lived in the North. They could run away just to experience the taste of freedom that had been stripped away from them. Most slave holders posted news...
On November 17, 1819, the Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald rejoiced in reporting the news that the new and improved Dismal Swamp Canal was nearing completion and was soon to be ready for traffic. The Canal was undergoing a process of deepening and widening so that it could accommodate the traffic of larger vessels. To the Herald, the traffic on the Dismal Swamp Canal was the lifeblood of the cities...