For at least four generations, Charles Manigault and his family had owned plantations in the Island region of Chatham, Georgia and the Charleston District of South Carolina. In Chatham County, they invested a lot of money in growing rice, as did many planters across the lowcountry regions of both states. However, in 1844 Charles began to be slightly disgruntled with the labor production of his...
Some affairs in the media are profound enough to make a mark on peoples perspectives. The trial and imprisonment of Jonathan Walker was one of these cases. This episode takes place in Pensacola, Florida during 1845. Walker had been sympathetic to slavery and took action toward its abolition, which eventually led him to be the first and only victim to suffer the severe punishment of being branded...
Ever since John Smith arrived on American soil, boats have been a major medium for transportation. Water and boats were the only adequate forms of transportation and ultimately trade. As a cycle of reinforcement, water transport promoted trade and trade promoted water transport. Soon, with the implementation of newer materials, lighter resources and fresher ideas, boats become better and faster...
The weather was the same as usual and so was the company. Adolphus Sterne went with his friends Mr. Houghson, Mr. Hoya, and Mr. Linn to Colonel Raguet's house for dinner. After dinner the Colonel accompanied the group to Mr. Moore's for a meeting of the debating society. Sterne presided over the debate and listened to each side equally. The fiery speech of wild Bill Sparks, a former Republic...
Slavery was not a permanent institution for some Southerners. In 1838, Dr. Brisbane, a Charleston, South Carolina resident, sold his twenty-seven slaves in order to move to Cincinnati, Ohio. While in Cincinnati, he decided that he did not want his former slaves to be subjected to bondage any longer. Brisbane returned to Charleston in 1844. Searching for and finding the twenty-seven enslaved African...
On March 23, 1844, Henry Bibb wrote a confusing letter to the man who once owned him, William Gatewood, updating Gatewood on what life looked like after he escaped slavery. In his letter, Bibb offered forgiveness to Gatewood for the horrendous violence exacted on his wife, his infant child, and himself. Bibb said that slavery was a norm in the South, but the freedom afforded to him in the North...
Traveling from Baltimore, Bishop Whipple arrived in the capital on the morning of April 30, 1844. He had always desired to see the city. The city was the object of greatest curiosity, fascinating the Bishop with its rich history. He stood in awe before a portrait of George Washington. The Declaration of Independence proved to be a most impressive scene, the picture fills every American heart with...
On his first and only visit to Washington, Bishop Whipple saw many new and exciting things. He marveled at the beauty of the city and was inspired by the men who fought to establish both the great nation. However, on the afternoon of May 1, 1844, another new and exciting sight fascinated Whipple. The wonder of wonders was Professor Morse's electrical telegraph. Through the electrical telegraph,...
Samuel Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on April 27th 1791. Morse was educated in prestigious institutions nationally, including Phillip's Academy at Andover and Yale University. From 1811 until 1815, Morse lived in England, exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy in 1813. The next ten years of his life were spent as a traveling artist. In 1832, Morse began his travels back to America...
The little coastal steamer, only 105 feet in length and 152 tons in weight, chugged up the Miami River towards the settlements on the interior. It was hardly a triumphant parade of U.S. naval power. The Sailing Master of such a flagship was one Edward C. Anderson, and he took in the alien landscape as it passed on either side. Upon arriving at Miami, he found it to be little more than a collection...