However L'Enfant was not the only man sent to build the capital. The law establishing the capital mandated that the

president appoint three commissioners to oversee the project. Proprietors were so uncertain of them that before deeding

their lands for the new city, they got Washington to agree that he would be the final arbiter of the design of the city and

the sites of the public buildings. So in all matters dealing with design L'Enfant needed the president's approval. In all

matters dealing with development, L'Enfant was to look to the commissioners. L'Enfant soon realized he could not work with

men who visited the city once a month for a few days to oversee his activity. In August he took his plan to the president and

also his complaints about the commissioners' plans on how to carry it through. These three small town land owners were quite

taken with the idea of financing operations from the sale of lots. L'Enfant, a man of the world, probably advised by

Treasury Secretary Hamilton, thought funds should be raised through a loan so that the interest on the loan would be

serviced by the sale of lots. Washington approved the plan of the city, but left it to the commissioners to deal with

L'Enfant's concerns how to implement the plan.

It was a disingenuous dodge by the president. Obtaining a loan to build the city before selling lots, was something the

commissioners would only let the president decide. So, the commissioners' planned an early auction of lots, evidently what

the president wanted too, though he could still maintain the fiction to L'Enfant that it was out of his hands. Not getting his

way, L'Enfant obeyed only those orders from the commissioners that suited him. They wanted him to dig clay for making

bricks. L'Enfant ignored the order. When they asked him to buy stone, he acted with dispatch and soon had quarriers at

work. Even before the public buildings had been designed by L'Enfant, the commissioners were anticipating using the

cheaper material, brick, to build them. L'Enfant wanted stone. Citing a vague clause in one commission orders that he was to

do whatever was necessary to build the city, L'Enfant stopped submitting his work plans for the commissioners' prior

approval.

Washington let this battle simmer and even sided with L'Enfant when he leveled a newly built house on Capitol Hill, owned by

the nephew of one of the commissioners, because he decided it interfered with his plan. The first year of work on the city

ended with the commissioners and L'Enfant battling at every turn with the proprietors choosing sides. In the end the

passionate French designer was no match in political in-fighting with the three commissioners. Hoping for peace Washington

summoned his old friend and commissioner Thomas Johnson to Philadelphia to smooth things over with L'Enfant. Johnson was

smart enough not to come. L'Enfant withheld final details of his plan and his plans for the public buildings hoping to use that

as leverage to regain control. Washington had created an unworkable situation in which the only possible solution was

dismissing L'Enfant. (Washington's Biggest Mistake,... Washington. Bob Arnebeck's Page on Early Washington History )

1791/04/13
Boundaries for the Federal District laid out. The ceremonies for placing this stone marker wee under the direction of Elisha

Cullen Dick, then Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge. (Ray Baker Harris, Sesqui-Centennial History of the Grand Lodge

Free and accepted Masons, District of Columbia, 1811-1961, Washington, DC, 1962)

L'Enfant's plan wasn't so popular with many of his contemporaries. Although he is hailed today as something of an

urban-planning genius, at the time government leaders including Washington and Jefferson feared he had gone too far. They

believed that his plan was too ambitious and too costly for the young republic. Their immediate concern was chiefly for the

construction of the Capitol, the White House, and the area around Pennsylvania Avenue, in a practical effort to house the

government when it relocated from the North in 1800. Jefferson's notes from a meeting with the planning commissioners

reflected his belief that "the public squares [on the map of the city] are to be left blank except that for the Capitol and the

other for the executive departments, which are to be considered as appropriated at present, all other particular

appropriations of squares to remain till they are respectively wanted." (The Mall, On-line Reference from the University of

Virginia American Studies Department, Site developed by Mary Halnon )

From the beginning of the city’s history, slavery was an integral part of the economy. Slaves formed the core of the early

labor force, working on the construction of public and private buildings almost as frequently as they served as household

servants. When the government embarked on public works, it also hired slave labor; the Treasury Department paid the

absentee masters for the use of their human chattel. To protect slaveholders in the city, a special tax was levied on

nonresident slave labor.

Wedged between two slave states, the District of Columbia was ideally located to become the hub of the domestic slave

trade. With the increased demand for slaves caused by the expansion of cotton cultivation in the lower South and the slow

but steady reduction of tobacco cultivation in Maryland and Virginia, a growing "surplus" of slaves developed in the vicinity

of the capital." (Green, Constance McLaughlin. Washington: Village and Capital 1800-1878. Princeton: Princeton University

Press, 1962, 53-54.)

Slaves hired from their masters by Pierre L'Enfant begin work on the Construction of the White House. "Since much was

accomplished very quickly there must have been many; the conditions of their labor from daybreak to dark under the

command of tough, hard-drinking James Dermott can only be imagined." Do to lack of skilled labor in Washington, DC, The

White House master stonemason, Collen Williamson, had to train hired slaves on the spot at the quarry to cut the stone to

build the foundation of the White House. (The President's House: a History by William, Seale and Harry N. Abrams, White

House Historical Association with the Cooperation of the National Geographic Society, 1986, vol. 1, Pages 38, 50, 52,57,60)

James Dermott was described by the Commissioners as one who "now and then drank to access (sic) and when enebrated

(sic) ... is unruly and quarrelsome." They "did not perceive that it's (sic) frequency injured the business he was engaged in,"

Dermott would be discharged for misconduct by the Commissioners in January 2, 1798 (Letter of March 23, 1794 cited in

Chronology of Events in the History of the District of Columbia, Compiled by Philip Ogilvie, Deposited in the Library of the

Historical Society of Washington, DC)

In 1792 the commissioners hired James Dermott to assist in the surveying. The chief surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, a Quaker

friend of Benjamin. Banneker, assigned Dermott the task of supervising the slave axe-men. The commissioners worried that

someone so fresh from Ireland would not handle blacks correctly. By 1799 Dermott was a slave trader, offering nine women

and children, including three girls from six to tan years old, for sale. He even advertised a service to help planters get back

their runaway slaves, which didn't prevent a Virginian from placing a counter ad accusing Dermott of harboring a slave

named Robert. According to the ad the slave, who had been sold by a parson to a. Alexandria merchant and by him to a

barkeeper and by him to an Orange County planter, "has been seen in the employ of Mr. James R. Dermot and supposed to be

concealed by said Dermot."

Not that Dermott was a safe haven for a slave. At the same time he was offering a reward for jailing or flogging Fidelio,

"well known about the city" and probably lurking at an old farm in the city along the Anacostia, "where he has a wife. "As

the 1790's wore on ads for runaways seemed to pertain less to a bonafide case of a black man trying to escape to freedom,

than a slave remaining in the city and taking advantage of the social upheaval attendant to the development of the capital

city. Bennett Fenwick's ad for Jim reads as if he relished the opportunity to insult the slave who though he couldn't read

would have asked someone to read the ad. Jim, Fenwick proclaimed, "is very fond of spiritous liquors, and very droll. He will

curse any one he is acquainted with, pretend to strip himself and make believe he will tear them to pieces, but as soon as

they come up he will run from them." And indirectly attesting to the impunity with which some slaves sassed their masters,

Fenwick had to remind readers that he was serious. "I forewarn all persons," his ad concluded, "from harboring, hiring or

dealing with any of my Negroes as I am determined to act in such cases as the law directs." (Slaves at the Founding. From

Bob Arnebeck’s Page on Early Washington History )

In a letter from the Commissioners to William Wright, it states that they need "...about sixty hands, you need not be precise

as to the number, of which we think, with you as many of them should be good Negroes as you can get. (National Archives,

RG 42. Records of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, Copies of Letterbooks of letters

sent by the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 1791-98, Box 1 entry 104 Volume 3 dated September 1, 1792.)

Collen Williamson, master stonemason at the Capitol, was another founder (along with Hoban) of Federal Lodge No. 1 of

Freemasons in Washington, DC. "A Scotsman, quiet and modest, declining place or prominence, but one whose true worth may

in some measure be estimated from his meeting the exacting requirements of Hoban, the architect, whose insistent demands

for sound and finished work on the pubic edifices were the case of endless contentions. He left the Capitol on bad terms

with the Commissioners of the city and dies in February, 1802." (Charles F. Benjamin, A History of Federal Lodge No

1.contained in the by-laws of Federal Lodge, No. 1 Free and Accepted masons of the District of Columbia with a History of

the Lodge, 1901 Gibson Bros., Washington, DC)

The winner of a 1792 competition for its design was the Irish-American architect James Hoban, whose dignified

neoclassical plan was a virtual copy of a project in James Gibbs's Book of Architecture (1728). As early as 1807, Benjamin

Latrobe, the principal architect of the Capitol, sought to improve the building by preparing designs for pavilions at either end

(added that year in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson), for interior alterations, and for porticos on both fronts. After

the building was burned (1814) by the British, it was reconstructed (1815-17) by Hoban, who also added (1826) the

semicircular South Portico that Latrobe had proposed and completed (1829) Latrobe's rectangular North Portico. (The White

House)

Some slaves worked right along side their masters. While the commissioners only rented slaves they described as "laborers"

and never trained slaves to do skilled labor, they did allow James Hoban to bring his skilled slave carpenters to the city.

Hoban learned the art of building in Dublin, then emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina. When he heard bout the open

competition to design the public buildings in Washington, he came to the city via Philadelphia where he conferred with

President Washington. His design of what was then called the president's house won the competition. Impressed by his

experience, the commissioners hired Hoban to supervise building it. He returned to Charleston and brought back several

Irish carpenters, and his and their slaves. The earliest payroll for skilled workers at the White House dates from January

1795. Nine white carpenters, three white apprentices, and five slave carpenters were at work. The white carpenters made

$1.09 a day, the apprentices from 84 to 97 cents a day, and the slaves from 53 to 84 cents a day for their masters. The

month's wages of Peter, Ben, Harry and Daniel, totaling $60, went to James Hoban. It seems these slave carpenters worked

side by side with the white. For example, the crew that built a bridge over Tiber Creek which ran along today's Constitution

Avenue consisted of two white and two slave carpenters.
Judging from the payrolls only slaves brought to the city by Hoban and his assistants got skilled work with the

commissioners. However, the commissioners did hire free blacks, and one of them, Jerry Holland, did make a. impression. In

January 1795 he worked as one of 9 laborers on the surveying crew. "Pay Jerry the black man," the chief surveyor wrote to

the commissioners, "a rate of $8 per month for his last moths services; he is justly entitled to the highest wages that is due to

our hands - being promised it and the best hand in the department." The commissioners ignored the recommendation.

In May 1796 a man listed as "Negro William" worked as a bricklayer earning $1.33 a day, equal to what white masons were

getting. But in all other monthly payrolls the masons were all white. To save paying high wages to masons, a new commissioner,

William Thornton, who was not a southern slave owner, proposed buying 50 intelligent Negroes" and having a few very high

paid white train them in stone work. In return the slaves would get their freedom in five years. His colleagues didn't take the

proposal seriously.

Slaves did specialize in certain tasks other than the general drudgery of hauling building materials. They predominated in

the sawpits where timber was cut for the carpenters, and predominated in the crews making bricks. Unfortunately the

commissioners contracted out for bricks so other than the insistent calls of one contractor for more slaves, no record

remains of the size and composition of the crews. Upwards of 40 slaves probably worked for such contractors bringing the

total number of slaves working on the public buildings to a little over 150, in a total workforce of seldom more than

300.While the master brick makers in the city were white, slaves achieved considerable skill. Slaves who could make bricks

went for a higher rental, over 50 cents a day. Towards the end of the decade, after millions of bricks had been made for

the interior walls of the Capitol and White House, contractors making bricks for private houses in the city advertised for

"Negroes that have been used to the brickmaking business, amongst which must be four good moulders, temperers, and boys

as off-bearers, for which generous wages will be given." Tending brick kilns was hot work that whites shunned, and that

was also the case with plaster. When it came time to plaster the interior walls of the public building, plaster rock was

brought up Rock Creek to Pierce's Mill where it was ground and then boiled down by slaves. (Slaves at the Founding)

The City of Washington welcomed both coastal slave ships and increasingly numerous overland coffles. Slave pens were

established in what is now Potomac Park, and one thrived in the shadows of the White House, behind Decatur House on

Lafayette Square. When the pens were full, the city jails were pressed into service as holding centers for slaves awaiting

passage to Georgia and the new cotton and sugar plantations of the lower South. (G. Franklin Edwards and Michael R.

Winston, Commentary: The Washington of Paul Jennings—White House Slave, Free Man, and Conspirator for Freedom. White

House Historical Association)
1791
Oliver Evans patents an "automated mill" in which power that turns the millstones also conveys wheat (grist) to the top of the

mill. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf) (Select here for a description of the milling

process.)

1791
Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario), was created in 1791 to cope with the influx of refugees from the American

Revolution, was home to several hundred slaves, many of them brought there by their loyalist owners fleeing the new

republics. Upper Canada's first parliament, under pressure from Governor Simcoe, passed an act to gradually abolish slavery

in the colony: No more slaves could be brought into Upper Canada. Those already in the colony prior to the Act were to

remain slaves for the rest of their lives. The children of female slaves already in Upper Canada would be free upon reading

their 25th birthday. Reflecting pressure from slave owners and some members of the elective Assembly, what were seen as

existing property rights were protected but legal slavery was doomed to steadily decline and eventual disappearance in the

colony. This Upper Canadian statute did not explicitly deal with the question of the rights of fugitive slaves who had

escaped to Upper Canada but as a result of the legal opinion of the colony's Chief Justice in 1818 no one seen as a slave in

another jurisdiction could be returned there simply because he/she had sought freedom in Upper Canada. Whatever their

status in the U.S. or elsewhere, in Upper Canada they were free long before the abolition of slavery throughout the British

empire in 1833. (Posting on SLAVERY@LISTSERV.UH.EDU by Dr. Jeffrey L. McNairn, Department of History, York

University, Toronto, Ontario, oluap@idirect.com)

1791/08/22
Haitian Revolution began with revolt of slaves in northern province. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the

Mayflower)

Undoubtedly, the most outstanding slave revolt in the western hemisphere took place in Haiti. During the French revolution,

concepts of the rights of man spread from France to her colonies. In Haiti, the free mulattos petitioned the French

revolutionary government for their rights. The Assembly granted their request. However, the French aristocrats in Haiti

refused to follow the directives of the Assembly. At this point, two free mulattos, Vincent Oge and Jean Baptiste Chavannes,

both of whom had received an education in Paris, led a mulatto rebellion. The Haitian aristocrats quickly and brutally

suppressed it.

By this time, however, the concepts of the rights of man had spread to the slave class. In 1791, under the leadership of

Toussaint l'Ouverture, the slaves began a long and bloody revolt of their own. Slaves flocked to Toussaint's support by the

thousands until he had an army much larger than any that had fought in the American revolution, This revolt became

entangled with the French revolution and the European wars connected with it. Besides fighting the French, Toussaint had to

face both British and Spanish armies. None of them was able to suppress the revolt and to overthrow the republic which had

been established in Haiti. After Napoleon came to power in France, he sent a gigantic expedition under Leclerc to

reestablish French authority in Haiti. While he claimed to stand for the principles of the revolution, Napoleon's real interest

in Haiti was to make it into a base from which to rebuild a French empire in the western hemisphere. Toussaint lured this

French army into the wilderness where the soldiers, who had no immunity to tropical diseases, were hit very hard by malaria

and yellow fever. Toussaint was captured by trickery, but his compatriots carried on the fight for independence. Finally,

Napoleon was forced to withdraw from the struggle. One of the results of his failure to suppress the slave revolt in Haiti

was his abandonment of his New World dreams and his willingness to sell Louisiana to the United States. Unfortunately, this

meant new areas for the expansion of the plantation economy and slavery. In other words, the Haitian revolution was

responsible for giving new life to the institution of slavery inside America.

American plantation owners were faced with a dilemma. The Louisiana Purchase, resulting from the revolution in Haiti,

greatly expanded the possibilities of plantation agriculture. This meant a greater need for slave labor. However, they were

not sure from which source to purchase these slaves. They hesitated to bring new slaves directly from Africa. They were

also loath to bring seasoned slaves from the Caribbean. Events in Haiti had demonstrated that these Caribbean slaves might

not be as docile as previously had been believed. Certainly, Americans did not want repetition of the bloody Haitian revolt

within their own borders. Greedy men still bought slaves where they could, but many American slave owners were deeply

disturbed and began to give serious thought to terminating the importation of African slaves to America. (Norman Coombs,

The Immigrant Heritage of America, Twayne Press, 1972. chapter 2, Caribbean Interlude.)

George Washington after receiving report of "alarming state of affairs" provides U.S. loan of up to $40,000 for urgently

needed provisions to that island, to the French Minister. (George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, September 24, 1791

The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799. John C. Fitzpatrick, Editor.--vol. 31
Mount Vernon, September 24, 1791.)

In a follow-up letter, George Washington writes that the United States are to render every aid in their power to our good

friends and Allies the French to quell "the alarming insurrection of the Negros in Hispaniola (Haiti)" and sent "orders to the

Secretary of the Treasury to furnish the money, and to the Secretary of War to deliver the Arms and Ammunition," (George

Washington to Jean B. Ternant, September 24, 1791 The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript

Sources, 1745-1799. John C. Fitzpatrick, Editor.--vol. 31 Mount Vernon, September 24, 1791.)

The Republicans, headed by Jefferson, began to detach themselves from the cause of the French Revolution after 1793, and

especially from 1795 on. But this was not because Jefferson and the rest of them were belatedly experiencing some form of

revulsion against excesses which they had systematically condoned (often by denying their existence) at the time of their

perpetration. The detachment of the Republicans from the French Revolution was the result of a growing perception in

1794-95, that the enthusiasm for the French Revolution, among the American people, was cooling. It was cooling not because

of those excesses--which were at their worst during the period when Americans (other than Federalists) were most

enthusiastic about the French Revolution—but because of developments in the United States itself and in a neighboring

territory, Saint-Domingue (Haiti). Those developments included Citizen Genet's interference in the affairs of the United

States and the simultaneous victory of the black slaves in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and ensuing massacre and dispersion of the

whites. The exact nature of the connection between the black insurrection and the French Revolution remains open to

argument. But it would have been hard for the slaveowners to remain enthusiastic for the French Revolution after February

1794 when the French National Convention, then dominated by Robespierre, decreed the emancipation of all slaves, both in

the dominions of the French Republic and of Great Britain (which had included, up to 1783, the American colonies). The

emancipating Act of February 1794 was probably not the least of "the atrocities of Robespierre" in the eyes of Virginia

slaveowners, including Thomas Jefferson. After these events--and especially after Washington's withering stigmatization of

the Republican and Democratic Societies in December 1794--Jefferson and his colleagues realized that the cause of the

French Revolution, formerly a major political asset to them in the United States, had now become a liability.

So they cut their

losses. They never repudiated the French Revolution--still cherished by many of their rank-and-file--but it was as if this part

of their political stock-in-trade had been removed from the front window. You could still get it, but only if you asked for it;

as some of Jefferson's correspondents did. (Conor Cruise O'Brien , The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French

Revolution, 1785-1800, published by the University of Chicago Press. 1996, from )

George Washington wrote Jean Baptiste de Tenant, the French minister, in September 1791, promising to lose no time in

dispatching orders to furnish money and arms requested by the French government to quell the revolt. "I am happy in the

opportunity of testifying how well disposed the United states are to render every aid in their power to our good friends and

Allies the French to quell 'the alarming insurrection of the Negroes in Hispanola' and of the ready disposition to effect it,

of the Executive authority thereof." In fact the administration bowed immediately to French requests that portions of the

Revolutionary War debt still owed to France by the United States be used to aid French efforts to put down the revolt and

provision the colony.[note 49] Strongly supported by the Washington administration with money and arms and by public

opinion in the United States, thousands of refugees fled to the United States, settling in seaboard cities, where their tales

of the death and destruction left in the path of the rebelling slaves appalled Americans in the north and fed southern

paranoia.[note 50] (Washington to Ternant, 24 Sept. 1791, Arch. Aff., Etrang., Memoirs et Documents, Etats-Unis, Paris. For

the role of the French refugees in influencing public opinion in the United States, see Catherine Hebert, "French

Publications in Philadelphia in the Age of the French Revolution," Pennsylvania History, 58 (1992), 37-61 and Allan J.

Barthold, "French Journalists in the United States, 1780-1800," The Franco-American Review, 1 (1937), 215-30. See also,

"Slavery in Virginia and Saint-Domingue in the Late Eighteenth Century," Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the French

Colonial Historical Society, 1990, pp. 13-14; Carl A. Brasseaux, The Road to Louisiana: The Saint Domingue Refugees,

1792-1809 (Lafayette, La., 1992). For the use of the American debt to France, see George Latimer to Alexander Hamilton, 2

Jan. 1793, introductory note, in Harold C. Syrett et al., eds., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton (New York, 1961-87),

13:443-45. For background to the slave revolt, see Carolyn E. Fick, The Making of Haiti: The Saint Domingue Revolution from

Below (Knoxville, Tenn., 1990), esp. ch. 3.; Frances Sergeant Childs, French Refugee Life in the United States, 1790-1800

(Baltimore, 1940), 11-16; Thomas Fiehrer, "Saint-Domingue/Haiti: Louisiana's Caribbean Connection," Louisiana History, 30

(1989), 426-27. Recounted in "That Species of Property": Washington's Role in the Controversy Over Slavery by Dorothy

Twohig Originally Presented at a Conference on Washington and Slavery at Mount Vernon, October 1994)

According to the historian Douglas Egerton, "Jefferson was terrified of what was happening in Saint Domingue. He referred

to Toussaint's army as cannibals. His fear was that black Americans, like Gabriel, would be inspired by what they saw taking

place just off the shore of America. And he spent virtually his entire career trying to shut down any contact, and therefore

any movement of information, between the American mainland and the Caribbean island. He called upon Congress to abolish

trade between the United States and what after 1804 was the independent country of Haiti. He argued that France believed

it still owned the island. In short, he denied that Haitian revolutionaries had the same right to independence and autonomy

that he claimed for American patriots. And consequently, in 1805 and finally in 1806, trade was formally shut down between

the United States and Haiti, which decimated the already very weak Haitian economy. And of course, Jefferson then argued

this was an example of what happens when Africans are allowed to govern themselves: economic devastation, caused in large

part by his own economic policies. (Douglas A. Egerton, Professor of History, Le Moyne College Public Broadcasting Service,

Africans in American Resource Bank ))

1791
Louisiana- Twenty-three slaves are hanged and three white sympathizers deported, following suppression of a black revolt.

(Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis)

1791
Philadelphia- Congress excludes blacks and Indians from peacetime militia. Kentucky is admitted as a slave state.

(Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis)

1791/08/19
Benjamin Banneker, a freedman from Maryland, wrote to Thomas Jefferson complaining that it was time to eradicate false

racial stereotypes. While expressing doubts regarding the merits of slavery in his "Notes on Virginia", Jefferson had

expressed his belief in the inferiority of the African. Banneker had educated himself, especially in mathematics and

astronomy, and in 1789 he was one of those who helped to survey the District of Columbia. Later, he predicted a solar

eclipse. In 1791 he had begun the publication of a series of almanacs, and the next year he sent one of these to Jefferson in

an attempt to challenge his racial views. Jefferson was so impressed with the work that he sent it to the French Academy of

Science. However, he seemed to view Banneker as an exception rather than fresh evidence undermining white stereotypes.

(Norman Coombs, The Immigrant Heritage of America, Twayne Press, 1972. Chapter 5 A Nation Divided. The Black

Experience In America Part 2, Emancipation Without Freedom. Chapter 5 A Nation Divided, Black Moderates And Black

Militants)

On August 19, 1791, Benjamin Banneker wrote a lengthy letter to Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, in which

"having taken up my pen in order to direct to you as a present, a copy of an Almanack... I was unexpectedly and unavoidably

led" to develop a discourse on race and rights. Banneker made it a point to "freely and Cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of

the African race." Though not himself a slave, Banneker encouraged Jefferson to accept "the indispensable duty of those

who maintain for themselves the rights of human nature," by ending the "State of tyrannical serfdom, and inhuman captivity,

to which too many of my brethren are doomed." Appealing to Jefferson's "measurably friendly and well-disposed" attitude

toward blacks, Banneker presumed that he would "readily embrace every opportunity to eradicate that train of absurd and

false ideas and opinions which so generally prevail with respect to us." After acknowledging that by writing to Jefferson he

was taking "a liberty which Seemed to me scarcely allowable," considering "the almost general prejudice and prepossession

which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion," Banneker launched into a critical response to

Jefferson's published ideas about the inferiority of blacks. With restrained passion, Banneker chided Jefferson and other

framers of the Declaration of Independence for the hypocrisy "in detaining by fraud and violence so numerous a part of my

brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression, that you should at the Same time be found guilty of that most

criminal act, which you professedly detested in others, with respect to yourselves." Citing Jefferson's own words from the

Declaration -- the "Self-Evident" truth "that all men are created equal" -- Banneker challenged Jefferson and his fellows

"to wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with respect to" African Americans. (Reprinted

from the Public Broadcasting Service Africans in America Resource Bank.)

1791/09/09
Shortly after the owners of the land selected for the capital transferred their property to the government, President

Washington began to refer to the newly-created town as "the Federal City." At a meeting on September 9, 1791, the

commissioners agreed that the "Federal district shall be called the ‘Territory of Columbia’ and the Federal City the ‘City of

Washington.’" (The term "district" was more popularly used than "territory" and officially replaced it when the capital was

incorporated in 1871.) The name "Washington" was chosen by the commissioners to honor the President. "Columbia," a

feminine form of "Columbus," was popularized as a name for America in patriotic poetry and song after the Revolutionary

War. The term idealized America’s qualities as a land of liberty. (Historical Society of Washington, D.C.)

1791/09/28
French Constitutional Assembly abolishes slavery in France, where there are no slaves, according to the former decision of

Louis the XIVth. (Chronology of the abolition of French slavery Remerciements à Pascal Boyries, Professeur

d'Histoire-Géographie, au lycée Charles Baudelaire d'Annecy )

1791/12/19
Maryland ceded land for District of Columbia. (Maryland Historical Chronology)

1792-99
Yellow fever ravaged cities all along the east coast, including Charleston, Philadelphia, New Haven, New York, and

Baltimore. The outbreak in Philadelphia in the summer of 1793 was the most severe, and most memorable. The disease was

probably introduced from ships carrying French refugees who were fleeing turmoil in Santo Domingo, and then spread by

mosquitoes that bred in stagnant water that in years with more rain had been waterways and canals. Ten percent of the

population in that city died, about 5,000 people altogether. The new city of Washington DC was under construction at the

time, and Philadelphia was the interim capital. Most of the government officials fled the city, including George Washington

and the members of his cabinet. Various treatments were tried, none of them very effective, and controversy raged over the

best way to prevent and treat the disease. Cold weather finally brought an end to the outbreak, in late October.(Some

Historically Significant Epidemics This list was compiled largely from Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence, edited by

George C. Kohn, and published by Facts On File, Inc., 1995)

In their response to the charges leveled against Philadelphia's black community by Mathew Carey in the wake of the 1793

yellow fever epidemic, Absalom Jones and Richard Allen referred to a "bill of mortality" published at the end of the year by

the clerks and sexton of Christ Church and St. Peter's Church In addition to the baptisms and burials that took place at

Christ Church and St. Peter's -- 214 of the latter due to yellow fever -- the broadside noted the number of burials among

other congregations and denominations, including evidence that would "convince any reasonable man ... that as many colored

people died in proportion as others." (Public Broadcasting Service, Africans in America Resource Bank,)

1792/10/13

Cornerstone of White House laid in Masonic Ceremony. James Hoban, a native of Ireland, a devout Romanist (Catholic) and

Freemason was engaged to supervise the construction of the Capitol building and the "President's House" both of which he

had designed. In the year following the laying of The White House corner stone, 1793, James Hoban became first

Worshipful Master of the first regularly chartered lodge in the new city of Washington, Lodge No. 15 of Maryland (now

Federal Lodge No. 1 of the District of Columbia). As of December 20, 1794, he was recorded as Treasurer of the lodge, and

he was closely identified with the first activities of Royal Arch Masonry in the city of Washington. (R. Baker Harris, The

Laying of the Corner Stone of the White House, Potomac Lodge No. 5, Georgetown, 1949, this and other books on

Freemasonry can be found at the Scottish Rite Library in Washington, DC)

Under the leadership of Captain Hoban, a group of the brethren residing in the city of Washington, most of them operative

masons engaged in the work of constructing public buildings, decided to establish a lodge nearer to their homes and thus

avoid the necessity of journeying to Georgetown for their Masonic communications. This group, in the summer of 1793,

petitioned Lodge No. 9 for dispensation to hold lodge meeting in the Federal City (in a room in the dwelling of one of their

number , on New Jersey Avenue just south of the Capitol). On September 12, 1793, a charter was granted to these brethren,

creating Lodge No. 15 (now Federal Lodge No. 1) (A Century and a Half of Freemasonry in Georgetown, 1789-1939, Potomac

Lodge No. 5, F.A.A.M., Georgetown DC, 1939)

This Lodge was funded by Freemasons brought to the new city to engage in the erection of the public buildings. Chief among

them was James Hoban, architect of the Executive Mansion and the Capitol. "Captain Hoban, as he was usually called, was a

quick-tempered though generous man, and his professional life at the capital was stormy, despite its success. He took a large

view of his won authority, had a high regard for his own opinion, and despite official poverty and parsimony, obtained

emoluments fitted to his standing as an architect and the dignity of the works entrusted to his supervision. His designs and

proportions for the Executive mansion were deemed too pricey for a young republic by President Washington, but in the end

the architect prevailed over the statesman. His first work at the Capitol was to tear out the rotten foundations that private

greed and official suppleness had placed there, and influence, entreaty, and clamor were alike powerless to stay his had or

tongue. From 1792 till towards 1820, captain Hoban was variously engaged upon the public buildings, though his employment

at the Capitol ceased as early as 1802, after one of his numerous controversies with the Commissioners for the Federal City.

The latest of his more important works was the restoration of the Executive Mansion, which had been partially destroyed by

the British forces in 1814. Its popular name of the White House is due to his thought of painting the brownstone forming the

exterior walls, to conceal the discoloration by smoke and fire. He served the Lodge as its first master, and afterwards as

treasurer, but in a few years his name had disappeared from its rolls. There is no record of the reason for his withdrawal,

nor is the occurrence rare enough to call for inquiry or conjecture. In 1799, he was High Priest of the Royal Arch

Encampment formed within Federal Lodge, and he and the encampment disappeared together in that year. Clot Worthy

Stephenson was second master of the Lodge, and for a few years was active and conspicuous in Masonic affairs; then fell

into obscurity, and apparently into narrow circumstances, and died in 1819." (Charles F. Benjamin, A History of Federal

Lodge No 1.contained in the by-laws of Federal Lodge, No. 1 Free and Accepted masons of the District of Columbia with a

History of the Lodge, 1901 Gibson Bros., Washington, DC)

Also in the Lodge was Andrew Eastave, first junior warden; William Coghlan, second senior warden; Bernard Crook, second

junior warden, and James Dogherty, first secretary, all founders of the Lodge, of whom no other knowledge remains than

that they were employed in the construction of the Capitol. (Charles F. Benjamin, A History of Federal Lodge No 1.contained

in the By-laws of Federal Lodge, No. 1 Free and Accepted masons of the District of Columbia with a History of the Lodge,

1901 Gibson Bros., Washington, DC)

"In 1796, Stephenson became Grand Marshal of the lodge, but his business affairs were getting into bad conditions . In

November, 1997, he was summoned to appear before the Grand Lodge, at its half yearly meeting in May, 1798, to show cause

why he had not paid a complaining brother the rent for the ferry he had leased on the Potomac. He did not appear, and his

active career in masonry ended with 1798. Past Master Hoban succeeded Stephenson as High Priest of the Royal Arch

Encampment in 1798, but the seeds of dissolution were already in it, and the Encampment died in the early part of 1799, and

with it the Masonic life of Captain Hoban. The Lodge, too, was in bad condition; the fervid and pervading nature of

Stephenson having so linked its fortunes with his won that, when he went down, the Lodge, for a time shared his decline."

(Charles F. Benjamin, A History of Federal Lodge No 1.contained in the By-laws of Federal Lodge, No. 1 Free and Accepted

masons of the District of Columbia with a History of the Lodge, 1901 Gibson Bros., Washington, DC)

George Washington a member of Alexandria Masonic Lodge No. 22 took the first step into Masonry on November 4, 1752 in

Fredericksburg. (Charles H. Callahan, Washington, The man and the Mason, George Washington Masonic National memorial

Association, 1913)

1792

L'Enfant dismissed. Competition announced for design for Capitol; Dr. William Thornton submits design after deadline. (U.S.

Capital web Page Chronology )

The final design selected for the Capitol was submitted (late) by William Thornton, a physician living in the British West

Indies. Three different architects worked on the building since the cornerstone was laid by President George Washington

on September 18, 1793. The third architect, James Hoban, worked on the project from the dismissal of his predecessors

(Stephen Hallet and George Hadfield) until 1800. In 1803, Benjamin Henry Latrobe picked up where Hoban left off; he left

the construction project in 1813 when funding became erratic. (The Capitol Building, DC City Pages)

After Collen Williamson, a Scottish stone mason, was fired from his job supervising the stone work on the public buildings,

he complained about the Irish and their slaves. The Irishman who engineered his dismissal, James Hoban, had his own slaves

working on the public payroll. Hoban replaced Williamson with an Irishman who demanded that the commissioners supply 14

slaves to assist his crew of 18 masons. Williamson fumed to President John Adams that 12 blacks could not do the work of

two good hands and that because of Hoban's "Irish vagbons.... there is nothing here but fighting, lying and stealing."

Williamson complaints were widely held and to make peace with men still on the job, the commissioners banned the

employment of slaves in the way Hoban had done, which did not leave the slaves unemployed. There was other work to do in

the city. The commissioner's ban did not bring peace. An Irish carpenter assaulted Samuel Smallwood, the overseer of

slaves. Smallwood worried to the commissioners that if the Irishman went unpunished, "how do I know but a certain class of

people may entice even the blacks to commit depredations." (Slaves at the Founding. From Bob Arnebeck’s Page on Early

Washington History )

The Capitol of the United States crowns Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and houses the legislative branch of government,

comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The 1792 competition for its design was won by Dr. William

Thornton, a gifted amateur architect, with a Palladian-inspired scheme featuring a central shallow-domed rotunda flanked

by the Senate (north) and House (south) wings. President George Washington laid the cornerstone in 1793, but construction

proceeded slowly under a succession of architects, including Stephen Hallet (1793), George Hadfield (1795-98) and James

Hoban (1798-1802), architect of the White House, who completed the Senate wing in 1800. Benjamin Latrobe, a major

architect of early 19th-century America, took over in 1803; by 1811 he had renovated the Senate wing and completed the

House wing. The Capitol was burned by British troops in 1814; in the following year Latrobe began its reconstruction and

redesign. Charles BULFINCH, the brilliant Boston architect who succeeded him in 1818, completed the building, with only

slight modifications of Latrobe's master plan, in 1830. (The Capitol of the United States)

The cornerstone was laid by President Washington in the building's southeast corner on September 18, 1793, with Masonic

ceremonies. Work progressed under the direction of three architects in succession. Stephen H. Hallet (an entrant in the

earlier competition) and George Hadfield were eventually dismissed by the Commissioners because of inappropriate design

changes that they tried to impose; James Hoban, the architect of the White House, saw the first phase of the project

through to completion. (The History of the U.S. Capitol, Architect of the Capitol)

George Washington was escorted by two lodges from Alexandria Virginia and from Georgetown and were met by Lodge No.

15, headed by the Worshipful grand master Pro tem of Maryland (Brother Joseph Clark Worshipful master of Lodge No. 15

at Annapolis) and conducted to a large lodge for reception. Soon thereafter, under direction of brother C. Worthy

Stephenson, Grand Marshal Pro Tem (Lodge no. 15) the entire procession marched to abreast from the President's square to

the Capitol. (A Century and a Half of Freemasonry in Georgetown, 1789-1939, Potomac Lodge No. 5, F.A.A.M., Georgetown

DC, 1939)

In the early part of the 1800's William Thornton, architect of the United States Capitol and a supporter of African

recolonization of freed enslaved Americans of African descent. The American Colonization Society (ACS) was formed in

1817 to send free African-Americans to Africa as an alternative to emancipation in the United States. In 1822, the society

established on the west coast of Africa a colony that in 1847 became the independent nation of Liberia. By 1867, the society

had sent more than 13,000 emigrants. Beginning in the 1830s, the society was harshly attacked by abolitionists, who tried to

discredit colonization as a slaveholder's scheme. And, after the Civil War, when many blacks wanted to go to Liberia,

financial support for colonization had waned. During its later years the society focussed on educational and missionary

efforts in Liberia rather than emigration. (Library of Congress, African-American Mosaic, Colonization)

"In 1816 the American Colonization Society was founded. It was considered the ideal solution to the American racial

dilemma. Claiming to be interested in the welfare of the African in its midst, the Society advocated colonizing in Africa or

wherever else it was expedient. It comforted slave owners by announcing that it was not concerned with either emancipation

or amelioration. Both were outside its jurisdiction. It did imply that slaves might eventually be purchased for colonization.

Most of its propaganda tried to demonstrate that the freedman lived in a wretched state of poverty, immorality, and

ignorance and that he would be better off in Africa. The movement received widespread support from almost all sectors of

the white community including presidents Madison and Jackson. Several state legislatures supported the idea, and Congress

voted $100,000 to finance the plan which eventually led to the establishment of the Republic of Liberia. However, the

Afro-American community was not very enthusiastic about the project. In 1817 three thousand blacks crowded into the

Bethel Church in Philadelphia and, led by Richard Allen, vehemently criticized colonization. They charged that the Society's

propaganda only served to increase racial discrimination since it stressed the poverty and ignorance of the freedman and

claimed he was doomed to continue in his filth and degradation because of his natural inferiority. It also argued that whites

would only take advantage of the Afro-American, and that the separation of the two races was the only solution. The

participants at the Bethel meeting contended that this propaganda tended to justify racial discrimination. The claim was also

made that the removal of freedmen from America would only serve to make the slave system more secure, and they pledged

themselves never to abandon their slave brothers. Besides, while they were African by heritage, they had been born in

America, and it was now their home. Most of the fifteen thousand who did return to Africa were slaves who had been freed

for this purpose, and the project was acknowledged to be a failure. The Society's own propaganda contributed to the

alienation of many freedmen. One of its own leaders admitted that blacks could read and hear and, when they were spoken

of as a nuisance to be banished, they reacted negatively like men." (Norman Coombs, The Immigrant Heritage of America,

Twayne Press, 1972. Chapter 4, Growing Racism,

The Sierra Leone Company, for instance, envisioned African laborers "liberated" from their traditional societies and social

leadership and busy producing raw material for British manufacture and consumption. The same laborers were to become

consumers of British finished goods. The "legitimate trade" campaign actually strengthened the institution of slavery in areas

where goods for the Atlantic trade could be produced. The goods were produced and transported not by independent

farmers but often by slaves. The first generation of Americo-Liberian settlers knew this and sought to take advantage of it.

From its inception in the 1820s, Liberia was meant to be a commercial colony utilizing cheap African labor. Despite the

rhetoric of carrying civilization and religion to the natives and undermining the slave trade, the Americo-Liberians and their

white supporters envisioned Monrovia as an entree port that would shuttle American goods (including such slave-produced

goods as tobacco, along with whiskey, cloth, glassware, and guns) to Africans while returning African goods (including such

goods as palm oil, camwood, and ivory, harvested and transported to the coast by slaves) to the United States. Records of

the blacks and whites who traveled to Liberia in the 1820s under the aegis of the American Colonization Society reveal that

they knew that slave labor could produce tremendous wealth and had few compunctions about dealing in slave-produced

material even if they opposed the Atlantic slave trade. The violent disagreements between the Americo-Liberian settlers and

the native groups, beginning in the mid-1820s, are usually described as disputes about land possession, but it is at least as

likely that they were disputes about the misuse of local laborers by the settlers. Even less fortunate than the locals who

ended up working for the settlers were the "recaptives," who were rescued from slavers at sea only to be indentured to

Americo-Liberian settlers. A tradition of the misuse of laborers would of course result in the investigation in the 1920s by

the League of Nations the result of which was that Liberian officials were condemned for profiting from the unfree labor

of indigenous people. (Review of Tunde Adeleke, Unafrican Americans: Nineteenth-Century Black Nationalists and the

Civilizing Mission, Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1998. xv + 192 pp. Bibliographical references and index.

$24.95 (cloth), ISBN 0-8131-2056-X. Reviewed for H-Shear by John Saillant, Western Michigan University

1792
Federal District formed east of Rock Creek from Prince Georges County and West of Rock Creek from Montgomery Co (The

Montgomery County Historical Society)

On recommendation of President Washington, Thornton awarded first prize in competition. Washington lays cornerstone.

(U.S. Capital web Page Chronology)

1793
The federal government did not have the resources to build a capital. The taxes it raised with its new power to tax imports

had to be used to service the revolutionary war debt. To get the money to build, federal leaders relied on competition among

those states who wanted the capital. Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, all in the running because of their central

positions in the new nation, offered money for construction of the capital. By choosing a place on the Potomac River, both

Virginia and Maryland would contribute.

Those two states were not rich enough to afford to fund the complete construction of a new city. But Americans were quite

experienced in city building. They understood that as land was developed it increased in value. Congress left it up to George

Washington to pick the site of capital along the Potomac. Washington looked for a situation in which he could forge a

partnership with land owners to mutually profit from the development of the capital. Of course, the profit accruing to the

government would be used to build the public buildings necessary to house the government.

Washington looked at a few sites along the Potomac. A major advantage of the site he chose was that it was between two

prosperous cities, Georgetown, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia, and that there were a good number of ambitious

landowners eager to profit from the development of their land. These men, the original proprietors, offered to let the

government take all of their land that was needed for the new city, with the understanding that they would be allowed to

keep enough of it to profit handsomely from the sale of lots.

So in March 1791 Washington and the proprietors made a deal in which the government paid about $80 an acre for all the

land it took for public buildings and grounds; divided all the remaining land into building lots; and let the proprietors own

half of the building lots. From this arrangement the government expected to raise from $1 to $4 million dollars, and the

proprietors each felt assured of immense wealth to be realized in a matter of a few years.

There remained one problem that was a constant problem in the early days of the country: labor. How could public buildings

dwarfing in size any buildings that had ever been built in the new country be made without an ample supply of workmen?

Both Virginia and Maryland were rich in slave labor. More African Americans lived in those states than in any other area of

the country. Indeed, there was a surplus of slaves. Of course, skilled workers from Europe who did have experience with

large buildings and from the northern US where cities were better built than in the south would be essential. But a large

supply of slaves would keep a check on the wage demands of the white who came to the city to work. (What Does

"Washington History" Mean and How Did It Begin? From Bob Arnebeck's Page on Early Washington History )

1793/01/05
Letter to Thomas Jefferson from District Commissioners (Th. Johnson, D. Stuart and Dan. Carroll) discuss need for labor

for Capitol Building Construction, " as to laborers, a part of whom we can easily make up of Negroes and find it proper to do

so. Those we have employed this Summer have proved very useful check & kept our Affairs Cool." (Spelling and capitalization

just as reprinted in Thomas Jefferson and the National Capital, 1783-1818, United States Department of Interior, US GPO,

1946. Pages 165-169 taken from PP 139-41 Commissioners Letterbook, Vol. I, 1791-1793 in the National Archives. RG 42,

Microfilm M371)

The commissioners strategy of using slaves to check white laborers did not work. Wages continued to rise. By 1800

carpenters were getting $2 a day. Worse still, the commissioners seemed to lose control of their work force. In 1795 after

the foundation work done by Irish masons on the Capitol collapsed ruining the work of almost half the building season, the

commissioners deflected intimations that their lax supervision was at fault. "Those not acquainted with the motley set [of

workers] we found here," they wrote to the secretary of state, "and who from necessity have too many of them been still

continued in public employment can form no adequate idea of the irksome scenes we are too frequently compelled to engage

in." With three commissioners supervising no more than 250 employees, it was conceivable that they could known each worker

by name. But such paternalism became the norm only years later when instead of lawyers and gentlemen supervising such

projects, engineers and men who had worked with their hands did. (Slaves at the Founding. From Bob Arnebeck’s Page on

Early Washington History )

Commissioners to Blodget Jan 5th We may have a good many Negro laborers none so good for cutting before the Surveyors

and none better for tending masons. Captain Williamson tells us he could not have done without them the Summer, they were

a check on the white laborers who well indeed only at price work. From Johnson, Stuart and Carroll. (National Archives, RG

42. Records of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, Copies of Letterbooks of letters sent

by the Commissioners for the District of Columbia, 1791-98, Box 1 entry 104 Volume 3)

The erratic returns from the tobacco culture and the increasing diversification of crops in the western countries of

Maryland and Virginia made slave owners only happy to meet the labor demands for building the Capital by hiring out their

surplus slaves. A great portion f the labor on public works was performed by slaves; the work force which build the Capitol

itself was made up for the most part of a group of 90 slaves hired for that purpose. (Captain Basil Hall, Travels in North

America in the Years 1827-1828 in Three volumes (Edinburgh, 1829) II 46; Robert Sutcliff, Travels in Some Parts of North

America, In the Years 1804, 1805 and 1806 (York, 1815), 112, as cited by Letitia W Brown, Residence Patterns of Negroes

in the District of Columbia, 1800-1860, Records of the Columbia Historical Society of Washington DC, 1969-70, p 67-68)

Free labor had a bad reputation in the Potomac Valley. The Potomac Company, which was clearing the river and building

canals around falls that obstructed free navigation, initially hired free labor, principally Irish emigrants, but they

frequently ran out of their work contracts. The company peppered newspapers in the valley with ads offering rewards for

return of the laborers. To fill the breach, Thomas Johnson, then the company president, hired slaves. Johnson was the

leading city commissioner. The 25 or so slaves the commissioners hired in 1792 principally served as axe-men and grubbers

opening a portion of K and other streets so that stages to and from Georgetown would run through the city, not north on the

old road on the ridge overlooking the city site. In September the cornerstone of the president's house was laid. While real

work would not begin until the next April, masons began preparing stone, which slaves hauled up from boats that came from

Virginia quarries. At year's end the commissioners bragged that they "could not have done without" slaves. "They ere a check

on the white laborers." By 1797 they would rent 125 slaves to work in the city. (Slaves at the Founding. From Bob Arnebeck's

Page on Early Washington History)

The major supplier of slaves was Edmund Plowden, who lived in St. Mary's county and owned 64 slaves. His Moses, Len, Jim,

and Arnold worked at the president's house. His Gerard, Tony and Jack worked at the Capitol. In December 1794 laborers

were paid 45 shillings a month, about $6. So Plowden made $42 a month without obligation except to provide his slaves a

blanket.

There were middlemen who formed crews of slaves and offered them to the commissioners. in November 1794 John Slye

applied to be an overseer claiming "his friends... have engaged to hire to the city thirty valuable Negro men slaves." Slye had

previously worked for the Potomac Company and had brought 20 slaves to work for that company. The commissioners did not

pass up Slye's offer and hired him to oversee laborers at the president's house for $15 a month. What percentage Slye took

of the annual rental made by the 30 slaves he brought to the city is not known. Some slaves did not work out of sight of their

masters because their masters also worked for the city. Middleton Belt who supervised the overseers rented two slaves he

owned, Peter at the Capitol, and Jack at the president's house. Even one of the commissioners, Gustavus Scott, rented two

slaves, Bob and Kitt who worked at the president's house. (Slaves at the Founding. From Bob Arnebeck's Page on Early

Washington History )

1793 Eli Whitney’s cotton gin will increase U.S. cotton planting, producing an increased demand for slave labor. (The

People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

In 1793 Eli Whitney, working as a tutor on a Georgia plantation, invented the cotton gin. This machine, which separates the

seeds from the cotton, makes the production of cotton easier and its sale price much lower. Cotton growing on a large scale

(it was grown earlier in small amounts) spread widely in the South and became yet another cornerstone in Southern culture

and land use. (Compton's Encyclopedia Online)

U.S. cotton production will rise from 140,000 pounds in 1791 to 35 million pounds in 1800 as the efficiency of the Whitney

cotton gin leads to rapid growth of cotton planting in the South and a boom in northern and English cotton mills. (The

People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf)

The price of slaves increased as cotton production proved profitable on the Southern frontier reversing the efforts to

encourage emancipation that had begun between the American Revolution and before the War of 1812. (See William Cooper

Nell, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (Boston: Robert F. Wallcut, 1855) and Sidney Kaplan, The Black

Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, 1770-1800 (Greenwich: New York Graphic Society, 1973), 10-13. Cited in

The Underground Railroad In American History )

The Rise Of Cotton: Before the 1790s Slavery seemed to be a dying institution. Most Northern states had set emancipation in

motion and in the Chesapeake states of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, the philosophy of the American Revolution - the

idea that all men were created equal, with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - also motivated planters to

free their slaves. Of crucial importance to the act of freeing slaves in the Chesapeake was the decline of tobacco. Years of

overplanting had left the land worn out. As farmers produced less tobacco and turned instead to more profitable grains their

need for large numbers of slaves decreased. Rather than assume the cost of caring for their slaves, many farmers freed

them instead. ("Let My People Go - African Americans 1804-1860", Deborah Gray white, p. 15.)


But the introduction of cotton, which increase the demand for slaves south of the Chesapeake, caused a hurried change in

attitude. Before the turn of the 19th century, there was little cotton production in the South. Eli Whitney's cotton gin

changed that, and with it also the history of Black America. The cotton gin made the production of the heartier short-staple

cotton profitable. Before the invention of the cotton gin it took a slave a day to clean a pound of the short-staple cotton.

With the gin, by contrast, the slave could clean up to 50 pounds a day. . ("Let My People Go - African Americans 1804-1860",

Deborah Gray white, p. 15.)

Between 1790 and 1860, about one million slaves were moved west, almost twice the number of Africans shipped to the

United States during the whole period of the transatlantic slave trade. Some slaves moved with their masters and others

moved as part of a new domestic trade in which owners from the seaboard states sold slaves to planters in the

cotton-growing states of the new Southwest. ("Slavery in the United States," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.)

After the invention of the cotton gin, the yield of raw cotton doubled each decade after 1800. Demand was fueled by other

inventions of the Industrial Revolution, such as the machines to spin and weave it and the steamboat to transport it. By

mid-century America was growing three-quarters of the world's supply of cotton, most of it shipped to England or New

England where it was manufactured into cloth. During this time tobacco fell in value, rice exports at best stayed steady, and

sugar began to thrive, but only in Louisiana. At mid-century the South provided three-fifths of America's exports -- most of

it in cotton. (Joan Brodsky Schur, Village Community School, New York, NY. National Archives and Records Administration

The Constitution Community, Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin 1999)

Short-staple cotton, unlike long-staple cotton, also had the advantage of not being so delicate. It could be, and was, planted

all over the land south of Virginia. And it was in demand throughout the world. It was not long before cotton became the

principal cash crop of the South and of the nation. In 1790 the South produced only 3,135 bales of cotton. On the eve of the

Civil War, production peaked at 4.8 million bales. Once cotton gave slavery a new lease on life, slaves who were of no use in

the Upper South were not set free but sold to the Lower South. That meant that a good many slaves were born in Virginia,

Maryland or South Carolina, were likely to die in Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana. The sale and transportation of Black

people within the Unites States thus became big business. ("Let My People Go - African Americans 1804-1860", Deborah

Gray White, pp.16-18.) ( Select here for a graph of Virginia Slave exports by Age and Sex of Slave Exports maintained by

the Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Virginia)

What slaves hated most about slavery was not the hard work to which they were subjected, but their lack of control over

their lives, their lack of freedom ("Slavery in the United States," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.) No state law

recognized marriage among slaves, masters rather than parents had legal authority over slave children, and the possibility of

forced separation, through sale, hung over every family. These separations were especially frequent in the slave-exporting

states of the upper South. ("Slavery in the United States," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.)

1793/02/12
Fugitive Slave Act becomes a federal law. Allows slaveowners, their agents or attorneys to seize fugitive slaves in free

states and territories.

The Fugitive Slave Act voted by Congress at Philadelphia February 12 makes it illegal for anyone to help a slave escape to

freedom or give a runaway slave refuge (see Underground Railway, 1838). (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James

Trager from MS Bookshelf also see here for the document)

1793/12/28
Bank of Columbia chartered by Maryland legislature. Among the founders were William Deakins, JR, Uriah Forest and

Benjamin Stoddert. (p 223 Bryan, Wilhelmus Bogart. The History of the National Capital. Vol. I 1790-1814 Macmillan 1916

GW lib)

To package land near Georgetown, (George) Washington chose two prominent Georgetown landowner., Benjamin Stoddert

and William Deakins. To prod them to get the best deal, he told them that he was debating whether to put the public buildings

near Rock Creek or near the Anacostia. Stoddert felt that failure to get the public buildings next to Georgetown would ruin

his extensive land speculations in the area. Stoddert was soon frustrated by the intransigence of David Burnes who owned

the land from the foot of Capitol Hill almost to Foggy Bottom. Burnes had signed the November pledge, had offered most of

his 650 acres but insisted on retaining 100 acres undivided. By doing that he forced Stoddert to offer him a $2,660 bribe

(a good year' salary in those days) in return for allowing the president the pick of all his land. (Select here to see document)

(Washington’s Biggest Mistake, Washington From Bob Arnebeck’s Page on Early Washington History )

1793
An approximated 18,000 or 19,000 of a total of 73,417 Baptists are black. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline

1440-1866. By the Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/ref/timeline/)

1793
Virginia- Passage of a state law which forbids free blacks from entering the state. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major

Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis )

1794
Haitian slaves in the French colony of Saint Domingue (Haiti) on Hispaniola rise under the leadership of Pierre Dominque

Toussaint L’Ouverture, 51, Jean Jacques Dessalines, 36, and Henri Christophe, 27. They lead 500,000 blacks and mulattos

against the colony’s 40,000 whites (see 1802). (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf)

1794/02/04
French decree of pluviôse 16 year II abolishing slavery (French revolutionary calendar starts on September 22nd 1792,

first day of the Republic) (Chronology of the abolition of French slavery Remerciements à Pascal Boyries, Professeur

d'Histoire-Géographie, au lycée Charles Baudelaire d'Annecy)

1794/03/22
The United States House and Senate Approved An Act to Prohibit the Carrying on the Slave Trade from the United States to

any Foreign Place or Country. (United States Statutes at Large Volume 2. Text at

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/statutes/slavery/sl001.htm The Avalon Project : Statutes of the United States

Concerning Slavery)

1794/09/12
President Washington appointed William Thornton one of the three Commissioners of the Federal District in charge of laying

out the new federal city and overseeing construction of the first government buildings, including the Capitol. Upon the

abolition of the board in 1802, President Jefferson appointed Thornton Superintendent of the Patent Office, a position

which he held until his death.

William Thornton was born May 20, 1759, in Jost van Dyke, West Indies. He died: March 28, 1828, Washington, D.C. The

design was selected by President George Washington in 1793

Educated in Scotland as a physician, Thornton rarely practiced his profession. He was a self-taught architect, painter, and

inventor. His design for the Capitol, submitted after the competition of 1792 had closed, was approved by President

Washington, who praised it for its "grandeur, simplicity and convenience." A prize of $500 and a city lot was awarded to

Thornton on April 5, 1793; he is thus recognized as the first Architect of the Capitol. (Architect of the Capital Home page)

In the British Virgin Islands, the remains of the great house of Doctor William Thornton (designer of the U.S. Capitol

Building) can be seen at Pleasant Valley (Tortola). The ravages of time and neglect have reduced it considerably, but the

remains can still be viewed with interest including a part of the foundation. Besides being an accomplished architect, Dr

Thornton was a skilled physician and a fervent Quaker. Sugar and Rum was the main business on Tortola. During the early

1830s a visitor described the Mount Healthy sugar works as follows: It was here that the lash of the whip first sounded in

our ears; and, although we were satisfied as we passed onward, and beheld the carts drawn by oxen conveying the canes to

the mill from the spot to which they had been conveyed by roughs, that the sound proceeded from the whips of the boys

driving the, the conviction was too powerfully associated with the prepossession which had been long established on our

mind, that there was little distinction recognized between the Negroes and the cattle. (Giorgio Migliavacca, Historic Sites &

Visitors Attractions, Sun Enterprises (BVI) Ltd.British Virgin Islands Homepage)

1795
Louisiana- More slave uprising are suppressed with some 50 blacks killed and executed.(Chronology: A Historical Review,

Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis )

1795/07
Money was in short supply to build the Capitol, "Thornton came up with an idea to get obedient and cheap masons: buy '50

intelligent Negroes' and train them to do the stonework. Two of three experienced men could be induced with a wage of up

to $4 a day to train and supervise the slaves. As an incentive for the slaves, who would only get room, board and clothing,

the commissioners would give them their freedom in five of six years. Although nothing came of the idea, it highlights how

uncomfortable the commissioners were with free labor. They preferred workers who could make no demands and who were

beholden to them for everything they knew." (Thornton to Commissioners, July 18, 1795. Proceedings, July 22, 1795. Cited

on P302 Bob Arnebeck, "Through A Fiery Trial, Building Washington, 1790-1800," Madison Books, MD. 1991)

1795
Virginia- George Washington advertises for the return of one of his slaves, stipulating that the notice for his retrieval not be

run north of Virginia. This same year, John Adams writes: "I have never owned a Negro or any other slave (even) when it has

cost me thousands of dollars for the labor and sustenance of free men, which I might have saved by the purchase of

Negroes at times when they were very cheap." (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru

1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis)

In 1795 Georgetown enacted an ordinance banning the congregation of more than 5 slaves in public with punishment of 39

lashes for the slaves and a $13 fine for their masters. The ordinance also punished indentured servants who were principally

Irish emigrants. (Slaves at the Founding. From Bob Arnebeck’s Page on Early Washington History)

1797
John Adams becomes President as Federalist, VP Thomas Jefferson 1801

1797/03
George Washington leaves office. Although Washington reluctantly accepted command of the army in 1798 when war with

France seemed imminent, he did not assume an active role. He preferred to spend his last years in happy retirement at Mount

Vernon. In mid-December, Washington contracted what was probably quinsy or acute laryngitis; he declined rapidly and died

at his estate on Dec. 14, 1799. (George Washington, Composite from Washington, D.C. Quick Guide, Washington, D.C. Quick

Guide, I Love Washington Guide, by Marilyn J. Appleberg and The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia in )

1797/08
During his presidency, Washington seems to have concluded that slavery was absolutely incompatible with the principles of

the new nation and could even cause its division. In August 1797 he wrote,"...I wish from my soul that the legislature of

[Virginia] could see a policy of a gradual Abolition of Slavery..." Two years later, Washington revised his will, providing for

his slaves to be freed after his death 122 of the 314 African Americans at Mount Vernon were freed; the others were

Martha's and by law owned by her heirs. He also left instructions for their care and education which included supporting

the young until they came of age and paying pensions to the elderly. (For more information, select here)

Not only did George Washington still need slaves to work his own plantation, he must have been at least somewhat aware that

much of the golden age of economic and social expansion in the Chesapeake had rested on black slavery. Washington himself

was an avid partaker in the "Anglicization" of Chesapeake society with its emphasis on creature comforts, and the acquisition

of consumer goods, much of which was dependent on a slave economy. (See Lois Green Carr and Lorena Seebach Walsh,

"Changing Life Styles and Consumer Behavior in the Colonial Chesapeake," in Cary Carson et al., eds., Of Consuming

Interests: The Style of Life in the Eighteenth Century (Charlottesville, Va., 1994; Timothy H. Breen, "An Empire of Goods:

The Anglicization of Colonial America, 1690-1776," Journal of British Studies, 25 (1986), 467-99. (The Papers of George

Washington "That Species of Property": Washington's Role in the Controversy Over Slavery Dorothy Twohig, Originally

Presented at a Conference on Washington and Slavery at Mount Vernon, October 1994.)

Many of the Americans of African descent that were enslaved by George Washington settled close by Mount Vernon in Gum

Springs Virginia. Gum Springs was founded by the patriarchal Freedman, West Ford, whose bones rest near George

Washington's at Mount Vernon. It was named after a gum tree that once marked the marshy land, highly prized for farming

in the past. Quietly nestled across the river on George Washington's side of the Potomac, Gum Springs was a place for

blacks to prevail, assimilating runaways and freed slaves who migrated there by way of the nearby port of Alexandria. Many

of its forbearers tended General Washington's estate at Mount Vernon before they were freed at the death of his wife,

Martha. Freed slaves found assistance from Quakers in their struggle for economic survival. The skills and trades they

learned as estate slaves added to their growth towards independence. Today, Gum Springs has more than 2,500 residents

and as many as 500 are descendants of the original families. (A Brief History of Gum Springs, The Gum Springs Historical

Society, Inc. Alexandria (Gum Springs), VA 22306 (703) 799-1198 )

1797
The number of black Methodists increases to 12,215. Most of these black members are in Maryland, Virginia and North

Carolina. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline 1440-1866. By the Internet Public Library

http://www.ipl.org/ref/timeline/)

1798/08/08
Benjamin Stoddert as Secretary of the Navy forbids the deployment of black sailors on Men of War, thus disrupting a

non-racial enlistment policy, which had been operative in the Navy for many years. (The Negro Almanac a reference work on

the Afro-American, compiled and edited by harry A Ploski, and Warren Marr, II. Third Edition 1978 Bellwether Publishing

for the document see MacGregor and Halty, Blacks in the United States Armed Forces: Basic Documents, Vol. 1 Page 95,

Scholarly Resources Inc. 1977)

Washington D.C.- Secretary of the Navy Stoddert forbids the deployment of black sailors on men-of-war, thus disrupting a

nonracial enlistment policy which had been operative in the Navy for many years. Nevertheless, a few blacks slip past the

ban, including William Brown, a "powder monkey" on the Constellation and George Diggs, quartermaster of the schooner

Experiment. Enlistments in the Marine Corps are also forbidden. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black

History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis )

Tenantry made land speculation possible. Large investments in land, were possible only because tenants could take up part of

the track almost immediately and bring a return to the investor. Many investors were always absentee owners. Those how did

live on the lands they owned normally farmed only a very small portion of their lands with their own slaves or indentured

laborers. Tenantry became the rule as the advantages of leasing land far outweighed the disadvantages of developing large

plantations. (page 15 general land use adapted from Richard K MacMaster and Ray Eldon Hiebert, A Grateful Remembrance,

the story of Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County Historical Society, 1976)

Work on building the Capital Continued, the commissioners ordered plaster from Alexandria for shipment to Georgetown,

where small boats took it up Rock Creek to be milled by Isaac Pierce, and then slaves had to boil it down. (Commissioners to

Dennis, May 22, 1799, June 11, 1799. Dennis to commrs. June 1, 1799. Commrs to Pierce, May 6, 1799. Proceedings, June 12,

1799 cited on p 525, Bob Arnebeck, "Through A Fiery Trial Building Washington, 1790-1800," Madison Books, 1991, p525)

1797/10/5
The first American to be tried under the U.S. Slave Trade Act of 1794 came before a federal district court in Providence

Road Island. John Brown, stood trial for fitting out his ship Hope for the African slave trade. The voyage had concluded

profitably in Havana, Cuba, with the sale of 229 slaves a year earlier. (Jay Coughtry, The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island

and the African Slave Trade (Philadelphia, 1981), 214–215) Brown’s accusers included his younger brother, Moses, a tireless

opponent of both slavery and the slave trade since his conversion, on the eve of the American Revolution, from the family’s

Baptist faith to the Society of Friends. A founding member and officer of the Abolition Society, chartered in 1789, Moses

Brown had been fighting Rhode Island slave traders, including brother John, for a decade, since the passage of the largely

ineffective state statute of 1787 that prohibited the trade to state residents. (Coughtry, Notorious Triangle, chapter 6. See

also Mack Thompson, Moses Brown: Reluctant Reformer (Chapel Hill, 1962), 175–190.) (For Records of the Trial see Papers

of the American Slave Trade, Series A: Selections from the Rhode Island Historical Society, Part 1: Brown Family

Collections, Part 2: Selected Collections, University Publications of America.)

1799/12/14
In mid-December, Washington contracted what was probably quinsy or acute laryngitis; he declined rapidly and died at his

estate on Dec. 14, 1799. (George Washington, Composite from Washington, D.C. Quick Guide, Washington, D.C. Quick Guide, I

Love Washington Guide, by Marilyn J. Appleberg and (The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia ))

1799
Second Great Awakening begins with the Cane Ridge camp meeting. The meeting takes place in Kentucky and embraces

African-Americans. Many slaves convert to Christianity. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline 1440-1866. By the

Internet Public Library )

e. By 1800 the US population contained 18.9% or 1,002,037 of which only 10% were free and of which only 36,505 lived in

the North, mostly New York and New Jersey. f. In 1808, the slave population exceeded 1 million. (Growth Of The

Nation1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX )

The new Federal District had 14,093 inhabitants, 4027 of whom were Negroes. Seventy hundred and twenty six of the

Negro population lived in Georgetown, another 1,244 in Alexandria and 746 in the City of Washington. While Negroes had

lived in both Georgetown and Alexandria from the earliest days, anticipation of expanded economic opportunity drew

additional numbers along with whites from the surrounding countryside. . (Captain Basil Hall, Travels in North America in the

Years 1827-1828 in Three volumes (Edinburgh, 1829) II 46; Robert Sutcliff, Travels in Some Parts of North America, In the

Years 1804, 1805 and 1806 (York, 1815), 112, as cited by Letitia W Brown, Residence Patterns of Negroes in the District of

Columbia, 1800-1860, Records of the Columbia Historical Society of Washington DC, 1969-70, p 67-68)

Private builders (in Washington DC) also utilized slave labor, and since they were not faced with the daunting task of cutting

and laying stone, which was done principally by emigrants trained in Europe, some builders may have relied exclusively on

slave labor. Judging from his ad offering to buy or rent 10 to 15 able bodied slaves and 4 to 5 boys 14 to 17 years old,

Bennett Fenwick used slaves to build Rhodes Tavern and other buildings near the White House.

The first major private building done in the city was in the southwest at 6th and N Street and 4th and N, 0 and P Streets.

Large brick buildings, some still standing, were built by James Greenleaf, a Boston speculator who invested heavily in the

city. There is no record of the number of slaves his contractors might have used, but some 20 temporary wooden buildings

were built in the area to house workers, one of them expressly to accommodate slaves. In the middle of 4th Street trees

were cut to serve as corners so that planks could be nailed up to serve as sides of a makeshift 18 by 30 foot barracks.

Another stump barracks was built along P Street, 57 by 24 feet, divided into two rooms. Judging from newspaper ads, at

least one slave ran away from that arrangement.

The next major spate of private building in the city was on the block formed by South Capitol Street between M and N.

Robert Morris and John Nicholson, two Philadelphia speculators who bought out Greenleaf, tried to build 20 two story brick

buildings. Massachusetts born William Cranch, who supervised the building, was loath to use slave labor. When he arrived in

the city he advertised that "a free an would be preferred to a slave." He wanted to hire a crew of Irishmen to dig the

foundations for the buildings, but when work began in July the thermometer hit 98 degrees in the shade. The Irish wilted so

Cranch hired a crew of slaves instead. The hundreds of slaves in Washington living outside the traditional paternalistic

system of the south were in the midst of a growing city.

Ads for runaways made no mistake about the danger. Clem and Will from Prince Georges County "were last seen on their way

to the City of Washington with their broad axes and some other tools...... John from southern Virginia passed himself off as

one who "had hired his time for the year and was going to the federal city for employment," When Davy fled it was

"expected he will immediately make to the Federal City." Charles, an "excellent house carpenter," was suspected of working

in the city.
While the rental slave market in the city gave slaves a cover for running away, absentee landlords afforded them a place to

live. Of some 45 buildings that Greenleaf, Morris and Nicholson undertook to build, no more than a dozen were finished in

the 1790's. European visitors to the city were taken aback to find the unfinished houses occupied by Irish laborers and

blacks. The bankrupt owners of the houses did not have the withal to clear the squatters out. The city commissioners did not

have the authority and the sheriff, who policed the city and all of Prince Georges County, had no inclination to do it unless

some one paid him. (Slaves at the Founding. From Bob Arnebeck’s Page on Early Washington History )

1800
Slave Population for DC put at 3,244 (22.7%) and white at 10,266 (71.. Both numbers would about double by 1820. Though

the population of free blacks would increase to 4,048. (From Cole, Stephanie. Changes for Mrs. Thornton’s Arther: Patterns

of Domestic Service in Washington, DC, 1800-1835 Social Science History 1991 15(3): 367-379 cite to Green, Constance M

(1962) Washington: Billage to Capital, 1800-1878. Princeton, NJ and Brown, Letitia Woods.) (Free Negroes in DC, 1800-1835

MA Thesis University of Florida.)

The new U.S. capital at Washington, D.C. has 2,464 residents, 623 slaves. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager

from MS Bookshelf.)

The population of the district was 10,066 whites, 793 free Negroes, and 3,244 slaves. (Chronology of Events in the History

of the District of Columbia, Compiled by Philip Ogilvie, Deposited in the Library of the Historical Society of Washington,

DC)

Africans and their descendants in the new United States outnumbered Europeans south of the Mason-Dixon line in 1800; in

fact, close to 50 percent of all immigrants (including Europeans) to the thirteen American Colonies from 1700 to 1775 came

from Africa. A forced migration of these proportions had an enormous impact on societies and cultures throughout the

Americas and produced a diasporic community of peoples of African descent. Jerome S. Handler.( Background and

Objectives, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy.)

1800
William Thornton listed with three slaves out of a total household of 8. (DC Census 1800 roll # 5 microprint 0031)

1800
Gabriel’s Insurrection inspires Virginians to support plans for black emigration to Africa. A conspiracy organized by the

slave "General Gabriel" to attack Richmond comes to light, Gov. James Monroe orders in federal militia, they suppress the

insurrection, and the ringleaders are executed. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf)

Gabriel Prosser plotted and was betrayed. Storm forced suspension of attack on Richmond, Va., by Prosser and some 1,000

slaves, Aug. 30. Conspiracy was betrayed by two slaves. Prosser and fifteen of his followers were hanged on Oct 7. (Major
1801
The Scottish Rite Freemasons was formed in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1801 (33 degrees including three Symbolic Lodge

Degrees). ("Freemasonry," Microsoft Encarta, 98 Encyclopedia. 1993-1997) )

1802
South Carolina resumes importing slaves as Eli Whitney’s 1792 cotton gin makes cotton growing profitable and boosts demand

for field hands. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf)

1802/09/24
John Barnes, of Georgetown, writes to Thomas Jefferson in Montecello. Relating that the "Uprising of Negroes in

Washington has subsided." ( [802] The American Heritage Virtual Archive Project at the University of Virginia Library)

1802
Slave boatmen plot rebellion along Roanoke River in Virginia (Exploring Amistad at the Mystic Museum)

1803
Cotton passes tobacco for the first time as the leading U.S. export crop. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James

Trager from MS Bookshelf)

South Carolina resumes importing slaves as Eli Whitney’s 1792 cotton gin makes cotton growing profitable and boosts demand

for field hands. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

New York City- Blacks of New York burn parts of the city and destroy several homes. (Chronology: A Historical Review,

Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis )

The Louisiana Purchase doubles the size of the United States. Napoleon, being short of cash, offers to sell Louisiana to the

United States for 15 million dollars. Two British banks, Barings and Hopes, agree to lend the money to the US government

and, despite the wars, transfer it to Napoleon. (A Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day,

1800 – 1849, Based on the book: A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff:

University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5)

Bemis provides the source for Adams' earliest thoughts on slavery and commerce. "In voting against the Louisiana territorial

bill in 1804, Adams voted against a provision in it that prohibited the importation of slaves from abroad into the Territory of

Orleans either directly or by way of a state that permitted such importation. 'Slavery in a moral sense is an evil,' he

declared in the debates, 'but as connected with commerce it has its uses. The regulations added to prevent slavery are

insufficient. I shall therefore vote against them'" (1:122). Bemis' source is Everett Somerville Brown, "The Senate Debate on

the Breckinridge Bill for the Government of Louisiana, 1804," (which was from notes taken at the time by Senator William

Plumer of New Hampshire, _American Historical Review_ XXII (No. 2. January 1917), 340-64. (Research provided by Anne

Decker, Adams Paper Project, Massachusetts Historical Society)

1803/02/28
The United Sates House and Senate approved An Act to Prevent the Importation of Certain Persons into Certain States,

Where, by the Laws Thereof, Their Admission is Prohibited. (United States Statutes at Large The Avalon Project : Statutes

of the United States Concerning Slavery)

1804
Haiti’s revolutionists free all slaves and kill all whites that do not flee. Gain independence from France and establish Haiti.

Many whites that flee emigrate to Baltimore. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

Tobacco Slave Narrative "On the Potomac, if a slave gives offence, he is generally chastised on the spot, in the field where

he is at work, as the overseer always carried a whip- - sometimes a twisted cow- hide, sometimes a kind of horse- whip, and

very often a simple hickory switch or gad, cut in the adjoining woods. For stealing meat, or other provisions, or for any of

the higher offences, the slaves are stripped, tied up by the hands- - sometimes by the thumbs- - and whipped at the quarter- -

but many times, on a large tobacco plantation, there is not more than one of these regular whippings in a week- - though on

others, where the master happens to be a bad man, or a drunkard- - the back of the unhappy Maryland slaves, is seamed with

scars from his neck to his hips." (Source: Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains; or, the Life of an American Slave (New York,

1858).

Underground Railroad is "incorporated" after slaveowner, Gen. Thomas Boudes of Columbia, Pennsylvania refuses to

surrender escaped slave to authorities. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service)

1804
Ohio- The legislature enacts the first of the "Black Laws" restricting the rights and movements of Blacks. Other Western

states soon follow suit. Illinois, Indiana and Oregon later have anti-immigration clauses in their state constitutions.

(Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis

http://www.triadntr.net/~rdavis/)

New Jersey- New Jersey passes an emancipation law. All states north of the Mason-Dixon Line now have laws forbidding

slavery or providing for its gradual elimination. However, there are to be some slaves in New Jersey right up to the Civil

War. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis

)

1805
Early attempts to curtail slavery in the national capital failed. In 1805 Congress defeated a resolution to achieve gradual

emancipation in the District; it would have designated the territory’s slave children free when they reached maturity. This

would have major consequences for the future of the city. For instance, in 1808, when the external slave trade became

illegal as allowed by Article I Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution, the domestic slave trade assumed new economic importance.

(G. Franklin Edwards and Michael R. Winston, Commentary: The Washington of Paul Jennings—White House Slave, Free Man,

and Conspirator for Freedom. White House Historical Association.)

Virginia General Assembly passed legislation giving free Blacks one year to get out of Virginia once their freedom had been

gained, though modified in 1846 so that local courts could grant a free blacks the right to remain if he had performed some

extraordinary good deed or if he were known to possess a good character and be peaceable sober, orderly and industrious

person. (A Short History of Alexandria's Slave and Free Black Community by Elsa S. Rosenthal, 1790 Names – 1970 Faces)

1806
Free blacks in Virginia occasionally acquired slaves as gifts or as inheritance from whites. During the 18th century, these

unique slaveholders usually freed their bondsmen after holding them for brief periods. The state's repression of free blacks

after 1806 altered this arrangement. Subject to expulsion from Virginia at the whim of county officials, those free blacks

who owned slaves now held them for longer periods as a means to demonstrate their reliability to the state. They also fully

realized that their charges, a group that often included family members, would as slaves be insulated from the dangers that

confronted the state's free black population. Based on Virginia county tax records and secondary sources; 2 illus., 2 photos,

40 notes. (Schwarz, Philip J. Emancipators, Protectors, And Anomalies: Free Black Slaveowners In Virginia. Virginia

Magazine of History and Biography 1987 95 (3): 317-338.)

Virginia required all slaves freed after 1 May to leave the state. (c) Such restrictions were typical of the types of laws

passed, denying free Negroes the right to vote, serve on juries, testify against a white person or at all, or access to certain

types of jobs, living in certain areas or burial in certain "all-white" cemeteries. (d) Educated free blacks were mistrusted,

believed to be insurrectionists (2) One response to the problem of the free Negro was to sent them back to Africa. (Growth

Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX )

1807
Embargo Act of 1807 Jefferson supported an embargo, which allowed no exports from the US to any country and restricted

imports of certain British products. (1) It forbade all US ships from leaving for foreign ports, and did not allow many

foreign vessels to leave US ports with US goods. (2) Although Federalists tried to block it, it passed the Senate 22-6, and in

the House, supported by the South and West, by 82-44. (3) This action made Jefferson very unpopular, especially in

Federalist strongholds and along the Atlantic coast. (Growth Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen

F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX

"The First school for the colored children of Washington was built, (sometime around 1807,) in the block bounded by 2nd,

3rd, D, and E Streets, SE." (Chronology of Events in the History of the District of Columbia, Compiled by Philip Ogilvie,

Deposited in the Library of the Historical Society of Washington, DC)

1807/03/02
The United States House and Senate approve An Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves into any Port or Place Within the

Jurisdiction of the United States, From and After the First Day of January, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight

Hundred and Eight 1808. (United States Statutes at Large on line at The Avalon Project : Statutes of the United States

Concerning Slavery)

1808
Slave importation outlawed. Some 250,000 slaves were illegally imported from 1808-60. (The World Almanac and Book of

Facts 1996 from MS Bookshelf)

Importation of slaves into the United States is banned as of January 1 by an act of Congress passed last year, but illegal

imports continue (see 1814). (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

Some southerners feared slave revolts if importation continued. Religious societies stressed the moral evil of the trade, and

free blacks saw the end of the slave trade as a first step toward general emancipation. (National Park Service on

Underground Railroad, Early Anti Slavery )

1809-1861
Historian Curtin estimates that approximately one million slaves were illicitly imported to the Unites States between 1809

and 1861 (1961:13). (Raymond A. Almeida, Chronological References: Cabo Verde/Cape Verdean American )

In 1790, more than half the 750,000 blacks in the United States lived in Maryland and Virginia. After slave importation was

outlawed in 1808, slave traders began offering cash to whites in this area who would sell their house slaves to be auctioned

as field hands on the new plantations of Mississippi and Louisiana. Private jails on Seventh Street SW (where the Hirshhorn

Museum is today) and on the west end of Duke Street in Alexandria (then a part of the District) held blacks for shipment.

(Bob Arnebeck "A Shameful Heritage," Washington Post Magazine January 18, 1889)

1809-17
James Madison becomes president as Democratic-Republican. VP George Clinton serves 1809-12, and from Apr 1812-Mar

1813, then Elbridge Gerry serves from 1813-14 and Nov 1814-Mar 1817. Madison brings his salves to work at the White

House as servants, (William Seale, "The President's House: a History," White House Historical Association with the

Cooperation of the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, pages 121) Paul Jennings, a slave, and

Madison's body servant was to become the author of the first White House Memoir in his later years as a free man. A

Colored man Reminiscences. (William Seale, "The President's House: a History," White House Historical Association with the

Cooperation of the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, pages 122) Except from Memoir "It has

often been stated in print, that when Mrs. Madison escaped from the White House, she cut out from the frame the large

portrait of Washington (now in one of the parlors there), and carried it off. This is totally false. She had no time for doing

it. It would have required a ladder to get it down. All she carried off was the silver in her reticule..." Paul Jennings'

complete memoir along with an excellent summary of the history of Americans of African descent in Washington DC is

on-line. (G. Franklin Edwards and Michael R. Winston, Commentary: The Washington of Paul Jennings—White House Slave,

Free Man, and Conspirator for Freedom. White House Historical Association)

1810
The population of the district was 16,079 whites, 2,549 free Negroes, and 5,395 slaves. (Chronology of Events in the

History of the District of Columbia, Compiled by Philip Ogilvie, Deposited in the Library of the Historical Society of

Washington, DC)

Free blacks disenfranchised in Maryland.

1810-26
During the struggle of Spain’s American colonies for independence from 1810 to 1826, both the insurgents and the loyalists

promised to emancipate all slaves who took part in military campaigns. Mexico, the Central American states, and Chile

abolished slavery once they were independent. In 1821 the Venezuelan Congress approved a law reaffirming the abolition of

the slave trade, liberating all slaves who had fought with the victorious armies, and establishing a system that immediately

manumitted all children of slaves, while gradually freeing their parents. The last Venezuelan slaves were freed in 1854. In

Argentina the process began in 1813 and ended with the ratification of the 1853 constitution by the city of Buenos Aires in

1861. ("Blacks in Latin America," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.)

Louisiana slaves revolted in two parishes about 35 miles from New Orleans, Jan. 8-10. Revolt suppressed by U.S. troops. The

largest slave revolt in the United States. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the Mayflower)

1811
Bank of the United States' charter is not renewed. Public opposition to British shareholders, suspicion that the bank is

exceeding its constitutional powers, and opposition from those who believe that banking should be controlled by the states

not the Federal government, are responsible for the demise of the bank. p 473-474 (A Comparative Chronology of Money

from Ancient Times to the Present Day, 1800 – 1829, Based on the book: A History of Money from Ancient Times to the

Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5.)

Louisiana- U.S. troops suppress a slave uprising in two parishes some 35 miles from New Orleans. The revolt is led by Charles

Deslands. Some 100 slaves are killed or executed. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru

1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis )

1812-1814
War between the United States and Britain Inflation takes off in the United States. This is only partly because of the war.

Without the restraining hand of the Bank of the United States there is a huge increase in the number of banks issuing notes

with very little specie backing. This experience swings opinion in favor of creating a new national bank. p 474 (A

Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day, 1800 – 1829, Based on the book: A History of

Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p. ISBN

0 7083 1351 5. )

1812
Spring Planned slave revolt in Henry County, Virginia, soon after the Richard Fire, kills slave owner. . (From Posting by Henry

Wiencek, in slavery@listserv.uh.edu. The plans are outlined in a report from magistrates in Montgomery Country detailing the

murder confession of a slave named Tom. The magistrates' report is reprinted in "Calendar of Virginia State Papers, Vol. 10

[1808-1835]" pp. 120 ff.)

1812/09/11
Marines escorting a convoy of supply wagons ambushed by an irregular force of Native Americans and African Americans in

Twelve Mile Swamp near St.John's, East Florida, 11 Sep. 1812. Two marines killed and seven were wounded. (US Navy &

Marine Casualties )

1814/08/24
During War of 1812, British occupied large areas of the Midwest. They also took the city of Washington and burned the

White House. On August 24, 1814, Madison joined his armies retreating from the capital. For four days the president rode

about the countryside near Washington, endeavoring to maintain contact with the commanders of his forces. On August 27 he

returned to the capital, which had been devastated and abandoned by the British. ("Madison, James," Microsoft Encarta 98

Encyclopedia.)

1814/12/24
Britain and the United States agree to cooperate in suppressing the slave trade under terms of the Treaty of Ghent (The

Treaty of Ghent, ends the War of 1812), but the trade actually expands as U.S. clipper ships built at Baltimore and Rhode

Island ports outsail ponderous British men-of-war to deliver cargoes of slaves. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James

Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

The Treaty says that All ... possessions whatsoever taken by either party from the other during the war, ...shall be restored

without delay and without causing any destruction or carrying away any ... any Slaves or other private property;..." (Treaty

of Ghent 1814, Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America.)

1815
In the nations capital, "White paranoia of Black presence caused a tightening of legal and economic restrictions against

Blacks – slave and free. (Gibbs Myers, "Pioneers in the Federal Area," Records of the Columbia Historical Society Vol.

44-45, 1944 p 144; James Borchert, Alley Life in Washington, Urbana/Chicago University of Illinois Press, 1980, p4; David

L. Lewis, District of Columbia; A Bicentennial History, New York, Norton, 1996 p. 46) Where Whites chose to seek jobs,

Blacks were required to yield. The Columbia Typographical Union, formed in 1815, refused to accept Blacks apprentices or

printers to membership, effectively cutting Blacks out of the city's most rapidly expanding business. When those restrictions

were challenged in court in 1821, Judge William Cranch ruled that the municipal corporation had the power to restrict any

group's liberties in the interests of the larger society. (David L. Lewis, District of Columbia; A Bicentennial History, New

York, Norton, 1996 pp. 46-47, Mary Tremain, Slavery in the District of Columbia, 1892, Reprint New York; Negro

Universities Press, 1969, pp. 52-53; Constance McLaughlin Green, The Secret City: A History of Race Relations in the

Nations Capital, Princeton University Press, NJ, 1967, p 27) (This passage with citations was taken from the monograph of

Dr. Tingba Apidta, "The Hidden History of Washington, DC, A Guide for Black Folks, A publication of the Reclamation

Project, Roxbury, MA, 2nd printing, 1998)

1816/07/17
Ambush of Navy personnel on Apalachicola River, Spanish Florida, during reconnaissance of fort and settlement occupied by

free African Americans and escaped slaves, 17 Jul. 1816. Four Navy killed. (US Navy & Marine Casualties)

Seminole Wars begin in Florida as a result of many slaves taking refuge with Seminole Indians. (Underground Railroad

Chronology, National Park Service)

Three hundred fugitive slaves and about 20 Indian allies held Fort Blount on Apalachicola Bay, Fla., for several days before

it was attacked by U.S. Troops. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the Mayflower)

Throughout the colonial period and until 1819, slaves escaped from the lower south into East and West Florida. While the

famous "Negro Fort," once the British Fort Gadsden, was taken by American troops in 1816, it was not until 1819 that the

United States made a bold play to take all of East Florida. In that year, Congress attempted to put a stop to slave runaways

and Indian raids across the Florida border by sending Andrew Jackson to make war on the encampments and communities of

Africans and Native Americans. Jackson went farther and claimed all of Florida for the United States. Spain was not strong

enough to reclaim Florida and the descendants of many fugitives moved on to Cuba or retreated into the swamps. (The

Underground Railroad In American History, the National Park Service)

1816-18
Spanish Florida - First Seminole War. The Seminole Indians, whose area was a resort for escaped slaves and border

ruffians, were attacked by troops under Generals Jackson and Gaines and pursued into northern Florida. Spanish posts

were attacked and occupied, British citizens executed. In 1819 the Florida’s' were ceded to the United States. (Instances

of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798 – 1993 by Ellen C. Collier, Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs

and National Defense Division Washington DC: Congressional Research Service -- Library of Congress -- October 7, 1993 )

Slaves were not uniformly distributed throughout the South. The great majority of them were held in areas where

large-scale agriculture was the most economic method of farming. As a result, few lived where the terrain was rugged

and/or not very fertile. Few, too, lived near the Mexican border because most people considered it too risky to hold them so

near a border that they could gain their freedom by crossing. This is one reason Southerners were so anxious for the United

States to acquire Florida. Where plantation (large-scale) agriculture was practiced, blacks lived both in the countryside and

in the city. Over half of Charleston's residents in 1860 were black. The "blacker" an area was; the more vociferous was its

defense of slavery. Possibly because it was the "blackest state", South Carolina was the chief hot bed of secession. (Whites

were in the minority in South Carolina and were vastly outnumbered in some Low Country counties.) (Clopton's Short History

Of The Confederate States Of America, 1861 – 1925, by Patrick Waldegrave Clopton, M.A. Edited and Updated to 1925, by

Carole Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D. in A Counterfactual History Copyrighted by Carole E. Scott, 1997)

1816
Virginia- Failure of slave rebellion led by George Boxley, a white man. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in

Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis )

1817-25
James Monroe becomes President as Democratic-Republican. VP Daniel D. Tompkins. DC Census for 1820 records Monroe

with 6 Slaves and 2 "free colored" at the White House. (1820 DC Census Roll # 5 page 3)

James Monroe (1758-1831) fulfilled his youthful dream of becoming the owner of a large plantation and wielding great

political power, but his efforts in agriculture were never profitable. He sold his small inherited Virginia plantation in 1783 to

enter law and politics, and though he owned land and slaves and speculated in property he was rarely on-site to oversee the

operation. Therefore the slaves were treated harshly to make them more productive and the plantations barely supported

themselves if at all. His lavish lifestyle often necessitated selling property to pay debts. Documentation: (Gawalt, Gerard W.

James Monroe, Presidential Planter. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 1993 101(2): 251-272. Based on

correspondence, financial accounts, and secondary sources)

1818
As a response to the Fugitive Slave Act (1793), abolitionists use the "underground" to assist slaves to escape into Ohio and

Canada. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service )

As a result of the legal opinion of the colony's (Upper Canada) Chief Justice in 1818 no one seen as a slave in another

jurisdiction could be returned there simply because he/she had sought freedom in Upper Canada. Whatever their status in

the U.S. or elsewhere, in Upper Canada they were free long before the abolition of slavery throughout the British empire in

1833 See also 1791 under Upper Canada. (Posting on SLAVERY@LISTSERV.UH.EDU by Dr. Jeffrey L. McNairn, Department

of History, York University, Toronto, Ontario, )

1818/10/19
A fee of fifty cents was allowed constables (Washington, DC police) for each whipping of a slave, who had been adjudged

guilty of violating an act of the corporation of the Federal City. (Richard Sylvester, District of Columbia Police, Policemen's

Fund, Washington, DC 1894)

1819
Alabama- Alabama enters the Union as a slave state, although its constitution provides the Legislature with the power to

abolish slavery and compensate slaveowners. Other measures include jury trials for slaves figuring in crimes above petty

larceny and penalties for malicious killing of slaves. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492

thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis)

1819
"Miller's Tavern at Thirteenth and F Streets NW was on fire, a bystander, William Gardiner, refused to join the customary

bucket brigade and loudly denounced the place as a slave prison. The resulting controversy conducted in newspaper columns

revealed the tragic past of the tavern. A Negro woman about to be sold South apart from her husband, had leapt in frenzy

from an attic window, breaking both arms and injuring her back, but surviving. This focused attention upon the local slave

trade. Humanitarian Jesse Torrey came to Washington shortly after the attempted suicide, visited the injured woman and

discovered two kidnapped Negroes in the attic. He began a suit in the circuit court for their freedom, the expenses being

defrayed by a group of persons headed by Francis Scott Key, who gave his legal services gratis"...The slave owner was

Johan Randolph. (Washington, City and Capital, Federal Writers' Project, Works Progress Administration, American Guide

Series. Washington, 1937, USGPO. p69)

John Quincy Adams was a Congregationalist, not an Episcopalian, but decided while Secretary of State to go to

Congregationalist Christ Church anyway. The reason, he wrote in his diary in 1819, was that its rector, Andrew McCormick,

was the only preacher in town worth hearing. "I have at last given the preference to Mr. McCormick, of the Episcopal

Church," Adams noted in the entry for October 24, "and spoke to him last week for a pew." McCormick had served earlier as

Chaplain of the U.S. Senate and had officiated at the wedding of Lydia, Benjamin Latrobe’s daughter. (Christ Church &

Washington Parish, A Brief History, By Nan Robertson ) According to the 1820 census the Rev. Andrew T. McCormick, Rector

of Christ Church, resided with 3 slaves between the ages of 14-16, The listing included: white male 10-16; 1 white male

16-18; white male 26-45, 1 white Females 4 - 10; 1 white female 10-16; and 1 white female 26-45 In 1827, Rev McCormick

listed his place of work as the State Department. (1820 DC Census Roll 5 page 101 and DC City Directory 1822 & 1827)

1819
Panic of 1819 (1) Commodity inflation, wild speculation in western lands, overextended investments in manufacturing,

mismanagement of the Second Bank of the US, collapse of foreign markets and contraction of credit, led to the first real

American economic depression. (2) The Congressional order in 1817 to resume specie payments strained the resources of

state banks, caused many failures and created hardships for debtors, especially in the southwest. (3) To end wild land

speculation, Congress canceled the easy credit terms of the land law of 1800, but kept the price at $1.25 per acre for a

minimum of 80 acres. (a) "Squatters" often settled on and improved government land, not yet for sale. (Growth Of The

Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX )

From the United States Historical Census Data Browser.

1820
United States Census for John Q Adams shows 1 female slave under 14 years; 1 white male 10-16; 1 white male 16-18; 1 white

male 18-26; 2 white male 26-45; 1 white male over 45. 2 white females 10-16; 2 white females 16-18; 1 white female over 45

plus Foreigners not naturalized 3. (1820 DC Census Roll 5 page 97)

Congress authorized the District of Columbia to elect white city officials. (Norman Coombs, The Immigrant Heritage of

America, Twayne Press, 1972. , Chapter 4, Growing Racism )

In 1820, in the charter to the city of Washington, the corporation is authorized "to restrain and prohibit the nightly and

other disorderly meetings of slaves, free Negroes, and mulattos," thus associating them together in its legislation; and after

prescribing the punishment that may be inflicted on the salves, proceeds in the following words: "And to punish such free

Negroes and mulattos by penalties not exceeding twenty dollars for any one offence; and in case of the inability of any

such free Negro or mulatto to pay any such penalty and cost thereon, to cause him or her to be confined to labor for any

time not exceeding six calendar months." And in a subsequent part of the same section, the act authorizes the corporation "to

prescribe the terms and conditions upon which free Negroes and mulattos may reside in the city." (Scott v. Sandford,

Supreme Court Of The United States, 60 U.S. 393; 1856 U.S. Lexis 472; 15 L. Ed. 691; 19 HOW 393, December, 1856,

Term)

1820/03
Missouri Compromise admits Missouri and Maine as slave and free states, respectively. The measure establishes the 36

degree, 30' parallel of latitude as a dividing line between free and slave areas of the territories. (Underground Railroad

Chronology, National Park Service)

Missouri Compromise March 1820 (1) Both Missouri and Maine applied for statehood by the end of 1819 when the US had

eleven slave (VA, MD, DE, KY, TN, NC, SC, GA, AL, MISS, LA) and eleven free (MASS, CO, RI, VT, NH, NY, NJ, PA, OH,

IN, IL) states. (2) While the slave-holding South had 81 votes in the House to the North's 105, a political balance was

maintained in the Senate between 1802-19 by admitting alternately a free and a slave state. (3) The population in the north

was growing at a faster pace than in the South and the South realized its political future lay in the Senate. (Growth Of The

Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX )

The Missouri crisis of 1819-1821 put Madison's convictions on the slavery issue to a severe test. In letters to the President

and several other correspondents, Madison denied that Congress had the power to attach an antislavery condition to the

admission of a new state, or to control the migration of slaves within the several States. James Madison wrote a letter on

this subject to Robert Walsh in November of 1819. He responded to Walsh's question about the founding fathers intentions

in the Constitution's clause that states "the migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall

not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, . . ." (Constitution, art. I, sec. 9.)

Madison responded by saying as a matter of compromise the Northern States agreed to extend the slave trade for twenty

years, because the Southern States never would have agreed to a plan that ended importation. Madison thought that most

undeniably the term "migration" meant exclusively from other countries and not within the several States. Madison reiterated

this point to his successor, James Monroe the following February. More tentatively, he questioned the constitutionality of

laws excluding slavery from the national territories, despite the sweeping grant of federal power in the territorial clause of

the Northwest Ordinance as re-enacted by the First Congress. His strained legal and historical argument on this last point

was hardly strengthened by the prediction that the expansion and dispersion of slavery would improve the condition of the

slaves and hasten the end of the institution of slavery. (James Madison and Slavery by Kenneth M. Clark, The James Madison

Museum )

1819/03
African Slave Trade (1) A law in March 1819 paid a bounty for information on illegal importation of Negro slaves into the

US or seized at sea. (2) The president was empowered to return all such slaves to Africa. (3) In 1820 the foreign slave

trade was declared piracy which could result in forfeiture of vessels and death penalty for all US citizens engaged in

importing slaves. (Growth Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University,

Nacogdoches, TX )

1820-23
US Naval units raided the slave traffic off Africa pursuant to the 1819 act of Congress. (Instances of Use of United States

Forces Abroad, 1798 -1993 by Ellen C. Collier, Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy, Congressional Research Service -Oct 7,

1993)

1843-1859
The anti-slavery Africa Squadron of the U.S. Navy patrols West African coastal waters from its base at Cape Verde. The

USS Constitution("Old Ironsides") served with this squadron in Cape Verde. Captain Matthew Perry was the last Commander

of the Squadron. Sometime after Perry would command the famous U.S. mission which opened up trade with Japan. Only 19

slavers were every actually charged in court as a result of the 16 year largely symbolic and ineffective operation. Most of

those convicted paid light fines and served very short sentences. (Raymond A. Almeida, Chronological References: Cabo

Verde/Cape Verdean American )

From 1830 to 1850 both Great Britain and the United States, by joint convention, kept on the coast of Africa at least eighty

guns afloat for the suppression of the slave trade. Most of the vessels so employed were small corvettes, brigs, or schooners;

steam at that time was just being introduced into the navies of the world… Repeatedly we had chased suspicious craft only to

be out-sailed. At this time the traffic in slaves was very brisk; the demand in the Brazils, in Cuba, and in other Spanish West

Indies was urgent, and the profit of the business so great that two or three successful ventures would enrich any one. The

slavers were generally small, handy craft; fast, of course; usually schooner-rigged, and carrying flying topsails and

forecourse. Many were built in England or elsewhere purposely for the business, without, of course, the knowledge of the

builders, ostensibly as yachts or traders. The Spaniards and Portuguese were the principal offenders, with occasionally an

English-speaking renegade. The slave depots, or barracoons, were generally located some miles up a river. Here the slaver

was secure from capture and could embark his live cargo at his leisure. Keeping a sharp lookout on the coast, the dealers

were able to follow the movements of the cruisers, and by means of smoke, or in other ways, signal when the coast was clear

for the coming down the river and sailing of the loaded craft. Before taking in the cargoes they were always fortified with

all the necessary papers and documents to show they were engaged in legitimate commerce, so it was only when caught in

flagrante delicto that we could hold them. (For the rest of the story see Wood, J. Taylor. "The Capture of a Slaver." Atlantic

Monthly 86 (1900): 451-463. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library )

1820/02/06
First organized emigration of blacks 86 free black colonists sail from NYC to Sierra Leone, Africa. (D.T.'s Chronology of

History 1820-1829!)

1821
Ohio Quaker saddlemaker Benjamin Lundy, 32, urges abolition of slavery and begins publication of his antislavery

newspaper Genius of Universal Emancipation. He soon moves to Greenville, Tenn., and will relocate to Baltimore in 1824. A

slave trader will attack and severely injure him in 1828, but Lundy will enlist the support of William Lloyd Garrison, now 16,

and Garrison will serve as associate editor for 6 months beginning in September 1829 (see 1831). (The People's Chronology,

1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1821
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is organized on June 21. AME Zion forms a new denomination with members

from New Haven, Philadelphia and Long Island. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline 1440-1866. By the Internet

Public Library )

1822/03/09 Masonic Meeting held in the Senate Chamber in the United States Capital, to organize a General Grand Lodge

of the Untied Sates The group adapted a unanimous resolution offered by Henry Clay Grand Master of Kentucky (1820)

calling upon the various Grand Lodges to consider the matter at their next annual meeting. The committee was headed by

John Marshall, Grand Master of Virginia (1793-1795) and included Reverend Thaddeus Mason Harris of Massachusetts, one

of the best known Masons of the day. (Ray Baker Harris, Sesqui-Centennial History of the Grand Lodge Free and accepted

Masons, District of Columbia, 1811-1961, Washington, DC, 1962)

1822/06/16
Ve·sey (vê¹zê), Denmark 1767?-1822 American insurrectionist. A freed slave in South Carolina, he was implicated in the

planning of a large uprising of slaves and was hanged. The event led to more stringent slave codes in many Southern states.

(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition, 1992 From MS Bookshelf.)
Vesey’s Rebellion fails in South Carolina June 16 when authorities at Charleston arrest 10 slaves who have heeded the

urgings of local freedman Denmark Vesey, 55. Vesey himself is arrested, defends himself eloquently in court, but is hanged

July 2 with four other blacks. Further arrests follow, more than 30 other executions will take place, and several southern

states will tighten their slave codes. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

Denmark Vesey, is a Methodist. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline 1440-1866. By the Internet Public Library)

Denmark Vesey plotted and was betrayed. 'House slave' betrayed Denmark Vesey conspiracy, May 30. Vesey conspiracy, one

of the most elaborate slave plots on record, involved thousands of Negroes in Charleston, S.C., and vicinity. Authorities

arrested 131 Negroes and four whites. Thirty-seven were hanged. Vesey and five of his aides hanged at Blake's Landing,

Charleston, S.C., July 2.(Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the Mayflower)

In Charleston, South Carolina, a young slave named Denmark Vesey won $1,500 in a lottery with which he purchased his

freedom. During the following years he worked as a carpenter. In his concern over the plight of his slave brethren, he

formed a plan for an insurrection which would bring them their freedom. He and other freedmen collected two hundred pike

heads and bayonets as well as three hundred daggers to use in the revolt, but, before the plans could be put into motion in

1882, a slave informed on them. This time it was rumored that there had been some nine thousand involved in the plot. Over a

hundred arrests were made, including four whites who had encouraged the project, and several of the leaders, including

Vesey, were executed. (Norman Coombs, The Immigrant Heritage of America, Twayne Press, 1972. , Chapter 4, Slave

Insurrections)

It may be that by the Black Code (as it was called), in the times when slavery prevailed, the proprietors of inns and public

[*22] conveyances were forbidden to receive persons of the African race, because it might assist slaves to escape from the

control of their masters. This was merely a means of preventing such escapes, and was no part of the servitude itself. A law

of that kind could not have any such object now, however justly it might be deemed an invasion of the party's legal right as a

citizen, and amenable to the prohibitions of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Civil Rights Cases; United States v Stanley; United

States v. Nichols; United States v. Singleton; Robinson & Wife v. Memphis And Charleston Railroad Company. Supreme Court

Of The United States, 109 U.S. 3; 3 S. Ct. 18; 1883 U.S. Lexis 928; 27 L. Ed. 835 Submitted October Term, 1882. October

15, 1883, Decided)

1823
Mississippi- Law prohibiting teaching of reading and writing to blacks and meetings of more than five slaves or free blacks

is enacted. (Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda

Neal-Davis)

Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia- U.S. Circuit Court declares that removal of a slave to a free bestows freedom and that

malicious, cruel, or inhuman treatment of a slave is an indictable offense of a common law. (Chronology: A Historical Review,

Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953 by Roger Davis and Wanda Neal-Davis)

1824/05
Tariff of 1824 (1) It increased protection on iron, lead, glass, hemp and cotton bagging, raised the 25% minimum on cotton

on woolens to 33 1/3% and advanced the rate for raw wool by 15%. (2) New England commercial interests and Southerners

joined in opposition. (Growth Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University,

Nacogdoches, TX )
1825-29
John Quincy Adams becomes President as Democratic-Republican. VP is John C. Calhoun

1825/02/09
John Quincy Adams is elected U.S. During the Madison administration, Adams served as minister to Russia and later helped

negotiate the Treaty of Ghent (1814). In 1817. Adams became Secretary of State in President Monroe’s cabinet, where he

authored the Monroe doctrine.

John Quincy Adams is elected U.S. president February 9 in the House of Representatives where Kentucky’s Henry Clay

controls the deciding block of votes. Clay chooses Adams over Andrew Jackson as the lesser of two evils and is named

secretary of state. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

Britain and the United States agree to cooperate in suppressing the slave trade under terms of the Treaty of Ghent (see

1814), but the trade actually expands as U.S. clipper ships built at Baltimore and Rhode Island ports outsail ponderous

British men-of-war to deliver cargoes of slaves. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf)

The Yankee John Quincy Adams saw it differently: "Westward the star of empire takes its way, in the whiteness of

innocence." An appeaser as President, he wrote that " slavery in a moral sense is an evil, but in commerce it has its uses." In

another episode of tragic irony, an aged Adams returned to Washington as a Congressman to wage a heroic, lonely battle

against the slavers' domination. (Nixon's Piano: Presidents and Racial Politics from Washington to Clinton, Kenneth O'Reilly,

NY, Free Press 1995)

1826
A Pennsylvania law that makes kidnapping a felony effectively nullifies the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. (The People's

Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1827/07/04
All slaves in New York became free under gradual emancipation law.

1828
The Great Separation of 1827 splits the Quakers. The split frequently separated families and destroyed lifelong

relationships. Ownership of Meeting Houses and cemeteries was disputed, and sometimes ended in court suits. Yearly and

Monthly Meetings of different branches now had authority over the same geography. Factions include Hicksites-- traditional,

un-programmed, non-pastoral, decidedly non-Protestant, non-authoritarian, non-biblical, reject sanctification doctrine

Gurneyites-- the 'Orthodox' Friends, now usually pastoral, moderately Protestant, silent periods in the midst of programmed

meetings, authoritarian, biblical, accept sanctification. (World of Quaker Alphabet Soup! )

1828 . Election of 1828
Democrat Andrew Jackson , nominated by Tennessee's legislature (October 1825), resigned his Senate seat to run for

president. VP John C. Calhoun was placed on the ticket with Jackson. National Republicans in Harrisburg PA nominated John

Quincy Adams for a second term and added Richard Rush (PA) for Vice president. Democrats attacked on personal grounds

and their opponents retaliated in kind. The "corrupt bargain" charge was used effectively against Adams and Clay. Jackson

was hailed as a frontier military hero, champion of the common man and supporter of the "American system."

Jackson won with 647,231 popular (178 electoral) votes to Adams 509,097 popular (83 electoral) votes Calhoun was

reelected Vice-president with 171 electoral votes. The crucial states of Pennsylvania and New York both went for Jackson.

In New York, Jackson received 140,763 votes to Adams 135,413, with the support of Martin Van Buren and William L. Marcy

, NY leaders who had gained control over the old Republican machine and maintained power by exercising the "spoils

system."

John Quincy Adams retires. Adams had served as Ambassador, Senator, Secretary of State and one-term as US President.

Following his defeat for reelection, in 1831 Adams returned for 17 years to the House of Representatives from

Massachusetts, earning the nickname Old Man Eloquent ..He fiercely opposed the expansion of slavery, seeking to limit its

movement into newer states. 4.In 1848, he suffered a stroke in Congress and died a few hours later. His ghost is said to

roam the House chambers still. (Growth Of The Nation – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University,

Nacogdoches, TX)

After taking office Jackson suspended the practice of holding cabinet meetings, relying on a small group of unofficial

political confidants for advice on policy. b. These "lower cabinet" meetings known as the "Kitchen Cabinet," included Amos

Kendall , Isaac Hill , William B. Lewis , Andrew J. Donelson and Duff Green . c. After the Cabinet was reorganized in 1831,

Jackson relied on it for counsel.. (Growth Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State

University, Nacogdoches, TX)

1828
As most presidents did before him with other news-papers, Andrew Jackson used the Globe, the Argus, and the Telegraph as

his official mouth-pieces and for press releases. (Selected Review Of Improtant Media Related Historical Events And Facts,

Oklahoma Baptist University )

Slave dealers Franklin and Armfield establish office and slave pen at 1315 Duke Street in Arlington Virginia. (City of

Alexandria Timeline)

1828/07/04
Work begins on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal. President Adams turns the first spade of soil to start a race between

the B&O and C&O across the Alleghenies. It would not be completely finished until 1850. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by

James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1829
Black abolitionist, David Walker issues David Walker's Appeal. Afterwards, severe slave revolts occurred throughout the

South. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service)

Race riot, Cincinnati, Ohio, August 10. More than 1,000 Negroes left the city for Canada. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone

Bennett, Before the Mayflower)

Andrew Jackson becomes President as Democrat. VP is John C. Calhoun, 1829-32 - Dec 1832-Mar 1833 and Martin Van

Buren, 1833-37
"Always hard up for money, the free-spending Jackson eventually realized that he could save money by replacing hired

servants with slaves from home. (William Seale, "The President's House: a History," White House Historical Association with

the Cooperation of the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, page 181) All of Jackson's servants

were slaves who had worked under Mrs. Jackson's management at his country plantation. So for the time Adam's employees

were kept on, including Giusta and Madame Giusta, the housekeeper. The work of preparing the inaugural day reception was

left to them. (William Seale, "The President's House: a History," White House Historical Association with the Cooperation of

the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, page 177)
"The White House basement has a long vaulted passage, in some places the brick floors had been replaced by wood, which

was drier and easier on the feet. Service needs and servants' sleeping quarters absorbed all the rooms and extended into

the east and west wings. Some of the personal servants slept in the warren of small rooms in the west end of the attic: these

had steeply slanted ceilings and were lighted by dormer windows. Jackson's body servant slept on a pallet in his room, a

custom that seems to have begun early in the administration, when the general was unwell. A slave nurse slept in the small

corner room adjacent to Donelsons' bedroom, and kept the little children.

|Those who lived in the basement level were white "undercooks" laundry workers, and general-purpose house servants. The

windowless oval room directly beneath the oval drawing room was the servants' waiting room. Here was a table with benches

and chairs; built-in cupboards held supplies of all kinds; a glass door gave light through the arch beneath the south portico.

Rows of spring-mounted bells connected to taut wires ran along the wall and when a pull on some unseen cord or crank

upstairs set one jingling, the particular servant hardly had to look, for by experience he recognized the sound. (The

President's House: a History by William Seale, White House Historical Association with the Cooperation of the National

Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, page 194)

End of 1790-1829 Chronology.

The Chronology is broken up into three parts:

1. 1619 – 1789
2. 1790 to 1829
3. 1830 - to the end

Compiled by Eddie Becker, 1999

Chronology On The History Of Slavery And Racism 1830 – The End

Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act forcibly removes five Indian nations from the lower South to less desirable land in

the West, thus opening roughly 25 million acres to cotton cultivation. (Timeline from the PBS series Africans In America)

1830:
Andrew Jackson Census: 6 male and 8 female slaves, 5 "free Colored Persons" out of a household of 25. (Census Washington

DC First Ward, page 67)

Census Graph Citation: From the United States Historical Census Data Browser.

. "In 1830, there were 6,152 free Negroes in the District of Columbia compared with 6,152 slaves; in 1840, 8,361 compared

with 4,694 slaves; and in 1860, 11,131 compared with only 3,185. Thus is 30 years, the free colored population was nearly

doubled, while the slave population was halved. It would be inaccurate to infer from this that there was any wholesale

manumission or that the District was haven for free Negroes. The free Negroes were of several classes: Those whose

antecedents had never been slaves, such as descendents of indentured servants; those born of free parent, or of free

mothers; those manumitted; those who had bought their own freedom, or whose kinsmen had bought it for them; and those

who were successful runaways. These free Negroes were an ever present 'Bad example' to the slaves of the District and of

the surrounding slave States, and the more they prospered, the 'worse example' they became. Especially stringent

regulations affecting free Negroes were added by the District Common Council to the slave codes. Every free Negro was

required; (1) to give the mayor 'satisfactory evidence of freedom', plus $50 for himself, and $50 for each member of his

family; (2) to post a bond of $1,000 and to secure five white guarantors of good behavior. It was necessary to show

manumission papers in order to remain free; even so, gangs bent on kidnapping could and frequently did seize and destroy

them. No Negro, slave or free, could testify against whites. The jails were crowded with captured free Negroes and

suspected runaways; there were 290 of these in the city jail at one time. Many were sold for prison fees, ostensibly for a

fixed period, but really for life. Meetings for any other than fraternal and religious purposes were forbidden. After Nat

Turner's insurrection in Virginia in 1831, colored preachers were banned." (Washington, City and Capital, Federal Writers'

Project, Works Progress Administration, American Guide Series. Washington, 1937, USGPO. P71-2)

Foreign travelers accounts from the 1830 and 1840 described the Robey and Williams slave pens which stood along the Mall

in the shadow of the Capitol; the two were often juxtaposed in artworks, and the presence of slave pens in the center of the

nation's capital captured the attention of abolitionists. (Ironically, today the Museum of African Art sits less than a block

away from the former location of the Robey and Williams slave pens.) (The Mall, On-line Reference from the University of

Virginia American Studies Department, Site developed by Mary Halnon )

"The District of Columbia, too small for slave rearing itself, served as depot for the purchase of interstate traders, who

combed Maryland and northern Virginia for slaves. Since the slave jails, colloquially known as 'Georgia pens", and described

by an ex-slave as worse than hog holes, were inadequate for the great demand, the public jails were made use of,

accommodations for the criminals having to wait upon the more pressing and lucrative traffic in slaves. There were pens in

what is now Potomac Park: and one in the Decatur House, fronting on what is now Lafayette Square. More notorious were

McCandless' Tavern in Georgetown; in Washington, Robey's Tavern at Seventh and Maryland Avenue, and Williams' 'Yellow

House' at Eighth and B street SW. In Alexandria, the pretentious establishment of Armfield and Franklin, who by 1834 were

sending more than a thousand slaves a year to the Southwest, was succeeded and surpassed by the shambles of much-feared

Kephart." (Washington, City and Capital, Federal Writers' Project, Works Progress Administration, American Guide Series.

Washington, 1937, USGPO. p69)

1830
Virginia Census shows the holdings of the Armfield and Franklin slave pen. Their inventory of consisted of predominantly of

children and teenagers who would be taken from Virginia and surrounding States and sold to work the Cotton Plantations.
Sex and Age for 1830 census for the slave Pen of Armfield and Franklin.
1 male under 10
50 males 10-24
20 males 24—36
4 females under 10
50 females 10-24
20 females 24-36
(1830 DC Census Alexandria page 270)

Franklin and Armfield business dealings depended largely on the agents representing the enterprise, who were scattered

throughout slave-holding areas of Maryland and Virginia. In Richmond there was R.C. Ballard & Co.; in Warrenton, Virginia,

J.M. Saunders & Co.; in Baltimore, Rockville and Fredericktown, Maryland, George Kephart; in Frederick, Maryland, James

Franklin Purvis, nephew of Isaac Franklin; and in Easton, Maryland, Thomas M. Jones (Sweig 1980;. There eventually were

three ships traveling between New Orleans and Alexandria for Franklin and Armfield—the Tribune, the Uncas, and the

Isaac Franklin. (The Alexandria Slave Pen: The Archaeology of Urban Captivity, by Janice G. Artemel, Elizabeth A. Crowell

and Jeff Parker, October 1987. Engineering-Science, Inc. Washington, DC)

For graphs showing the Age and Sex Selectivity in Slave Export from Virginia see The graph was used "to make a rough

estimation of the impact commercial traders made in each subregion. While planters moving entire plantations tended to carry

most slaves with them, from infants to older men and women, traders sought out the most marketable--men and women of

prime work and child-bearing age.

In a best-case scenario for slave families and communities, we assume that planters did not act selectively in moving

west--that is, they simply gathered everyone in the caravan. Since they would have drawn from every age and sex group in

same proportions, the percentage of older slaves exported provides an indicator of planters' slave migrations. If planters

took every migrating slave in the oldest group, and traders took none, then planters in the tidewater and piedmont tended to

draw away between 3 and 6 percent of each age-sex cohort in the 1820s. Traders, then, would have been responsible for

the remainder--the majority of slaves in their teens and twenties. (Geographies of Family and Market: Virginia's Domestic

Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century, Phillip D. Troutman Research Fellow Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American

and African Studies Ph.D. Candidate Corcoran Department of History University of Virginia, trout@virginia.edu

http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/slavetrade/agesex.html see also http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/slavetrade/)

1830
John Gadsby was said to live in the Decatur house. The Census for Washington City shows John Gadsby with 38 slaves (1830

Census page 123)

Solomon Nothup, a freed man was kidnapped in Washington DC, held in a slave pen and sold into slavery. "It occurred to me

then that I must be in an underground apartment, and the damp, moldy odors of the place confirmed the supposition. The

noise above continued for at least an hour, when, at last, I heard footsteps approaching from without. A key rattled in the

lock - a strong door swung back upon its hinges, admitting a flood of light, and two men entered and stood before me. One

of them was a large, powerful man, forty years of age, perhaps, with dark, chestnut-colored hair, slightly interspersed with

gray. His face was full, his complexion flush, his features grossly coarse, expressive of nothing but cruelty and cunning. He

was about five feet ten inches high, of full habit, and, without prejudice, I must be allowed to say, was a man whose whole

appearance was sinister and repugnant. His name was James H. Burch, as I learned afterwards - a well-known slave-dealer

in Washington; and then, or lately connected in business, as a partner, with Theophilus Freeman, of New-Orleans. The person

who accompanied him was a simple lackey, named Ebenezer Radburn, who acted merely in the capacity of turnkey. Both of

these men still live in Washington, or did, at the time of my return through that city from slavery in January last. The light

admitted through the open door enabled me to observe the room in which I was confined. It was about twelve feet square -

the walls of solid masonry. The floor was of heavy plank. There was one small window, crossed with great iron bars, with an

outside shutter, securely fastened. An iron-bound door led into an adjoining cell, or vault, wholly destitute of windows, or

any means of admitting light. The furniture of the room in which I was, consisted of the wooden bench on which I sat, an

old-fashioned, dirty box stove, and besides these, in either cell, there was neither bed, nor blanket, nor any other thing

whatever. The door, through which Burch and Radburn entered, led through a small passage, up a flight of steps into a yard,

surrounded by a brick wall ten or twelve feet high, immediately in rear of a building of the same width as itself. The yard

extended rearward from the house about thirty feet. In one part of the wall there was a strongly ironed door, opening into a

narrow, covered passage, leading along one side of the house into the street. The doom of the colored man, upon whom the

door leading out of that narrow passage closed, was sealed. The top of the wall supported one end of a roof, which

ascended inwards, forming a kind of open shed. Underneath the roof there was a crazy loft all round, where slaves, if so

disposed, might sleep at night, or in inclement weather seek shelter from the storm. It was like a farmer's barnyard in most

respects, save it was so constructed that the outside world could never see the human cattle that were herded there. The

building to which the yard was attached, was two stories high, fronting on one of the public streets of Washington. Its

outside presented only the appearance of a quiet private residence. A stranger looking at it, would never have dreamed of its

execrable uses. Strange as it may seem, within plain sight of this same house, looking down from its commanding height upon

it, was the Capitol. The voices of patriotic representatives boasting of freedom and equality, and the rattling of the poor

slave's chains, almost commingled. A slave pen within the very shadow of the Capitol! Such is a correct description as it was

in 1841, of Williams' slave pen in Washington, in one of the cellars of which I found myself so unaccountably confined."

(Twelve Years a Slave. Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and

Rescued in 1853.: First published in 1853. Electronic Edition. )

In Fairfax County Virginia, a major source of income for residents came from selling or hiring out their excess slaves. Slave

markets were run by Joseph Bruin at the West End and by Alexander Grigsby at Centreville. There were frequent slave

auctions at the front door of the Fairfax courthouse. Bruin regularly advertised in the Gazette that he offered "cash for

Negroes," and that he was "at all times in the market" for "likely young Negroes for the South" pay liberal prices for all

Negroes from 10-30 years of age." (Gazettette, 20 March 1944) (Fairfax County, Virginia a History. Fairfax County Board

of Supervisors, Fairfax, Virginia, 1978 p 262)

Price, Birch, & Company Slave Pen
Duke St., Alexandria, Virginia
(William Pywell, 1863; LOC) Before the war a child would sell for about $50.00, a man at $1,000-$1,800 and a woman from

$500 to $1,500.00

Franklin and Armfield Office
1315 Duke Street
Built in 1812 as a residence for General Andrew Young, this was the office building of the former interstate slave trading

complex which stood on the site from 1828 to 1861. By 1835 Franklin and Armfield controlled nearly half the coastal slave

trade from Virginia and Maryland to New Orleans. In 1846 the property was sold to a Franklin and Armfield agent, George

Kephart, whose business became "the chief slave-dealing firm in [Virginia] and perhaps anywhere along the border between

the Free and Slave States." After 1858, the slave pen was known as Price, Birch, and Co., and their sign can be seen in a

Civil War era photograph. The business was appalling to many, especially to active abolitionists in Alexandria, where the

large Quaker population contributed to a general distaste for slavery. Several abolitionists' accounts survive which describe

the slave pen and the conditions encountered therein. Behind the house was a yard containing several structures, surrounded

by a high, whitewashed brick wall. Male slaves were located in a yard to the west, while women and children were kept in a

yard to the east, separated by a passage and a strong grated door of iron. The complex served as a Civil War prison from

1861 to 1865, and housed the Alexandria Hospital from 1878 to 1885. It was later apartments, and was renovated as offices

in 1984. (Office of Historic Alexandria, Alexandria Sites Listed on the National Register of Historic Places )

1830
There were more than 2 million African-American slaves in the U.S. The 1865 Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and Union

victory (1865) freed almost 4 million slaves. (The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 by Columbia University Press from

MS Bookshelf.)

Apparently this last entry offended pro confederate Civil War Web page, they try to argue that Slavery was not that bad.

Give up and wind selectively reproducing a good portion of the rest of this chronology. (See Slavery Myths and Facts,

Southern Comfort Civil War History http://www.civilwarhistory.com/slavetrade/blackslavery.htm)

1830 United States Census for a John Adams at the same location as John Q. Adams from the 1820 Census located in the 1st

Ward of Washington City show;
1 female slave 10-24; 1 free colored males under 10; 1 free colored male 10-24; 1 free colored male24-36; 1 free colored

female 10-24; 2 white males 15-20 ; 1 white male 20-30; 1 white female 20-30; 2 white males 20-30; 1 white male 60-70, 2

white females under 5; 1 white female 20-30; 1 white female 30-40; (1830 DC Census, Second Entry page 58)

1830-1860
Abolitionists, in U.S. history, especially from 1830 to 1860, advocates of the compulsory emancipation of African-American

slaves. Abolitionists are to be distinguished from free-soilers, who opposed the extension of slavery. The active campaign

had its mainspring in the revival (1820s) in the North of evangelical religion, with its moral urgency to end sinful practices.

It reached crusading stage in the 1830s, led by Theodore D. Weld, the brothers Arthur and Lewis Tappan, and William Lloyd

Garrison. The American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1833, flooded the slave states with abolitionist literature and

lobbied in Washington, D.C. Writers like J.G. Whittier and orators such as Wendell Phillips lent strength to the cause.

Despite unanimity on their goal, abolitionists were divided over the method of achieving it, Garrison advocating moral

suasion, others direct political action. Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet B. Stowe, became an effective piece of abolitionist

propaganda, and the KANSAS question aroused both North and South. The culminating act of abolitionism was John Brown's

raid on Harpers Ferry. Abolitionist demands for immediate freeing of the slaves after the outbreak of the Civil War resulted

in Pres. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The abolitionist movement was one of high moral purpose and courage; its

uncompromising temper hastened the demise of slavery in the U.S. (The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 by Columbia

University Press from MS Bookshelf.)

Theodore Weld's American Slavery As It Is (1839), which cataloged horror stories about slavery drawn entirely from

accounts in the Southern press, was an instant best seller and touched a raw moral nerve in the country. Harriet Beecher

Stowe, scion of America's most distinguished religious family, used Uncle Tom's Cabin, a sentimental novel with explicit

Christian lessons, to rivet the nation's attention to the institutional evils of slavery.

Theodore Weld. reared in a strict Calvinistic manse, was a protege of Charles Finney and studied at Lane Seminary (at which

Lyman Beecher was president), where he was part a group that styled itself the "Illuminati". Weld's early reform passions

were for education and abolitionism. He became a women's rights advocate after his marriage to Angelina Grimke, a Quaker

feminist. (The Welds helped promote reforms like "bloomers" - progressive women's attire in the 19th century). His book

American Slavery sold 100,000 copies in its first year and, in becoming an anti-slavery classic, made Weld the nation's

leading abolitionist spokesman. His wife, however, pursued a different track, latching onto the millennialism of William

Miller, who predicted Christ's imminent return in 1843. The Welds eventually drifted into spiritualism, Swedenborgianism,

and Transcendentalism. After struggling with a son's insanity and suicide, and trying his hand at organic vegetable farming

and teaching at a Utopian commune, Weld finally became a Unitarian. His life personifies Ephesians 4:14. (31. On Weld, see

Robert Abzug, Passionate Liberator: Theodore Dwight Weld and the Dilemma of Reform (N.Y. Oxford, 1980). Weld's

heterodox tendencies evidently began early. After asking his preacher-father a series of challenging questions, the senior

Weld told the boy: "Shut your mouth, you little infidel!" (cited by Roger Schultz by Contra Mundum, No. 4 Summer 1992

Politics of Righteousness: Christian Political Movements in the Early 19th Century, )

Abolitionists were just as confused about the means they should use. Some endorsed immediate abolition, using violence if

necessary. Others were committed to peaceful means and gradual emancipation. Some, such as the American Anti-Slavery

Society, were simply committed to ending slavery. Still others, such as the American Colonization Society, driven by fears of

post-emancipation racial tensions, wanted liberated slaves resettled in Africa. While some stressed abolition throughout the

United States, others focused on preventing the spread of slavery into the territories. (Summer 1992 Politics of

Righteousness: Christian Political Movements in the Early 19th Century)

During the 1830s, William Lloyd Garrison's violent condemnations of colonization as a slaveholder's plot to perpetuate

slavery created deep hostility between abolitionists and colonizationists. (Library of Congress, African-American Mosaic,

Colonization, )

Plantation Mission Movement 1830-1) Methodist chapels were constructed on many plantations ,As many as 1000 slaves lived

on some plantations with little contact with the outside or with whites, other than the overseers. Many plantation slaves

attended the chapels when a Methodist circuit -riding preacher came by. Baptists also made many converts. (a) Many blacks

were permitted to become preachers because Baptists had no educational requirement for the ministry. (b) The role of

minister was one of the only leadership roles available to blacks. (c) Besides the fact that the Baptists were a major group in

the South, many of the Baptist institutions, such as the Baptismal service by immersion, or communion service (taken at the

same time and not row by row), were attractive to blacks, even reminding some of similar practices held among African

tribes. Separate Southern black denominations did not emerge until the post-Civil War (Growth of the Nation 1800 – 40

Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX )

In Ward Three the Census recorded 75 people in the infirmary none were slave or "free colored. (1830 DC Census 3rd Ward

page 95)

George W P Custis Listed in Georgetown with 57 Slaves and next to him is Alexander Hunter with 22 (1830 DC Census page

217)

George Washington Parke Custis, Colonel, United States Army, Arlington House Builder, Born at Mount Airy, Maryland, on

April 30, 1781, his parents were John Parke and Eleanor (Calvert) Custis. He attended St. John's College and Princeton

University. He married Mary Lee Fitzhugh in 1804 and they had one daughter, Mary (later Mrs. Robert E. Lee). He was

commissioned Colonel, United States Army, and aide-de-camp to General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney in 1799 and was a

volunteer in the defense of Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812. He began as series of "Recollections of Washington" in

the U.S. Gazette in 1826, and continued in the National Intelligencer, and published in book form in 1860. His first play, The

Indian Prophecy, was performed in the Chestnut Street Theater, Philadelphia, in 1830. He also wrote: The Railroad, 1830;

North Point of Baltimore Defended, 1833; Eighth of January, 1834. He was the adopted son of George Washington after the

death of his parents. He built Arlington House as a tribute to, and to hold the belongings of, General George Washington. He

died on October 19, 1852 and was buried in a private lot on the estate (long before it became a National Cemetery), which is

now Section 13 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Mary Fitzhugh Custis, who died on April 23, 1853, is buried with

him. (Arlington House Web Page)

1830/05/24
The first division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is completed May 24 to link Baltimore with Ellicott Mills, 13 miles away.

(The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1830
Smithsonian Report reads, "When (Adams) first takes seat in Congress he presents fifteen petitions signed numerously by

citizens of Pennsylvania, praying for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia... That he had

always cherished an abhorrence of slavery and a bitter antipathy to slave-holders as a class is sufficiently indicated by

many chance remarks scattered through his Dairy and early years. (John T. Morse, jr., Book of John Quincy Adams, Mifflin,

1882) (Commentary in study "John Quincy Adams was against the principle and practice of slavery therefore making it

unlikely that he would have tolerated slaves at the Columbia Mills." Cynthia Field: 1998 Smithsonian Study)

John Quincy Adams was presented with fifteen petitions from citizens of Pennsylvania asking for the abolition of slavery

and especially slavery in the District, "he did not think its abolition there desirable," and said, "he hoped the subject would

not be discussed in the House." He thought that "the citizens of Pennsylvania ought not petition in regard to the matter in the

District of Columbia. It would lead to ill-will, heart-burning and mutual hatred." (Tremain, Mary. Slavery in the District of

Columbia. The Policy of Congress and the Struggle for Abolition. Nebraska State University, cited in Milburn, Page. The

Emancipation of Slaves in the District of Columbia. Records of the Columbia Society, Vol. 16 page98-99)

John Quincy Adams came to the House in 1830 and presented antislavery petition that first year. He acted here only

because his Massachusetts constituents asked him to do so. Initially, he thought no more of the abolitionists' work as

Congressmen than he had as president. I could only bring the country "to ill-will. To heartburning mutual hatred without

accomplishing anything else. (Nye, Fettered Freedom, 48 in Piano p 33) When petitions calling for abolition of slavery in the

District of Columbia deluged Congress in 1836, however, Adams had to pick a side, Southerners again raised the stakes by

pushing a gag rule through the House requiring the tabling of such petitions. (They were not printed, referred to committee,

or debated.) While Jackson stood with the South, Adams stood with the abolitionists and eventually made even Negrophobes

in the North see that slavery eroded everyone's civil liberties. He did so by demonstrating the price that the gag-rule

advocates were demanding: To protect slavery every American had to suffer the right to petition their government, a right

guaranteed in the Constitution's First Amendment. (Nixon's Piano: Presidents and Racial Politics from Washington to Clinton,

Kenneth O'Reilly, NY, Free Press 1995)

1830
Census lists 40 slaves to Charles C Lackland and William O'neal (manager) Seems like a labor pool with many free whites and

"coloreds" 200 total.. (1830 Census page 201 Washington County)

1831/01
William Lloyd Garrison began abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1995 from MS

Bookshelf)

1831
Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker begins Washington’s first antislavery newspaper, The Genius of Universal Emancipation. (Melder,

Keith, City of Magnificent Intentions. A History of the District of Columbia, 1983). Lundy and the Quaker abolitionists

inspired more militant abolitionists like William Lloyd Garison, publisher of the of the Liberator. Garrison denounced both

colonization and gradualism and called for immediate abolition. In 1833 founded the American Anti-Slavery Society. (From

Events hat Changed American in the Nineteenth Century, edited by John E. Findling and Frank W. Thackeray.1997)

In the 1830s, those few Americans who actively sought to abolish slavery were treated as a lunatic fringe. As William Lee

Miller points out in this often riveting story of the nation's first great political battle over the servitude of

African-Americans, slavery was an interest, "concentrated, persistent, practical, and testily defensive," while antislavery

was a mere sentiment, "diffuse, sporadic, moralistic and tentative." Spurred by the Christian evangelical fervor of the era,

abolitionism was just beginning to coalesce from a set of privately held beliefs into a political movement that generated a

growing stream of books, pamphlets-and petitions. (Bordewich, Fergus M., Arguing About Slavery: The Great Battle in the

United States Congress; book review of book by William Lee Miller, Smithsonian December, 1996)

In 1829 Garrison entered into partnership with the American antislavery agitator Benjamin Lundy to publish a monthly

periodical, The Genius of Universal Emancipation, in Baltimore, Maryland. Lundy believed in gradual emancipation, and

Garrison at first shared his views; but he soon became convinced that immediate and complete emancipation was necessary.

Because Baltimore was then a center of the domestic slave trade in the U.S., Garrison's eloquent denunciations of the trade

aroused great animosity. A slave trader sued him for libel; he was fined, and, lacking funds to pay the fine, was jailed. After

his release from prison Garrison dissolved his partnership with Lundy and returned to New England. In partnership with

another American abolitionist, Isaac Knapp, Garrison launched The Liberator in Boston in 1831; the newspaper became one

of the most influential journals in the United States. (Garrison, William Lloyd," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.)

1831/01/01
The Liberator begins publication January 1 at Boston where local abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, 26, advocates

emancipation of the slaves who account for nearly one-third of the U.S. population. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by

James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1831
Virginia, Thomas Dew, a legislator, proudly refers to Virginia as a Negro-raising state" for other states. Between 1830 and

1860, Virginia exports some 300,000 slaves. The price of slaves increases sharply due to expanding territory in which slaves

are permitted and a booming economy in products harvested and processed by slave labor. (The Negro Almanac a reference

work on the Afro American, compiled and edited by harry A Ploski, and Warren Marr, II. Third Edition 1978 Bellwether

Publishing)

1831/08
Nat Turner slave rebellion in Southampton county Virginia.

Turner, Nat, 1800–1831, African-American slave and revolutionary; b. Southampton co., Va. Believing himself divinely

appointed to lead his fellow slaves to freedom, he commanded about 60 followers in a revolt (1831) that killed 55 whites.

Although the so-called Southampton Insurrection was quickly crushed and Turner was caught and hanged six weeks later, it

was the most serious uprising in the history of U.S. slavery and virtually ended the organized abolition movement in the

South. (The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 by Columbia University Press from MS Bookshelf.) For the extraordinary

transcript of Nat Turners Testimony see excerpts from Nat Turner's Trial <http://vi.uh.edu/pages/mintz/32.htm also see

http://www.melanet.com/nat/nat.html and http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1826-1850/slavery/confesxx.htm)

Nat Turner revolt, Southampton County, Va., August 21-22. Some 60 whites were killed. Nat Turner was not captured until

October 30. Nat Turner was hanged, Jerusalem, Va., Nov. 11. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the

Mayflower, http://www.afroam.org/history/slavery/revolts.html)

The bloodiest insurrection of all, in which some sixty whites were murdered, occurred in Southampton County, Virginia, in

August, 1831. Nat Turner, its leader, besides being a skilled carpenter, was a literate, mystical preacher. He had discovered

particular relevance in the prophets of the Old Testament. Besides identifying with the slave experience of the Israelites,

Turner and other slaves felt that the social righteousness which the prophets preached related directly to their situation.

The picture of the Lord exercising vengeance against the oppressors gave them hope and inspiration. While the Bible did

appear to tell the slave to be faithful and obedient to his master, it also condemned the wicked and provided examples that

could be interpreted to prove God's willingness to use human instruments in order to bring justice against oppressors.

Turner's growing hatred of slavery and his increasing concern for the plight of his brothers, led him to believe he was one

of God's chosen instruments. As his conviction deepened, the solar eclipse early in 1831 appeared to him to be a sign that the

day of vengeance was at hand. In the following months he collected a small band of followers, and in August they went into

action. Unlike Prosser and Vesey, he began with only a very small band which lessened his chance of betrayal. As they moved

from farm to farm, slaughtering the white inhabitants, they were joined by many of the slaves who were freed in the

process. However, word of the massacre spread. At one farm, they were met by armed resistance. Slaves as well as masters

fought fiercely to stop the attack. Some of Turner's men were killed and wounded, and the planned drive towards Jerusalem

was thrown off stride. This enabled the militia to arrive and break up the attack. In due time Turner and several of his

followers were captured and executed. White men in both the South and the North saw little similarity between these

insurrections and the American Revolution. The Turner massacre was universally depicted as the work of savages and brutes,

not of men. Vigilance was tightened, and new laws controlling the slaves were passed throughout the South. Both the violence

of the slaves and the verbal abuse of the abolitionists only served to strengthen the South in its defense of the peculiar

institution. Slaves who revolted were depicted as beasts who could not be freed because they would endanger society.

Submissive slaves were pictured as children in need of paternal protection from the evils of a complex, modern world. They

were never seen as men whose rights and liberties had been proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. (Norman

Coombs, The Immigrant Heritage of America, Twayne Press, 1972. , Chapter 4, Slave Insurrections)

The Washington City Council reacted by making the Black Codes harsher: A black man who struck a white person was now

subject to having his ears cut off. (P 82 Melder, Keith. Slaves and Freedmen Wilson Quarterly 1989 13(1) 77-83)

The corporation of Georgetown enact an ordinance for the regulation including the offense of the possession of abolitionist

information including the Liberator. (p142 Bryan, Wilhelmus Bogart. The History of the National Capital. Vol. II 1815-1878.

Macmillan 1916 GW lib)

The slave insurrection in cased a bitter reaction in Maryland. The Maryland General Assembly took up the policy of

colonization free blacks in Liberia in legislation passed that autumn of 1831, providing an annual appropriation to the

Maryland State Colonization Society. At the same time, the Assembly prohibited any further importation of slaves into the

state. There was already a statute on the books prohibiting free blacks from other states settling in Maryland. This act of

1807 was given more serious penalties in 1831, and made still more stringent in 1839. The District of Columbia afforded a

loophole in the law until 1845, when, on complaint of Montgomery and Prince George's residents, a special act was passed to

forbid blacks from crossing the District line to settle. (Jeffrey R. Brackett, The Negro in Maryland, A Study of the

Institution of Slavery) (New York, reprint by Negro University Press, 1969 and James M. Wright, The Free Negro in

Maryland 1634-1860, NY, Octagon Books 1971, reprint of 1921 ed. Cited in Richard K MacMaster and Ray Eldon Hiebert, A

Grateful Remembrance, the story of Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County Historical Society, 1976 p 156-157)

The Maryland General Assembly forbid free black citizens to buy liquor, own guns, sell food without a license, or even

attend religious meetings if there wee no whites present. This last provision struck a crippling blow a the independent black

church, the only real institution that the black community had been able to develop during its enslavement. (Lawrence H.

McDonald, "Failure of the Great Reaction in Maryland" Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland, 1974), Appendix VI, cited

in Richard K McAlester and Ray Eldon Hiebert, A Grateful Remembrance, the story of Montgomery County, Maryland,

Montgomery County Historical Society, 1976 p 157)

Maryland further discouraged slave owners from manumitting their slaves by requiring them to send the free person out of

the state. (Richard K MacMaster and Ray Eldon Hiebert, A Grateful Remembrance, the story of Montgomery County,

Maryland, Montgomery County Historical Society, 1976 p 157)

The Maryland State Colonization Society established a settlement at Cape Palmas, some miles south of the major Liberian

colony at Monrovia. It made a determined effort to recruit free black settlers from Maryland. Black Marylanders identified

the colonization movement with a desire to remove the free blacks from the state lest they encourage restiveness among the

slaves. They saw it generally committed to the preservation of slavery and inequality of free black citizens. Very few

Marylanders were willing to leave their homes for n uncertain future in Africa. (Richard K MacMaster and Ray Eldon

Hiebert, A Grateful Remembrance, the story of Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County Historical Society, 1976.

P 157)

With regard to the Nat Turner revolt, "It is difficult to decide with certainty whether it occurred as a reaction to the

harshness of slave rule or as a result of the weakness of control." (Michael Craton, Sinews of Empire, A Short History of

British Slavery, Anchor Books NY., 1974 p 227)

Turner, Nat b. Oct. 2, 1800, Southampton county, Va., U.S.--d. Nov. 11, 1831, Jerusalem, Va.), black American bondsman who

led the only effective, sustained slave revolt (August 1831) in U.S. history. Spreading terror throughout the white South, his

action set off a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves and

stiffened proslavery, antiabolitionist convictions that persisted in that region until the American Civil War (1861-65).

(On-Line African American History Reference)

Nat Turner's rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in the summer of 1831, threw the slaveholding South into a panic,

and into a determined effort to bolster the security of the slave system. Turner, claiming religious visions, gathered about

seventy slaves who went on a rampage from plantation to plantation, murdering at least fifty-five men, women, and children.

They gathered supporters but were captured as their ammunition ran out. Turner and perhaps eighteen others were

hanged.(Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the Mayflower,)

Soon after the Nat Turner Rebellion, the General Assembly of Virginia, convened in 1831 to hear Governor John Floyd's

annual message, which urged the Assembly to address the current crisis so as to quell the fears of the citizens and to

restore order and safety to the Commonwealth. His address called for funds for the removal of free blacks from Virginia

and for the houses to discuss what further action should be taken. As a result of Governor Floyd's address, a special

committee was formed by the speaker of the House of Delegates to discuss the revolt of the past summer and present the

house with possible solutions to the problem. The first week of the assembly saw numerous proposals for the colonization of

free blacks and on December 14, William Henry Roane of Hanover presented a petition from the Society of Friends which

proposed the abolition of slavery through the gradual colonization of slave in Africa. This proposal sparked intense debate

between the members of the house and divided Tidewater delegates and those from the heavily agricultural "southside" of

the James River. On January 11, 1832, Piedmont Delegate William O. Goode, a southsider, argued that debate on

emancipation placed all of Virginia in grave danger because of the threat posed by blacks watching the actions of the

Assembly. He proposed a resolution to table discussion for the safety of the Commonwealth. A counter-resolution was

proposed by western Piedmont delegate Thomas Jefferson Randolph proposing a state-wide referendum on gradual

emancipation so that the people of Virginia could decide the issue rather than the members of the Assembly, who held a

disproportionate stake in the institution of slavery. If the majority of the citizens were for abolition, the process would

begin with all slaves born on or after July 4, 1840, becoming the property of the Commonwealth. They would be hired out by

the state until enough money had been raised to provide for their removal from the country. The session closed with the

passage of a statement supporting the exploration of possible colonizing of slaves. That mood would change by the next fall,

a result in large part of the essay on slavery published by William and Mary professor Thomas R. Dew at the close of the

1831-32 session. (Corey McLellan, The Debate in the 1831-32 Virginia General Assembly on the Abolition of Slavery, The

University of Virginia.)

Dew attacked the plan, which called for all slaves to become property of the Virginia Commonwealth after July 4, 1840--

males at twenty-one, females at eighteen. This proposal, according to Dew, was a violation of property rights to slave owners

and could never be accomplished because of the expense involved. Dew went on to the Biblical argument for slavery. He

emphasized that nowhere does Scripture tag slavery as a sin, and that there is no command to abolish it. From the Biblical

argument for slavery, Dew moved on to the historical one, pointing that slavery had existed continuously since the beginnings

of recorded human history. Dew's arguments were the key factor in closing the door to emancipation in Virginia until the

Civil War. (Thomas Dew's Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831- 1832)

James Hamilton, the governor of South Carolina, requested that Virginia governor John Floyd discuss the factors that led to

the Nat Turner revolt in Southampton, Virginia in 1831, the most well known slave revolt in U.S. history. About sixty white

people were killed. Governor Floyd's lengthy reply is in this letter. Floyd blamed the "spirit of insubordination" on the

"Yankee population" in general and Yankee peddlers and traders in particular who shared Christianity with the slaves and

taught them that all are born free and equal, and "that white people rebelled against England to obtain freedom, so have

blacks a right to do." Floyd placed the blame for masterminding the plan on the church leaders, but he believed that all the

discussions about freedom and equality led to the uprising. (Library of Congress, African American Odyssey, Slavery--The

Peculiar Institution)

1831/09
At a dinner in Boston, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French magistrate who would go back home to write his classic book

"Democracy in America," was seated next to former President John Quincy Adams and asked the old man: "Do you look on

slavery as a great plague for the United States?" "Yes, certainly," Adams answered. "That is the root of almost all the

troubles of the present and the fears for the future." ("Black justice, white cynicism," Byline: Richard Reeves; Universal

Press Syndicate in The Baltimore Sun, October 5, 1995)

1831/12/05
John Quincy Adams became a member of the First session of the twenty second Congress of the House of Representative

from a district in Massachusetts.

Adams returns to Washington. "The issue of slavery was not, at this time, neatly defined and categorized in the minds of

Louisa and John Quincy Adams, they did not abhor it with all their souls, as the abolitionists did. Nor were they ready to

commit themselves without hesitation to its demise. "The Adams’s, as residents of Washington, saw slaves around them all the

time. There were few free blacks, and it was common practice for householders to employ slaves as servants; a few lucky

and hard-working slaves were even allowed to buy their own freedom in this manner. While the Adams’s never owned a slave,

they frequently hired one or two from slaveholders, usually residents of Maryland or Virginia, as cooks or house servants.

Such employment did not conflict, as we shall see with Louisa's or John Quincy’s position on slavery (337) Louisa, as a

resident of Washington with relatives in Maryland, feared retribution of the slaves, and the surliness of the free blacks.

Adams put the preservation of the union before slavery. (Shepherd, Jack; Cannibals of the Heart, 1980)

1831
At the start of each session of Congress, on Petition Days, the number of "prayers" to ban slavery in the nation's capital had

been increasing since William Lloyd Garrison launched his abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, in 1831. That event

coincided with the bloody Nat Turner slave rebellion in Virginia and the introduction of the steam printing press in New

York City, where abolitionists began to print thousands of antislavery tracts and mail them South for distribution. Southern

postmasters, prompted by pre-Ku Klux Klan vigilantes, began seizing and burning abolitionist material, and death threats

were made against abolitionist visitors to the South. (Willard Sterne Randall, Newsday, January 28, 1996, p 33)

1831
In the United States, the notion that slavery was God's will gained momentum after the Nat Turner slave rebellion of 1831.

In hundreds of pamphlets, written from 1836 to 1866, Southern slaveholders were provided a host of religious reasons to

justify the social caste system they had created. In their quest to justify black slavery, Southerners looked to the story of

Noah's curse over his son Ham. According to Genesis 9, Noah planted a vineyard, drank too much wine and lay naked in his

tent. When he awoke, Noah learned that his son Ham had seen him naked - a shame in the ancient world. He cursed Ham and

his son, Canaan, saying, "lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers," 9:25. Since Canaan and his descendants were said to

settle Africa, some believed African-Americans therefore were destined to be slaves. According to Dale Martin, a professor

of religion at Duke University. (Bible neither condemns nor condones slavery, News & Observer on the Web, Raleigh NC:

August 9th 1996))

1831
B & O Railroad between Georgetown and the Ellicott Mills running and generating modest income. (Walsh, Richard and Fox,

William Lloyd. Maryland, A History 1632-1974. Maryland Historical Society)

1832
In January of 1832, while President Andrew Jackson was dining with friends at the White House, someone whispered to him

that the Senate had rejected the nomination of Martin Van Buren as Minister to England. Jackson jumped to his feet and

exclaimed, "By the Eternal! I'll smash them!" So he did. His favorite, Van Buren, became Vice President, and succeeded to

the Presidency when "Old Hickory" retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845. (Andrew Jackson White House

Bio)

1832
In the wake of the Nat Turner’s insurrection in Virginia, Georgetown strengthened its black code punishing with particular

severity any person of color possessing abolitionist literature. (Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia, The

Negro History Bulletin, Oct 1950, Springharm Library, Howard University Vertical File Washington, DC)

1832
Louisiana presents resolution requesting Federal Government to arrange with Mexico to permit runaway slaves from Louisiana

to be claimed when found on foreign soil. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service)

1832
An act to abolish slavery was introduced into the Virginia legislature by Thomas Jefferson’s grandson and was defeated by

only seven votes. ("Virginia," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation.)

1832/12
Jackson reelected will serve till Mar 1833 and Martin Van Buren , 1833-37.In 1832 the Anti-Masonic Party nominated a

lawyer, William Wirt, as its candidate for the presidency, but he was defeated by Andrew Jackson, who supported Masonry.

Ironically, Wirt himself was a Mason. After that date the Freemasons encountered little political opposition in the U.S. or

elsewhere, until the rise to power of the National Socialists in Germany in 1933.

Opponents of Freemasonry, including sections of the press, churches, and antislavery elements, joined in the condemnation

of the order. Thurlow Weed, publisher of the Rochester (New York) Telegraph and later of the Anti-Masonic Enquirer, led

the press attack on Freemasonry and endorsed anti-Masonic candidates for New York State offices in the election of 1827.

When 15 of these candidates were elected to the state Assembly, an Anti-Masonic Party was formed and in 1828 held its

first state convention. National conventions were held in Philadelphia in 1830 and in Baltimore in 1831. At the latter, William

Wirt, who had served as U.S. attorney general under Presidents James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, was nominated for

president in opposition to Andrew Jackson, who supported Masonry. Wirt himself was a Freemason. The convention required

a three-fourths majority to nominate, thereby setting a precedent for the two-thirds rule used by the Democrats in

subsequent national conventions for more than 100 years. In the 1832 elections, however, the Anti-Masonic Party carried

only the state of Vermont. It did win a considerable number of seats in the 23rd Congress (1833-35). The party survived

until about 1834, when several prominent leaders founded the Whig Party or shifted to the Democratic Party. (Anti-Masonic

Party," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. 1993-1997) (For antimasonic literature see John Quincy Adams, Letters On The

Masonic Institution Originally Published: 1847 T. R. Marvin Boston, Massachusetts and in general

http://www.crocker.com/~acacia/antim.html)

1833
The Anti-Slavery Convention of 1833 held. A list of officers of the new society was then chosen: Arthur Tappan, of New

York, president, and Elizur Wright, Jr., William Lloyd Garrison, and A. L. Cox, secretaries. Among the vice-presidents was

Dr. Lord, of Dartmouth College, then professedly in favor of emancipation, but who afterwards turned a moral somersault, a

self-inversion which left him ever after on his head instead of his feet. He became a querulous advocate of slavery as a

divine institution, and denounced woe upon the abolitionists for interfering with the will and purpose of the Creator. (

Published originally in John G. Whittier's "Prose Works," the following is an excerpt from Whittier's recollection of the

founding convention of the American Anti-Slavery Society.John G. Whittier, "The Anti-Slavery Convention of 1833," 1874.)

1833
Monocracy Aqueduct built in 1833 as part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C & O Canal) system, it carried canal boats

above the Monocacy River. It is one of ten such structures that still stand along the 185-mile stretch of the canal that

extends from Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC. The 430-foot long aqueduct is composed of seven arches, built with white

stone from nearby Sugarloaf Mountain, and is considered one of the finest examples of early civil engineering. (Press

release of Senator Mikulski June 15, 1998 naming Monocracy Aqueduct, one of "America's Most Endangered Historic Sites"

by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Press release titled "Senator Mikulski Joins First Lady Hillary At Monocacy

Aqueduct, Named One Of America's Most Endangered Historic Places")

In the days before the railroads, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was designed to bypass the rapids of the Potomac River

and move goods cheaply and efficiently from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River. According to one expert, the

construction of the C&O Canal was "a typical American heroic enterprise."

Along the way, a series of challenges faced engineers, including how to carry barges across the 11 major intersecting

tributaries that drain into the Potomac River. The solution was a system of aqueducts.

At Mile 42, workers constructed the largest -- the Monocacy Aqueduct. Essentially a 516-foot bridge over the river, the

aqueduct carried the canal in a flume-like trough supported by seven graceful arches. Mules dragging the barges walked

along a towpath by the canal. The Monocacy Aqueduct is now considered to be one of the finest canal structures in the

United States.

Hundreds of manual laborers, many of them Irish and Welsh immigrants, hauled heavy stone blocks from nearby Sugar Loaf

Mountain to build the aqueduct, which took five years to complete. During the Civil War, Confederate troops tried to

dynamite it to stop the movement of Northern soldiers, but they were unable to penetrate the dense stone. (Talking It Over

by Hillary Rodham Clinton, June 17, 1998 )

1833
Slavery abolished in Canada. See also the Upper Canada for 1791 and 1818.

1834/0129
Workers along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C & O Canal) stage a riot January 29. President Jackson orders Secretary of

War Lewis Cass to send in the Army, using federal troops for the first time in a U.S. labor conflict. (The People's

Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1834
Parliament orders abolition of slavery in the British colonies by August 1, 1834, in a bill passed August 23 after a long

campaign by the humanitarian William Wilberforce who has died July 29 at age 73. Children under 6 are to be freed

immediately, slaves over 6 given a period of apprenticeship that will be eliminated in 1837, slave-owners given a total of

£120 million in compensation. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf)

1834
U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia petitioned the House Committee on the District of Columbia regarding a bill of

$1,500 for housing runaway "Negroes" in the public jail 23A-G4.4. (National Archives, Guide to the Records of the United

States House of Representatives Records Of The District Of Columbia Committee 10th-45th Congresses 1807-79)

The Senate also received petitions decrying the District's practice of arresting and then selling undocumented "persons of

color" for jail fees (28A-G3). (National Archives, Guide to the Records of the United Senate. Records Of The Committee On

The District Of Columbia 1816-1968 (512 ft.)

1835
"A Colonization minded parson investigating a slave depot in Washington in 1835 consciously recorded that the premises

were as clean and orderly as those of the District's penitentiary, which he had visited a few days before, but "the situation

of the convicts at the penitentiary was far less deplorable than that of these slaves. Confined for the crime of being

descended from ancestors who were forcibly reduced to bondage." (J.C. Furnas, Goodbye to Uncle Tom, William Sloane

Associates, NY, 1956 p69)

1835/08
Riots touched off by discovery of abolitionist literature among specimens of Dr. Reuben Crandall a botanist when an angry

crowd of Navy Yard workers descend on the Washington County Jail where he was held. The mob was coursed out by a free

Negro Beverly Snow who said some derogatory things about their wives. The crowd immediately surged towards Snow's

tavern and, although they failed to lay their hands on Snow himself, they proceeded to wreck his establishment. Riots lasted

for two days and three nights, smashing the windows of Negro churches and school, and homes. Drastic legislation would

follow restricting the rights of free Negroes. (Dorothy Sproles Provine, The Free Negro In the District of Columbia

1800-1860, Thesis Louisiana State University Department of History, 1959, 1963)

In 1835 a slave reputedly attempted to murder Mrs. William Thornton, the widow of the architect of the Capitol, and

passions were inflamed because it was thought that this abortive action was inspired by abolitionist sentiments. The resulting

mob behavior was intended to intimidate free Negroes in the city. A Negro school and some tenements were destroyed,

churches were attacked, and the furnishings were smashed in the fashionable Beverly Snow restaurant owned by a free

Negro of that name. The School was set up by John f. Cook, a shoemaker in 1834.

The upheaval became known as the "Snow Riot" and was followed by restrictive legislation in 1836 designed to limit the

right of the free Negroes to perform work other than "drive carts, drays, hackney carriages or wagons." There were no

longer to operate restaurants, for example, a major outlet of work for the more enterprising blacks. The intent of the

legislation was to reduce free Negroes to servile status. (G. Franklin Edwards and Michael R. Winston, Commentary: The

Washington of Paul Jennings—White House Slave, Free Man, and Conspirator for Freedom. White House Historical

Association. )

Snow Riot leads to formation of National Guard and Washington Light Infantry Company. By 1838, citizen patrols

established. (Wilkelmus Bogart Bryan, A History of the National Capital from its Foundation through the Period of the

Adoption of the Organic Act, (NY: Macmillan Co. 1916, II 147-148. Cited by Dolores T. Williams, Preliminary Checklist of

Non-Official Imprints for the District of Columbia, 1836-37, with a Historical Introduction)

Between the 1820s and 1840s mob violence in the North and West came to be identified with lower class white attacks,

fueled by racism and economic competition, on the increasingly visible urban black community. As blacks began organizing in

earnest to claim their rights as Americans, white mob violence was used to restrict their ability to make political statements

in the public sphere. Old traditions like Election Day and Pinkster celebrations were banned, black parades were frequent

targets of mob attacks, and the representation of black culture in public was largely controlled by whites in blackface

perpetuating the degrading stereotypes of the minstrel show. (James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton. _In Hope of Liberty:

Culture, Community and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860_. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Reviewed for H-Shear by Mitch Kachun, in Slavery@Listserv.uh.edu., Thu, 21 May 1998)

This was a time when European immigrants were pouring into the North. Many of these people had faced discrimination and

hardship in their native countries. But in America they found their rights expanding rapidly. They had entered a country in

which they were part of a privileged category called "white." Classism and ethnic prejudices did exist among white

Americans and had a tremendous impact on people's lives. But the bottom line was that for white people in America, no matter

how poor or degraded they were, they knew there was a class of people below them. Poor whites were considered superior

to blacks, and to Indians as well, simply by virtue of being white. Because of this, most identified with the rest of the white

race and defended the institution of slavery. Working class whites did this even though slavery did not benefit them directly

and was in many ways against their best interests. (Public Broadcasting Service Resource Bank. Race-based legislation in the

North 1807 – 1850)
1835
-- represented a "crest of rioting in the United States." Anti-abolitionist riots in the North erupted. The abolitionist mail

campaign triggered riots in Charleston and other Southern towns. The work of vigilantes in Mississippi responding to the

Murrell slave-stealing conspiracy and the Vicksburg gamblers, this, "inaugurated" America's most mob-filled year. The

example for this mayhem, was set by the "slave-driving aristocrat" in the White House. Andrew Jackson's treatment of

African and Native Americans, his war against the Bank, his contempt for the traditional political establishment, and his lack

of respect for the law--all set a violent example for other Americans to follow, and they did so by going to the streets.

Jackson, "was in public life a general, a man trained to act in terms of friends and foes, victories and defeats, rather than

in terms of political and diplomatic courtesy and compromise." Jackson was a "bravely determined man certainly, but one

who paid little heed to process or legality if they stood in the way of what he thought desirable" (p. 5). Thus Jackson and his

movement was the wellspring of violence. (H-NET BOOK REVIEW Published by H-CivWar@h-net.msu.edu (February 1999)

David Grimsted. _American Mobbing, 1828-1861: Toward the Civil War_. New York and Oxford, England: Oxford University

Press, 1998. xviii + 372 pp. Notes and index. $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-19-511707-7. Reviewed for H-CivWar by James M.

Denham <jdenham@flsouthern.edu>, Department of History, Florida Southern College)

Amos Kendall, Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson, bans abolitionist literature from use of the mail service. "It is

universally conceded, that our States are united only for certain purposes. There are interests, in relation to which they are

believed to be as independent of each other as they were before the constitution was formed. The interest which the people

of some of the States have in slaves, is one of them. No State obtained by the union any right whatsoever over slavery in any

other State, nor did any State lose any of its power over it, within its own borders. On this subject, therefore, if this view

be correct, the States are still independent, and may fence round and protect their interest in slaves, by such laws and

regulations as in their sovereign will they may deem expedient." (Postmaster General Amos Kendall's Report on the delivery

of Abolition Materials in the Southern States Report of the Postmaster General, House Documents, 24th Congress, First

Session (1835), Appendix, 9. Located by Jenny Adamson and transcribed by Carolyn Sims, Department of History, Furman

University)

Between 1820 and 1850, Northern blacks also became the frequent targets of mob violence. Whites looted, tore down, and

burned black homes, churches, schools, and meeting halls. They stoned, beat, and sometimes murdered blacks. Philadelphia

was the site of the worst and most frequent mob violence. City officials there generally refused to protect African

Americans from white mobs and blamed blacks for inciting the violence with their "uppity" behavior. (Public Broadcasting

Service Resource Bank. Race-based legislation in the North 1807 – 1850)

1835/12/16
Congressman John Fairfield of York County, Maine, stood up on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and

presented a petition signed by 172 women calling for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. (Willard Sterne

Randall, Newsday, January 28, 1996, p 33)

1835/12/28
Seminoles and their African Americans massacre a 103-man U.S. Army force under Major Francis L. Dade in Florida. (The

People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

An examination of Alexis de Tocqueville's thesis on the march of Russia and the United States to manifest destiny in the

first half of the 19th century. Assesses first the impact of the age of democratic revolution, comparing the false images of

President Andrew Jackson and Czar Nicholas I. Goes on to discuss abolitionism (of Negro slavery and serfdom) and

expansionism (the Monroe Doctrine and Russophobia in Eastern Europe and Central Asia). Urbanization and the industrial

revolution in the United States, and the growth of cultural maturity in Russia, were significant developments which limit the

extent to which one can compare the experiences of these two emergent nations. Based on the author's forthcoming book,

The Emergence of the Super-Powers; illus. (Dukes, Paul. Two Great Nations, 1815-50. Journal citation: History Today [Great

Britain] 1970 20(2): 94-106.)

1836/10/29
[In Washington, DC], To prove they were free, blacks had to carry identity papers. Free blacks needed permission to have a

meeting or party in their house. They could not go on the streets after 10 p.m. without a pass. In 1836, the city, by denying

licenses to blacks, tried to run them out of most businesses. (Bob Arnebeck A Shameful Heritage, Washington Post Magazine

January 18, 1889, also see Washington Ordinances of October 29, 1836 and November 9, 1836)

1836
In Virginia, a slave manumitted after 1836 had to obtain the permission of county court to remain legally in the state for

more than a year after his manumission. Until the mid-1850's, the Fairfax court routinely permitted reputable, newly

emancipated slaves to remain in the county. But in 1855 when Lewis Casey, a "free man of color' who had been recently

manumitted by will and was known to be "honest, sober and industrious," petitioned the court for permission to remain, the

justices refused. It was, they declared, "impolitic to encourage any larger increase in this class of our population." By the

1850s, the Virginia legislature, angered by Northern demands for the immediate abolition of slavery, was prepared to make

the black code even harsher. One or two Virginia governors advocated that all free blacks be forcibly expelled from the

state. Though the Assembly refused to accede to the governors' requests, it provided for the voluntary enslavement of free

blacks, made it illegal for free blacks to purchase slaves, authorized the sale into slavery of free blacks convicted of

certain crimes, and enacted legislation which made the escape of slaves more difficult. (Fairfax County, Virginia a History.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Fairfax, Virginia, 1978 p 273)

1836/01
In an effort to suppress the still feeble antislavery forces, Southern Congressmen proposed what was, in effect, an

intellectual blockade. They urged federal authorities to allow states to censor literature that they deemed "incendiary,"

including not only abolitionist broadsides but also a wide range of general magazines, Northern newspapers and religious

journals that only occasionally mentioned slavery. Postmasters were encouraged to monitor citizens' mail and remove anything

that they deemed related to abolitionism. All petitions to Congress on the subject of slavery were to be automatically tabled,

without being printed or referred to in any way. (Bordewich, Fergus M., Arguing About Slavery: The Great Battle in the

United States Congress; book review of book by William Lee Miller, Smithsonian December, 1996)

"When Adams idly presented his colleagues with another anti-slavery petition, a Georgian congressman rose to move that the

list of signatures not be accepted. Some months later the notorious "gag rule" was put into effect, forbidding the further

admission of such petitions to Congress. It would prove one of the more maladroit instances of Southern intransigence.

"Where Adams had hitherto been a mild thorn in the side of the slave forces, he now became "old Man Eloquent," challenging

the gag rule and slavery with a fanatical devotion that knew no pause. Moreover, the spectacle of a former president

standing alone, unswayable and unyielding was not without its political psychodrama. Men who had no fixed opinion on

slavery could not help but be moved by the struggle of wills between one old man and the whole Southern delegation. (Tom

Dowling, Washington Star, Great Drama in Saving the Nation, October 6, 1976)

More shocking still, a gag rule imposed by Southerners and their Northern Democrat allies forbade members to discuss the

subject of slavery upon the floor of Congress, under threat of censure. Not only was the enslaved black person denied every

freedom but now the white person was even to be denied the freedom to talk about it. The hero of Miller's story is John

Quincy Adams, the only former President in American history to later be elected to Congress, where he served with

distinction for 17 years. Steeped from childhood in the hardheaded New England idealism of the Revolutionary era, Adams

not only deplored slavery in principle, as many of his contemporaries did, but went far beyond most of them in condemning

racial prejudice, which, as he put it, "taints the very sources of moral principle" by establishing "false estimates of virtue

and vice." (Bordewich, Fergus M., Arguing About Slavery: The Great Battle in the United States Congress; book review of

book by William Lee Miller, Smithsonian, December, 1996)

Beginning in 1836, and for nearly a decade, Adams relentlessly fought the gag rule, struggling to make white citizens see

that the South's determination to protect slavery at all costs represented an assault upon their own treasured rights. It was a

lonely and humiliating battle, almost without allies. Although a vigorous septuagenarian, Adams was openly scorned as a

dotard by his enemies. He was at least twice threatened with assassination. At one point, the ex-President was nearly

censured for daring to attempt to submit what his colleagues believed was a petition from a group of Maryland slaves. "Had

anyone, before today, ever dreamed that the appellation of the people' embraced slaves?" demanded Aaron Vanderpoel, an

influential New York Democrat and frequent apologist for slavery. (Bordewich, Fergus M., Arguing About Slavery: The Great

Battle in the United States Congress; book review of book by William Lee Miller, Smithsonian December, 1996)

"All petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions or papers relating in any way or to any extent whatsoever to the subject

of slavery shall, without either being printed or referred, be laid on the table and that no further action whatever shall be

had thereon."

1836/05/26
Congress passes a resolution, stating that it has no authority over state slavery laws. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by

James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1836
Anti-Masonic leaders joined the new Whig Party. (Vermont," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. 1993-1997)

1836
Death of the National Bank Jackson interpreted his election as a popular mandate to proceed against the Bank of the US and

started removing Federal funds, depositing them in select state banks beginning in October, using 23 state banks, called "pet

banks," by the end of 1833. Jackson justified his actions in his annual message to Congress, claimed complete responsibility

for removing the deposits on the grounds that the bank had tried to influence elections.

Henry Clay introduced two resolutions in the Senate which censured the actions of the Treasury and of Jackson over this

issue, both of which were adopted. Jackson supporters in the House passed 4 resolutions in support of his Bank policy.

Jackson's conciliatory actions toward the Senate were rejected, as well as Taney , his nomination for the Treasury. Senator

Benson successfully expunged the censure from the Senate record (January 1837)

The Bank died and was rechartered as the Bank of the US of Philadelphia. g. Deposit Act required the Secretary of the

Treasury to designate at least one bank in each state and territory as the place of public deposit (1) The banks were

assigned the general services previously given to the national government by the Bank of the US. (2) It also required that

surplus revenue in excess of $5 million be distributed among the states as a loan subject to recall although it was never

recalled.

Specie Circular July 1836. The use of paper currency was expanded by Biddle's banking policies, causing inflation and land

speculation to increase. (1) In 1823 the average Bank notes issued was $4.5 million but by 1831 it increased to $19 million

(2) The bank also made credit and currency more abundant in the West and South, causing land sales to skyrocket

($2,623,000 in 1832 to $24,877,000 in 1836). Jackson ordered the issuance of the Specie Circular which provided that

after 15 August 1836, only gold, silver or Virginia land scrip would be accepted by the government in payment for public

lands, although paper money was permitted until 15 December for parcels of land up to 320 acres purchased by actual

settlers or bona fide residents of the state in which the save was made.

The purpose -- to repress "alleged frauds" from "the monopoly of the public lands in the hands of speculators and

capitalists" and the "ruinous extension" of bank notes and credit d. Although public-land sales were reduced in the West,

the circular taxed the inadequate resources of the state "pet" banks, drained specie from the East, led to hoarding, and

weakened public confidence in the state banks. After Jackson defended the circular in his annual message in December

1836, and recommended that land sales be limited to actual settlers, Congress passed a measure that rescinded the Specie

Circular, but it was pocket-vetoed by Jackson. The Specie Circular was not repealed until a joint resolution in May 1838.

(Growth Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX )

1836
President Jackson issues his Specie Circular. The circular lays down that future purchases of government land must be paid

in gold or silver, or their strict equivalent, rather than in local notes or promises to pay. This has the effect of swelling the

US government's coffers with specie. p 479 (A Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day,

1830 – 1849, Based on the book: A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff:

University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5.)
1837
Congress enacts a gag law to suppress debate on the slavery issue. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from

MS Bookshelf.)

1837
Country suffers severe depression. (Stefan Lorant, The Presidency, NY Macmillan, 1951, page 148-150. Cited by Cited by

Dolores T. Williams, Preliminary Checklist of Non-Official Imprints for the District of Columbia, 1836-37, with a Historical

Introduction)

1837
Panic of 1837. The reckless land speculation and the specie circular resulted in a serious downturn in the US economy which

worsened as Van Buren took office. The price of cotton fell by one-half in New Orleans. New York's unemployed

demonstrated against high rents and inflated food and fuel prices and one mob broke into food warehouses and sacked their

supplies. Several banks, beginning in New York, suspended specie payments. Public land sales fell from 20 million acres

(1836) to 3 1/2 million acres (1838). The effects of the panic persisted until 1842-43 particularly in the South and West.

(Growth Of The Nation 1800 – 40 Jefferson's Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX)

The uncontrolled, chaotic expansion of banking in the US is slowed, then partly reversed by a financial crisis in which every

bank is forced to suspend specie payment of notes. The crisis leads to a depression in the economy which lasts until 1843.( p

480,483-484. A Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day, 1830 – 1849, Based on the book:

A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996.

716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5. )

1837-41
Martin Van Buren becomes President as Democrat. VP is Richard M. Johnson

1837/03/04
Martin Van Buren presidential Inaugural Address deals with Slavery in the District of Columbia, "Fellow-Citizens: I then

declared that if the desire of those of my countrymen who were favorable to my election was gratified. I must go into the

Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in

the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slaveholding States, and also with a determination equally decided to

resist the slightest interference with it in the States where it exists. I submitted also to my fellow-citizens, with fullness

and frankness, the reasons which led me to this determination."

Two weeks after Van Buren`s inauguration a financial panic struck the New York commercial and financial community. Years

earlier, Jackson decentralized the national bank, which allowed many state and local banks to engage in land and profit

speculation. This speculation continued throughout Jackson`s final four years in office and into Van Buren`s administration.

However, in 1837, the wild speculation ended, and a panic concerning the stability of the financial markets, the banks, and

even in the government, spread across the nation. These fears caused a wide spread recession, ultimately ending in a

depression, to engulf the nation. (The Depression of 1837; Economic Issues ))

1837
Victorian Style, trends in British architecture and furniture in the Victorian era (1837-1901). An especially widespread

tendency, called Eclectic Revivalism, was to adapt earlier styles to industrial-age needs... (Encarta 98 Desk Encyclopedia

Microsoft Corporation.)

1838
The "underground railway" organized by U.S. abolitionists transports southern slaves to freedom in Canada, but slaving

interests at Philadelphia work on the fears of Irish immigrants and other working people who worry that freed slaves may

take their jobs. A Philadelphia mob burns down Pennsylvania Hall May 17 in an effort to thwart antislavery meetings. (The

People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

A book, co-authored by a professor at Howard University, pieces together a story of how quilts made by slaves before and

during the Civil War were stitched with patterns that formed a secret code, part of a network of communication that helped

slaves escape to freedom.

Existence of such coded quilts had long been suspected among those familiar with African-American quilting traditions,

according to Raymond Dobard, professor of art history at Howard and co-author of "Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story

of Quilts and the Underground Railroad" (Doubleday; 272 pages; $27.50). But the new book by Dobard and University of

Denver professor Jacqueline Tobin adds a scholarly dimension to what had been largely a story preserved in oral tradition,

passed down from generation to generation. The research effort began when Tobin learned of the story from Ozella

McDaniel Williams, an African-American quilter from South Carolina. The code Williams described had three main

components: a series of 10 symbols that told slaves where and when escapes were planned, what routes to take and

instructions about how to survive in the wilderness; an enigmatic story passed down by oral tradition that explained what the

symbols meant; and spirituals whose titles and lyrics have long been recognized as covert traveling instructions ("Wade in

the Water," "Steal Away"). (Fern Robinson "Underground Railroad Signals" Washington Post. Thursday, February 18, 1999;

Page T04)
(Conducting Underground Railroad Research? See http://www.ugrr.org/research.htm &

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/exugrr/exuggr5.htm which has an excellent bibliography on slavery. see also underground

railroad bibliography at http://education.ucdavis.edu/NEW/STC/lesson/socstud/railroad/Books.htm)

1838
Presbyterians divide over slavery. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline 1440-1866. By the Internet Public Library

1838
Frederick Douglas escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Sept. 3. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the

Mayflower)

1839
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal started in 1828 reaches 134 miles west of Georgetown but runs into financial difficulties

(see 1850). (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1839-42
William Grason Governor of Md. (MD info from Maryland A Chronology & Documentary Handbook, 1978 Oceana Publications,

Inc.)

1840
Roughly a 30 per cent of the inhabitants of the District of Columbia were Negroes. (Letitia W Brown, Residence Patterns of

Negroes in the District of Columbia, 1800-1860, Records of the Columbia Historical Society of Washington DC, 1969-70,

p68)

1840

The World’s Anti-Slavery Convention opens at London, but Boston abolitionist William Garrison refuses to attend, protesting

the exclusion of women (see 1831). The U.S. antislavery movement has split into two factions in the past year largely because

of Garrison’s advocacy of women’s rights, including their right to participate in the antislavery movement (see first Women’s

Rights Convention, 1848). (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

.At the World's Anti-slavery Convention, African American Charles Remond refused to be seated when he learned that

women were being segregated in the gallery (Denise Pazur, The Plain Dealer, Jan 31, 1993, page

1840
United States Census pages for President Van Buran and Congressperson John Q. Adams missing (DC Census 1840 Roll 35

page 5 microprint 0006)

1841
A court at Washington, D.C., rules March 9 that Cinque and his fellow mutineers aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad last

year are not guilty and orders their release. Madrid protests. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS

Bookshelf.)

The 1839 case involved about 50 Africans who, against international law, had been captured and shipped to Havana, Cuba,

where they seized the schooner Amistad, which was taking them to a plantation. Two crewmen were killed in the fight, and

the rest of the crew were put ashore. Then the Africans ordered the owners to sail the ship back to Africa. However, the

Amistad was seized by a U.S. brig off the Atlantic coast, and the Africans were imprisoned in Connecticut. The Connecticut

court referred the case to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in 1841. Adams argued that the United States should treat as free any persons escaping

from illegal bondage. He denounced the administration of President Martin Van Buren for favoring the return of the captives

to the Spanish planters who claimed ownership of them. The court decided for the Africans and, with money raised by

abolitionists, 32 of them were returned to their homeland of Sierra Leone. The others had died at sea or while awaiting trial.

("Adams, John Quincy," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation.)

1841
The Second Bank of the United States crashes. By this time it is simply a private bank and no longer a national institution.

When it ran into difficulties during the 1837 crisis it was still the largest bank in the world, but it finally crashes in 1841. p

484 (A Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day, 1830 – 1849, Based on the book: A History

of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p.

ISBN 0 7083 1351 5.)

William H. Harrison, Whig becomes President. VP John Tyler

Journal Article traces the controversy stemming from the reply of Julia Gardiner Tyler, wife of former President John

Tyler, to the 1852 address of an English duchess which called on American women to support gradual abolition, immediate

ending of the breakup of slave families, and improvement of slave education. Mrs. Tyler claimed that British social conditions

were worse than those of American slaves, and attacked the British "Affectionate and Christian Address . . . " mainly as

unwarranted interference in US domestic affairs. She defended southern womanhood and questioned the motivation of

British appealers. 63 notes. (Pugh, Evelyn L., Women And Slavery: Julia Gardiner Tyler And The Duchess Of Sutherland.

Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 1980 88 (2): 186-202.)

1841
Slave revolt on slave trader 'Creole' which was en route from Hampton, Va., to New Orleans, La., Nov 7. Slaves overpowered

crew and sailed vessel to Bahamas where they were granted asylum and freedom. (Major Revolts and Escapes, Lerone

Bennett, Before the Mayflower,)

Maryland passed a law requiring a penalty of ten to twenty years imprisonment for any free black having any materials

relating to abolition in his possession. In 1858, Samuel Green, a minister from Dorchester County, was sentenced to a ten

year prison term for possessing a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Green was also suspected of having actively participated in the

Underground Railroad. (Roland C. McConnell, Editor, Three Hundred and Fifty years: A Chronology of the Afro-American in

Maryland, 1634-1984, 1985)

1842/03/01
Supreme Court rules in Prigg v. Pennsylvania that state officials are not required to assist in the return of fugitive slaves.

(Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service))

The owner of a fugitive slave may recover him under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, the Supreme Court rules March 1 in

Prigg v. Pennsylvania. The court overturns an 1826 Pennsylvania law that made kidnapping a slave a felony, saying an owner

cannot be stopped from recovering a slave, but it says also that state authorities are under no obligation to help the

slaveowner. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

In 1848, William Craft (d. 1900) and Ellen Craft (d. 1890), slaves on a Georgia plantation, escaped to Philadelphia and later

moved to Boston where they remained until Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Their owners then demanded

extradition of the Crafts to Georgia. Despite aid from antislavery groups, extradition appeared inevitable, forcing the

Crafts to flee to Great Britain where they remained until the American Civil War ended. In England, the Crafts played

prominent roles in helping British abolitionist groups oppose slavery. Based on archival, newspaper, and secondary sources;

54 notes. (Blackett, R. J. M. Title: Fugitive Slaves In Britian: The Odyssey Of William And Ellen Craft . Journal of American

Studies [Great Britain] 1978 12(1): 41-62. Also see the National Park Service Biographies of the Crafts Taken from: The

African Meeting House in Boston: A Sourcebook, by William S. Parsons & Margaret A. Drew)

1842/09/21
The Council of the District of Columbia passed an Act to created an auxiliary night police to patrol the streets of the city

and in part to enforce the 10pm "colored curfew." At 10: PM, all "colored" people out without a pass were liable to arrest,

fine and flogging. The floggings were administered sometimes at the guard post and sometimes at the whipping-post of the

jail, on the northeast corner of Judiciary Square. "In place of the baton, each officer carried a stick surmounted by an iron

spear-head, intended originally to pry open doors in case of fire or when in pursuit of thieves...some of the officers became

so proficient as to make it a formidable weapon either when used as a club or thrown as a javelin." (Richard Sylvester,

District of Columbia Police, Policemen's Fund, Washington, DC 1894 page 29)

1843 Africa
-- November 29 to December 16. Four United States vessels demonstrated and landed various parties (one of 200 marines

and sailors) to discourage piracy and the slave trade along the Ivory coast, and to punish attacks by the natives on American

seamen and shipping. (Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798 – 1993 by Ellen C. Collier, Specialist in U.S.

Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division Washington DC: Congressional Research Service -- Library of

Congress -- October 7, 1993 )

1844/01/10
The law that now exists in the District of Columbia, relative to fugitive slaves, compels a Negro under arrest to prove that he

was born free. (The Sun (Baltimore) Jan 9-15, 1844, reprinted January 9th 1994)

1844
Mexico-. President Tyler deployed U.S. forces to protect Texas against Mexico, pending Senate approval of a treaty of

annexation. (Later rejected.) He defended his action against a Senate resolution of inquiry. (Instances of Use of United

States Forces Abroad, 1798 -1993 by Ellen C. Collier, Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy, Congressional Research Service -Oct

7, 1993,)

The questions of slavery in the territories and slavery in the Mexican province of Texas divided the nation. Before 1836, the

Mexican border with the United States was Louisiana, Arkansas territory, and the Indian lands of Oklahoma. As one of

Spain's New World colonies, slavery was legally protected in Mexico. Still, there was little slavery in the underpopulated

province of Texas until, at almost the same time that Mexicans rose in revolt against Spanish domination (1819), American

slaveholders moved into Texas and began to carve out plantations with slave labor. The newly-independent Mexicans wanted

Texas to be settled, but they did not want American slavery to be a permanent part of their new nation. The Mexican

legislature agreed in 1827 that, after the adoption of its constitution, no one would be born a slave on Mexican soil.

American efforts to get around this by registering their slaves as indentured servants ultimately failed. This tension over

slavery was a primary cause for American Texans to seek independence from Mexico and to establish the Republic of Texas

(1836-1848).50 (See Randolph Campbell, An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1821-1865 (Baton Rouge:

Louisiana State University Press, 1989 cited in The Underground Railroad In American History, The National Park Service)

1844/12/03
The gag rule was revoked when Northern Democrats, breaking ranks with their Southern counterparts, voted against the

rule. The gag rule was overturned, after an alliance of Northern and Southern Democrats at last began to fissure. But it

would take a civil war before the questions raised by Adams were finally answered. Yet, in those debates of the 1830s,

tectonic plates had shifted. Adams had shaken the "immense, rooted institution" of slavery as no one had before. The effort

to silence Adams and his handful of allies had only intensified popular concern over the moral and political cost of

protecting slavery. . (Bordewich, Fergus M., Arguing About Slavery: The Great Battle in the United States Congress; book

review of book by William Lee Miller, Smithsonian December, 1996)

1844
Morse invented the telegraph (Selected Review Of Important Media Related Historical Events And Facts. Oklahoma Baptist

University)

Daniel Reaves Goodloe of Louisburg began his career as an anti-slavery journalist in Washington, D.C. (Some Notable Events

and Persons, in the First 200 Years of Franklin County's North Carolina History, Compiled by Dr. George-Anne Willard, )

1845-49
James Knox Polk, Democrat becomes President. VP George M. Dallas.

In a cost cutting measure Sarah Polk wife of the President replaced White House servants with slaves and rearranged the

White House Basement into slave quarters. (William Seale, "The President's House: a History," White House Historical

Association with the Cooperation of the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, pages 256 see

Commissioner's letters sent, May-Oct 184, passim: see also Polk's financial records in Polk papers LC not draft of July 20,

1846, to for January 9, 1847, Feb 2, 1847 and Jan 1, N.D. for purchase of slaves.)

Her primary economic measure had been tried by previous southern Presidents, a substantial reduction of the numbers in the

salaried staff and their replacement with slaves. About ten hired servants were let go, and their positions were taken by a

combination of slaves from the Polk's home place in Tennessee and several more slaves purchased from relatives and friends

during the first three years of Polk's Presidency. (The President's House: a History by William Seale, White House

Historical Association with the Cooperation of the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, page 257)

1845
The Methodist Episcopal Church in America splits into northern and southern conferences after Georgia bishop James O.

Andrews resists an order that he give up his slaves or quit his bishopric. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager

from MS Bookshelf.)

"It is well known that the rift came over Georgia Bishop James O. Andrew's acquisition of slaves. Ironically, Andrew was

chosen bishop by the General Conference of 1832, because he owned no bondsmen (although servants belonging to others

were provided for his use). In an age when a woman's property routinely passed at marriage to her husband, Owen became a

slaveholder when he remarried, following the death of his first wife. The bishop thought that he could avoid controversy by

deeding his human property back to his spouse, but northern delegates to the 1844 General Conference demanded his

resignation. A peacemaker, Andrew would have given up his post, except for the southern delegation's strong urging that he

stand firm. The southerners feared that they would lose influence at home, if they gave into northern "ultraism."

In the end Methodists, North and South, agreed to an amicable divorce, with a prorated division of church assets. Both sides

displayed a measure of moderation, with the Georgia Methodists supporting the legalization of slave marriages and keeping

antislavery references in their _Discipline_ until 1857, and the northern Methodist Episcopal Church waiting almost to the

end of the Civil War before barring slaveholders from membership. (Christopher H. Owen. _The Sacred Flame of Love:

Methodism and Society in Nineteenth-Century Georgia. Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press, 1998. xx + 290

pp. Notes, bibliography, and index. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-8203-1963-5. Reviewed for H-AmRel by Thomas A. Scott

<tscott@ksumail.kennesaw.edu>, Department of History and Philosophy, Kennesaw State University, Georgia)

In the 1840's pastors and congregations of the Methodist church were expressing their views on slavery in no uncertain

terms. In Alexandria Virginia, the Methodists presented a house dived unto itself. Trading in slaves must have been

considerable as the slave pen, located at 1318 Duke Street, was known as "The Norman". The tense feeling of the day was

reflected in the views of two outstanding pastors: Norval Wilson, a man of strong Southern views who preached at the

Alexandria Station in 1850 and Alfred Griffith pastor in this city in 1843 and 1844, whose deep anti-slavery views

crystallized the break that came in the General Conference in 1844. The General Conference of 1844 agreed upon a Plan of

Separation. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, became a distinct organization. The split in Alexandria Virginia was

finalized in 1849 when the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, with The Reverend J. H. Davis

presiding met. The new congregation had made arrangements with Benjamin Hollowell, Quaker schoolmaster and president of

the Lyceum organization to use that building which then was comparatively new, being only fourteen years old. (Washington

Street United Methodist Church, Alexandria, Virginia, Reflections 1849-1989. Researcher and Editor Kathryn Pierpoint

Hedman, 1989)

In 1843, 1,200 Methodist ministers owned 1,500 slaves, and 25,000 members owned 208,000 slaves, the Methodist Church

as a whole remained silent and neutral on the issue of slavery. (Growth Of The Nation, 1800 – 40 Jefferson's

Administrations Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX))

1845
Samuel Morse hired Andrew Jackson's former postmaster general, Amos Kendall, as his agent in locating potential buyers of

the telegraph. Kendall realized the value of the device, and had little trouble convincing others of its potential for profit. By

the spring he had attracted a small group of investors. They subscribed $15,000 and formed the Magnetic Telegraph

Company. Many new telegraph companies were formed as Morse sold licenses wherever he could. (Smithsonian Institution,

Resources for the history of invention Collections on Invention and Innovation in the NMAH, Archives Center. Register of the

Western Union Telegraph Company Collection 1848-1963 by Robert S. Harding Archives Center, National Museum of

American History, Smithsonian Institution )

Amos Kendall’s Expositor, was published in Washington DC, One issue of June 16, 1841 was sold at auction, described as "A

lively political sheet produced by Amos Kendall, a self-appointed watchdog for the new Whig administration of Harrison and

Tyler. Interesting opinions on the functioning of the government and special interests lobbyists show that very little has

really changed! (Old World Auctions. Antique Newspapers )

Kendall would also edit along with other the Globe according to auction. [Harrison, William Henry}. Extra Globe, Containing

Official Discussions, Documentary Props, Etc., [Washington, D. C.]. Vol. 6 # 1-27. May 16, 1840 - Jan. 29, 1841.

Contemporary half morocco. First edition. A Jacksonian periodical which covers the entire election season ( May - Oct) 1840.

Much on abolition, J. C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, presidential election returns, Amos Kendall, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van

Buren, Daniel Webster, etc. Each number contains valuable material. Very scarce. Edited by Blair, Rives, and Kendall. 450.00

(Michael Ginsberg Books, Sharon, MA.)

1846
The slow economic development of the city of Washington in the early years, coupled by the political disincentives of having

no vote for representation in the Congress or the presidential election, spurred discussion of retrocession among the

residents almost immediately. In 1846, the residents of Alexandria City successfully won their fight for retrocession into

Virginia, thus leaving the District its current size. Residents in the Virginia portion also feared the impending abolition of the

slave trade in the federal city as Alexandria was a slave port (Harris, Congress and the Governance of the Nation's Capital:

The Conflict of Federal and Local Interests, p. 4). (District of Columbia Home Rule Charter Review in collaboration with the

Federal City Council )

Alexandria given back to Virginia. DC had been called "the very seat and center of the slave trade." (John Hope Franklin and

Alfred A. Moss, Jr. From Slavery to Freedom, 1947, 1997 pages 114-115 in LC reference.) See also William T. Laprade, "The

Domestic Slave-Trade in the District of Columbia," Journal of Negro History, XI (January, 1926 pp 17-34)

Smithsonian Institution research institution founded by the bequest of the English scientist James Smithson. Although it was

held by John C. Calhoun and other members of Congress that the federal government had no power to accept such a gift, it

was finally secured, largely through the efforts of John Quincy Adams, and in 1846 the institution was established by

congressional act at Washington, D.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica On-Line)

The Cornerstone of the Smithsonian Institution was laid in 1847 by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons,

Benjamin B. French in the presence of President James K Polk. (Ray Baker Harris, The Laying of cornerstones, Supreme

Council 33°, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Washington DC, 1961)

Scholars generally agree that the Industrial Revolution occurred in the United States beginning at about the middle of the

19th century.

1845
Irish immigration increases due to the potato famine.

1846/04/24 – 1848/05/30
War against Mexico adds territory to the United States (Dates given by US Navy & Marine Casualty WEB page )

On May 13,1846, the United States recognized the existence of a state of war with Mexico. After the annexation of Texas

in 1845, the United States and Mexico failed to resolve a boundary dispute and President Polk said that it was necessary to

deploy forces in Mexico to meet a threatened invasion. (Instances of Use of United States Forces Abroad, 1798 -1993 by

Ellen C. Collier, Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy, Congressional Research Service -Oct 7, 1993)

1847

Escaped slave Frederick Douglas, 30, begins publication at Rochester, N.Y., of an abolitionist newspaper, the North Star.

The Massachusetts Antislavery Society published Douglas's’ autobiography 2 years ago and he has earned enough from

lecture fees in Britain, Ireland, and the United States to buy his freedom. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James

Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

About 1000 slaves per year escaped to the North during the pre-Civil War decades, most from the upper South. This

represented only a small percentage of those who attempted to escape, however, since for every slave who made it to

freedom, several more tried. Other fugitives remained within the South, heading for cities or swamps, or hiding out near

their plantations for days or weeks before either returning voluntarily or being tracked down and captured. ("Slavery in the

United States," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation.)

1847
Steam powers a U.S. cotton mill for the first time at Salem, Mass., where the Maumkoag Steam Cotton Mill begins production.

(The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1847/07/26
Liberia declares independence from American Colonization Society. (D.T.'s Chronology of History 1840-1849! )

1847-48
The Virginia Legislature has enacted (Sess. Acts 1847-8, ch. 10, § 24,) that "any free person who, by speaking or writing,

shall maintain that owners have not right of property in their slaves, shall be punishable by confinement in the jail, not more

than twelve months, and by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars." (Bacon v. The Commonwealth. Supreme Court Of

Virginia, 48 Va. 602; 1850 Va. Lexis 43; 7 Gratt. 602, June Term, 1850)

1848
Gold Rush in California. The discovery of gold in California leads in the following decade to a massive increase in the

production of gold coins by the mint with the result that in practice the US moves away from bimetallism towards a gold

standard. p 481 (A Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day, 1830 – 1849, Based on the

book: A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press,

1996. 716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5. ))

1848
Work begun on the Washington Monument, DC Obelisk honoring the first U.S. president. (The World Almanac and Book of

Facts 1996 from MS Bookshelf)

1848/03/10
Mexican War ends, expanding U.S. slave territory into Texas.

1848/04/15
Daniel Drayton attempted to smuggle 76 slaves on the ship Pearl out of Washington to Freedom in the North. The slaves

belonged to "41 of the most prominent families in Washington and Georgetown and were valued at $100,000." The Pearl got

as far as Chesapeake but ran into headwinds. "A steamer was chartered by owners and friends armed to the teeth with guns

pistols and bowie knives for the pursuit. The steamer took Drayton's vessel into tow, and brought them back to Washington. A

mob had assembled on 4th street and rushed the group when they reached Pennsylvania avenue shouting Lynch them, Lynch

them. (George Rothwell Brown, Capital Silhouettes, Washington Post March 10, 1924)

According to Josephine Pacheco, professor emeritus of history at George Mason University, former first lady Dolley

Madison owned one slave heading for the Pearl. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison claimed that another worked in President

James K. Polks's White House. (Mary Kay Ricks, Escape on the Pearl,, Washington Post, Horizon August 12, 1998.)

"The public was infuriated and tended to blame Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, the editor of the antislavery newspaper, the National

Era, for conceiving and planning the whole affair. A crowd formed before the office of Bailey's newspaper and pelted the

building with stones until they were dispersed by the police (National Era, April 27, 1848; The Liberator, April 28 1848

cited in Dorothy Sproles Provine, The Free Negro In the District of Columbia 1800-1860, Thesis Louisiana State University

Department of History, 1959, 1963)

Drayton, Daniel. Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton, (For Four Years And Four Months A Prisoner (For Charity's Sake In

Washington Jail, Negro Universities Press, 1969 122pp) including a narrative of the voyage and capture of the schooner

Pearl. First published in 1855 by Bela. Drayton, born in Cumberland County, NJ, plied a vessel between Delaware Bay and

Virginia's eastern shore, coming into frequent contact with the African-American slaves in the Chesapeake region. Soon, he

was helping slaves escape North aboard his schooner "Pearl," until he was seized on the Potomac and imprisoned.

For the Role of Paul Jennings in the Pearl escape, see (G. Franklin Edwards and Michael R. Winston, Commentary: The

Washington of Paul Jennings—White House Slave, Free Man, and Conspirator for Freedom. White House Historical

Association.)

In Washington DC, a description of conditions just beyond the city limit, Florida Avenue "The slaves are watched by the

patrols, who ride about to try to catch them off the quarters, especially at the house of a free person of color. I have known

the slaves to stretch clothes lines across the street, high enough to let the horse pass, but not the rider; then the boys would

run, and the patrols in full chase would be thrown off by running against the lines. The patrols are poor white men, who live

by plundering and stealing, getting rewards for runaways, and setting up little shops on the public roads. They will take

whatever the slaves steal, paying in money, whiskey, or whatever the slaves want. They take pigs, sheep, wheat, corn- - any

thing that's raised they encourage the slaves to steal: these they take to market next day. It's all speculation- - all a matter

of self- interest, and when the slaves run away, these same traders catch them if they can, to get the reward. If the slave

threatens to expose his traffic, he does not care- - for the slave's word is good for nothing- - it would not be taken." ("My

Bedstead Consisted Of A Board Wide Enough To Sleep On". Francis Henderson was 19 when he managed to escape from a

slave plantation outside of Washington, D.C., in 1841. Here, he describes conditions on his plantation. Source: Benjamin

Drew, A North- Side View of Slavery (Boston, 1856). (For a description of the conditions of slave just outside Washington,

DC see slave narrative)

Another well-known example of abolitionist activity in the South was the case of the ship Pearl which attempted to leave

Washington City in April, 1848, with 77 slaves who were to leave the ship as free persons when it docked in New York.

Betrayed by an offended black man, the Pearl was seized and its captain, Daniel Drayton, and owner, Sayres, were arrested

and tried in Washington. The trial lasted six weeks in the summer of 1848 and Drayton was sentenced to prison while Sayres

paid a fine of $10,000. Drayton, whose release was gained in April 1853 by black Boston lawyer Robert Morris after he

served four years, committed suicide in New Bedford in 1857.

Leonard Grimes, born to free parents in Leesburg, Virginia, became a hackman in Washington, D.C., and part of a large group

of African Americans, both free and fugitive, who had grown up in the south and were intimately acquainted with its

geography and many of its people. These residents of Washington were well positioned to aid runaways -- and they did so.

Grimes was apprehended by the local authorities on one of his trips to Virginia while attempting to transport a free black

man and his slave family out of the state. He served two years in the Virginia penitentiary. After his release, he moved north

and became the minister of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston where he and his congregation continued to aid fugitives.

1847-48
Free-Soil party, U.S. political party born in 1847–48 to oppose the extension of slavery into territories newly gained from

Mexico. In 1848 the Free-Soil party ran Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams for president and vice president; by

polling 300,000 votes it gave New York State to the Whigs and thus made Zachary Taylor president. After the Compromise

of 1850 seemed to settle the slavery-extension issue, the group known as the Barnburners left the Free-Soilers to return to

the Democratic party, but radicals kept the Free-Soil party alive until 1854, when the new Republican party absorbed it.

(The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 by Columbia University Press from MS Bookshelf.)

A third party took part in the election of 1848. Called the Free-Soil Party, it included Democrats and Whigs who disagreed

with their parties, and abolitionists, who wanted an immediate end to slavery. The Free-Soil Party nominated former

president Martin Van Buren of New York for president and Massachusetts legislator Charles Francis Adams for vice

president. (Fillmore, Millard, Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.)

1848
Congress passed the Oregon Territory bill, which prohibited slavery in the area. President James K. Polk signed the bill

because the Oregon Territory lay north of the Missouri Compromise line. Later proposals tried to extend the line by law

across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. These efforts failed. The Missouri Compromise was repealed by the

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. (Political Compromises: Missouri Compromise, The World Book, African American Journey.)

Zachary Taylor, Whig becomes President. VP Millard Fillmore.Taylor brought house slaves from Louisiana to work at the

White House. There were approximately 15, including children; one was the body servant who had accompanies General

Taylor to Mexico. (The President's House: a History by William Seale , White House Historical Association with the

Cooperation of the National Geographic Society and Harry N Abrams, 1986, vol. 1, page 282)

1849
Abraham Lincoln as Representative, unsuccessfully proposed a bill for the "compensated emancipation of slaves in the

District of Columbia. (Mary Kay Ricks, Escape on the Pearl, Washington Post, Horizon August 12, 1998.)

1849
Maryland slave Harriet Tubman, 29, escapes to the North and begins a career as "conductor" on the Underground Railway

that started in 1838. Tubman will make 19 trips back to the South to free upward of 300 slaves including her aged parents

whom she will bring North in 1857. (The People's Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1850
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal begun in 1828 finally reaches Cumberland, Md., which the B&O Railroad reached in 1842.

The $22 million 184.5-mile canal with its 74 lift locks is obsolete, plans to continue it 180 miles westward to Pittsburgh are

abandoned, but it will be used until 1924. (The People's Chronology, 1994 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

1850/09/18
Compromise of 1850 attempts to settle slavery issue. As part of the Compromise, a new Fugitive Slave Act is added to

enforce the 1793 law and allows slaveholders to retrieve slaves in northern states and free territories. (Underground

Railroad Chronology, National Park Service, http://www.cr.nps.gov/htdocs1/boaf/urrtim~1.htm)

The Fugitive Slave Law passed in September 1850 allowed escaped slaves to be captured and brought back to their masters.

The law also prosecuted anyone who helped hide slaves or who aided fugitive slaves in any way. The law was very expensive

to the United States of America as it cost thousands of dollars to return all slaves to the places from where they had

escaped. A boom also began in the slave catching business. It was easy to take any black person, free or not and say they

escaped. Slave catchers roamed the whole continent looking for black people. Because of this law many blacks escaped to

Canada in the 1850's and 60's. The Fugitive Slave Law was responsible for the escalation of blacks in Chatham and Buxton

(Canadian towns), as they were final stations of the Underground Railroad. (The Buxton Settlement -Cultural Landscape.

North Buxton Ontario, Canada. This information is taken from a Black History project completed by students and Staff from

Chatham Collegiate Institute in Chatham, Ontario. Material was compiled from the collections of the Chatham - Kent sites of

the African Canadian Heritage Tour.)

Congress enacted the famous Compromise of 1850. A provision of the Compromise relating to slavery included the outlawing

of the slave trade in Washington, D.C. but the retention of slavery itself. (Alton Hornsby, JR,. Chronology of African

American History, Gale Research 1991, in LC reference)

The Compromise of 1850 stiffened existing fugitive slave laws and allowed claimants to recover fugitives by applying to

federal judges and commissioners to establish ownership. The testimony of fugitives was not admitted as evidence. Anyone

who interfered with the enforcement of these laws was subject to punishment. Many of the cases in this publication contain

only the warrants for arrest, and others contain papers relating to proof of ownership. (Description of Federal Court

Records: A Select Catalog Of National Archives Microfilm Publications (Part 6) National Archives)

The Compromise of 1850 strengthened the fugitive slave law. "All good citizens" were required to obey it on pain of heavy

penalty; jury trial and the right to testify were prohibited to fugitives. The Abolitionists and new personal-liberty laws

defied these provisions. Notable fugitive slave trials stirred up public opinion in both the North and South. Northern

Nullification of the fugitive slave laws was cited in 1860 by South Carolina as a cause of secession. Congress repealed both

laws in 1864, during the Civil War. (The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, 1995 by Columbia University Press from MS

Bookshelf.)

"Relatively few [slaves] escaped permanently. . . The federal census of 1850 recorded the escapes to free territory of only

1,010 slaves. In 1860, the number was 803. They came principally from the border states. An organization of Quakers and

antislavery people in the border states and in the North aided some slaves to escape to Canada; however, their assistance has

been vastly exaggerated in the legend of the Underground Railroad. The more valuable aid given to escaping slaves was by

free Negroes and fellow slaves ... They hid the fugitives in the daytime and gave directions to them" (From Clement Eaton,

Growth of Southern Civilization New York: Harper, 1961 page 73, cited in The Underground Railroad In American History,

The National Park Service)

1850
Sen. Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850 admitted California as 31st state Sept. 9, slavery forbidden; made Utah and New

Mexico territories without decision on slavery; made Fugitive Slave Law more harsh; ended District of Columbia slave trade.

(The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996 from MS Bookshelf)

The Compromise of 1850 was worked out by Henry Clay to settle the dispute between North and South. On January 29,

1850, it was introduced to the Senate as follows:

1. California should be admitted immediately as a free state;
2. Utah should be separated from New Mexico, and the two territories should be allowed to decide for them selves

whether they wanted slavery or not;
3. The land disputed between Texas and New Mexico should be assigned to New Mexico;
4. In return, the United States should pay the debts which Texas had contracted before annexation;
5. Slavery should not be abolished in the District of Columbia without the consent of its residents and the surrounding

state of Maryland, and then only if the owners were paid for their slaves.
6. Slave-trading (but not slavery) should be banned in the District of Columbia;
7. A stricter fugitive slave law should be adopted.

(Jordan, W. et al. (1985): The Americans. p. 310) The Compromise resulted in heavy debates in the Senate. Especially the

leader of the Conscience Whigs, William H. Seward, criticized it. He argued that there was "a higher law than the

Constitution" (Jordan, W. et al. (1985): The Americans. p. 311.), and alluded to the law of God, which forbade slavery. Still

the people seemed to accept the Compromise with some hesitation. President Zachory Taylor was truly against the plan and

created a deadlock, but as he died, and was succeeded by Vice- President Millard Fillmore, the whole thing got a new turn.

He successfully convinced the Whig party. However, the Compromise was turned down in Congress. Henry Clay withdrew

from politics due to poor health and Stephen A. Douglas took over the task of dealing with the Compromise. (Andreas

Sandgren, "Causes Of The Civil War In America, 1861-1865" Lund, Spyken, 1993)

1850
Zachary Taylor died in office on July 9. Millard Fillmore, as a Whig Took the presidential oath the following day. There was

no Vice president

1851
Myrtilla Miner founded a "school for colored girls," which the University of the District of Columbia looks back to as it's

roots. (History and Mission of the University of the District of Columbia. Updated: April 29, 1998)

Mytilla Miner, alarmed the city's white citizens by opening the Normal School for Colored Girls, a college preparatory school

in a city where slavery remained legal. In 1854, Minor wrote" "Emily (Edmonson) and I lived here alone, unprotected, except

by God. The rowdies occasionally stone our house in the evening. Emily and I have been seen practicing shooting with a

pistol. The family (Paul and Amelia Edmonson) have come with a dog." (Mary Kay Ricks, Escape on the Pearl,, Washington

Post, Horizon August 12, 1998.)

She selected the District "because it was the common property of the nation and because the laws of the District gave her

the right to educate free colored children, and she attempted to teach none others." (Special Report of the Commissioner of

Education on the Condition and Improvement of Public Schools in the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C.: Government

Printing Office, 1871.)

Within two months the enrollment grew from 6 to 40, and, despite hostility from a portion of the community, the school

prospered. Contributions from Quakers continued to arrive, and Harriet Beecher Stowe gave $1,000 of her Uncle Tom's

Cabin royalties. The school was forced to move three times in its first two years, but in 1854 it settled on a three-acre lot

with house and barn on the edge of the city. In 1856 the school came under the care of a board of trustees, among whom

were Henry Ward Beecher and Johns Hopkins. While the school offered primary schooling and classes in domestic skills, its

emphasis from the outset was on training teachers. Miner stressed hygiene and nature study in addition to rigorous academic

training. By 1858 six former students were teaching in schools of their own. By that time Miner's connection with the school

had been lessened by her failing health, and from 1857 Emily Howland was in charge. In 1860 the school had to be closed,

and the next year Miner went to California in an attempt to regain her health. A carriage accident in 1864 ended that hope,

and Miner died on December 17, 1864, shortly after her return to Washington, D.C. (Women in American History by

Encyclopedia Britannica)

Why are little girls familiar with Louisa May Alcott rather than Margaret Fuller, with Scarlett O'Hara and not Myrtilla

Miner, with Florence Nightingale and not Fanny Wright. Why have they never heard of the Grimke Sisters, Sojourner Truth,

Inez Milholland, Prudence Crandall, Ernestine Rose, Abigail Scott Duniway, Harriet Tubman, Clara Lemlich, Alice Paul, and

many others in a long list of brilliant courageous people? Something smells fishy when scarcely fifty years after the vote

was won, the whole WRM is largely forgotten, remembered only by a few eccentric old ladies. May I suggest the reason for

this, why women's history has been hushed up just as Negro history has been hushed up, so that the black child learns, not

about Nat Turner but about the triumph of Ralph Bunche, or George Washington Carver and the

peanut.http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/notes/)

Her students were insulted and attacked by white men along the streets. The building was stoned and set afire. But Miss

miner stood her ground. Using some of their leisure time, she and Emily Edmondson (of the famous case of the Pearl) warned

hoodlums of their mettle by firing pistols at a target in the yard. (Washington, City and Capital, Federal Writers' Project,

Works Progress Administration, American Guide Series. Washington, 1937, USGPO. P73)

Myrtilla Miner's Papers are available at the (Manuscript Reading Room at the Library of Congress.)

1852
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published as a response to the pro-slavery argument. (Underground Railroad

Chronology, National Park Service)

Anthony Bowen, a freed slave, founded the (first African-American YMCA in Washington, D.C)

1852
Jossiah Priest publishes Bible defence of slavery. (Slavery and Religion in America: A timeline 1440-1866. By the Internet

Public Library)

1853-57
Franklin Pierce Democrat becomes President. VP William R. King, 1853 and Apr 1853-Mar 1857

1857/03/05
Dred Scott decision by U.S. Supreme Court Mar. 6 held, 6-3, that a slave did not become free when taken into a free state,

Congress could not bar slavery from a territory, and blacks could not be citizens. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts

1996, from MS Bookshelf.)

Supreme Court declares in Scott v. Sandford that blacks are not U.S. citizens, and slaveholders have the right to take slaves

in free areas of the county. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service)

1857/03/06

The Dred Scott decision announced by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, 79, March 6 enrages abolitionists

and encourages slaveowners. The fugitive slave Dred Scott, now 62, brought suit in 1848 to claim freedom on the ground

that he resided in free territory, but the court rules that his residence in Minnesota Territory does not make him free, that a

black may not bring suit in a federal court, and in an obiter dicta by Taney, that Congress never had the authority to ban

slavery in the territories, a ruling that in effect calls the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional. (The People's

Chronology 1995, 1996 by James Trager from MS Bookshelf.)

The notoriety surrounding Dred Scott v. Sandford (US, 1857) has frequently hindered historians' efforts to understand the

policy-making role of the antebellum Supreme Court. The Dred Scott case was neither exceptional nor anomalous. It was,

however, the natural result of judicial doctrines and tendencies that had been developing for several years. John Marshall,

though opposed to slavery in the abstract, believed that a judge's moral instincts should not influence his rulings in light of

the law. Roger Taney, as Chief Justice, was determined to destroy antislavery constitutional ideas argued in cases before

him. Even before the famous Dred Scott case, Supreme Court decisions involving Groves (1841), Prigg (1842), and Van Zandt

(1847) consistently undermined antislavery constitutional ideas argued before the Court. The Dred Scott decision was no

aberration. 89 notes. (Wiecek, William M. Slavery And Abolition Before The United States Supreme Court, 1820-1860.

Journal of American History 1978 65(1): 34-59.)

Excerpts from Dred Scott Decision, "But there are two clauses in the Constitution which point directly and specifically to

the Negro race as a separate class of persons, and show clearly that they were not regarded as a portion of the people or

citizens of the Government then formed.

One of these clauses reserves to each of the thirteen States the right to import slaves until the year 1808, if it thinks proper.

And the importation which it thus sanctions was unquestionably of persons of the race of which we are speaking, as the

traffic in slaves in the United States had always been confined to them. And by the other provision the States pledge

themselves to each other to maintain the right of property of the master, by delivering up to him any slave who may have

escaped from his service, and be found within their respective territories. By the first above mentioned clause, therefore,

the right to purchase and hold this property is directly sanctioned and authorized for twenty years by the people who

framed the Constitution. And by the second, they pledge themselves to maintain and uphold the right of the master in the

manner specified, as long as the Government they then formed should endure. And these two provisions show, conclusively,

that neither the description of persons therein referred to, nor their descendants, were embraced in any of the other

provisions of the Constitution; for certainly these two clauses were not intended to confer on them or their posterity the

blessings of liberty, or any of the personal rights so carefully provided for the citizen.

No one of that race had ever migrated to the United States voluntarily; all of them had been brought here as articles of

merchandise. The number that had been emancipated at that time were but few in comparison with those held in slavery; and

they were identified in the public mind with the race to which they belonged, and regarded as a part of the slave population

rather than the free. It is obvious that they were not even in the minds of the framers of the Constitution when they were

conferring special rights and privileges upon the citizens of a State in every other part of the Union." (See Dred Scott,

Plaintiff In Error v John F. A. Sandford. December Term, 1856 Justice Catrpm, Justice Wayne, Justice Nelson, Justice

Grier, Justice Daniel, and Justice Campbell concurring in separate opinions. Justice McLean and Justice Curtis dissenting in

separate opinions)

1857/06/01
"Confrontation with mob during election violence outside City Hall, Washington DC," leaves two US Marines wounded. (US

Navy and Marine Casualties)

1857-61
James Buchanan Democrat becomes President. VP John C. Breckinridge On slavery he favored popular sovereignty and choice

by state constitutions. He denied the right of states to secede. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996, from MS

Bookshelf.)

1859
The last slave ship arrives. During this year, the last ship to bring slaves to the United States, the Clothilde, arrived in Mobile

Bay, Alabama. (Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress)

1859/10/16
Abolitionist John Brown with 21 men seized U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry (then Virginia) Oct. 16. U.S. Marines captured

raiders, killing several. Brown was hanged for treason by Virginia Dec. 2. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996, from

MS Bookshelf.)

Marine assault on building occupied by abolitionist John Brown and followers, Harper's Ferry, Virginia, 18 Oct. 1859. One

Marine killed and one Wounded. (US Navy & Marine Casualties )

Census data
Total number of slaves in the Lower South : 2,312,352 (47% of total population).
Total number of slaves in the Upper South: 1,208758 (29% of total population).
Total number of slaves in the Border States: 432,586 (13% of total population).

Almost one-third of all Southern families owned slaves. In Mississippi and South Carolina it approached one half. The total

number of slave owners was 385,000 (including, in Louisiana, some free Negroes). As for the number of slaves owned by

each master, 88% held fewer than twenty, and nearly 50% held fewer than five. (A complete table on slave-owning

percentages is given at the bottom of this page.)

For comparison's sake, let it be noted that in the 1950's, only 2% of American families owned corporation stocks equal in

value to the 1860 value of a single slave. Thus, slave ownership was much more widespread in the South than corporate

investment was in 1950's America.

On a typical plantation (more than 20 slaves) the capital value of the slaves was greater than the capital value of the land

and implements. (Selected Statistics on Slavery in the United States. part of This Civil War Circuit site by Jim Epperson see

Causes of the Civil War for pointers on the Civil War )

From the United States Historical Census Data Browser.

1861
Methodist southern bishops kept their regional denomination from officially backing secession. After the Confederacy

became a reality, white Georgia Methodists supported it, since their church _Discipline_ required obedience to whatever

government was in power. After southern defeat, they had no difficulty submitting again to the authority of the U.S.A. in

secular matters, while yielding to no one but God in matters sacred. Owen believes that the southern church actually came

out of the war stronger than ever. An institution not under government control, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South

(MECS), gave white Wesleyans a refuge from northern cultural and political domination. Meanwhile, black Methodists

flocked out of the Caucasian-controlled denomination into the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the Colored Methodist

Episcopal (CME) Church, where former bondsmen found bastions against the destructive influence of white supremacy.

(Christopher H. Owen. _The Sacred Flame of Love: Methodism and Society in Nineteenth-Century Georgia. Athens and

London: The University of Georgia Press, 1998. xx + 290 pp. Notes, bibliography, and index. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN

0-8203-1963-5. Reviewed for H-AmRel by Thomas A. Scott <tscott@ksumail.kennesaw.edu>, Department of History and

Philosophy, Kennesaw State University, Georgia)

The US Civil War. The Confederacy finances its war effort mainly by printing money. In addition to the Confederate notes,

the States, railway, insurance and other companies also issue notes. The resulting hyperinflation renders Confederate paper

worthless. By comparison inflation in the North is relatively moderate as the Union government raises very substantial sums

of money by taxation and borrowing. p 485-488 (A Comparative Chronology of Money from Ancient Times to the Present

Day, 1860 – 1879, Based on the book: A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed.

Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5)

For a Chronology of Emancipation during the Civil War with Links, see Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery,

Freedom, and the Civil War published by The New Press, c/o W. W. Norton & Co

(The Macon Telegraph)

1861/08/06
First Confiscation Act nullifies owners' claims to fugitive slaves who had been employed in the Confederate war effort..

(Chronology of Emancipation during the Civil War for the brief chronology, adapted from the version published in Free at

Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War, lists important events in the history of emancipation

during the Civil War.)

Did Blacks fight for the Confederacy? …what many historians find outrageous are the claims being made by men like Charlie

Condon (South Carolina's attorney general) . Though he later revised his estimate to 50,000 blacks who "served in the

Confederate Army," Edward Smith at American University puts the number of black rebels "actually shooting people" at

30,000. Most historians regard this figure as inflated- by almost 30,000. "It's pure fantasy," contends James McPherson, a

Princeton historian and one of the nation's leading Civil War scholars. Adds Edwin Bearss, historian emeritus at the National

Park Service: "It's b.s., wishful thinking." Robert Krick, author of 10 books on the Confederacy, has studied the records of

150,000 Southern soldiers and found fewer than a dozen were black. "Of course, if I documented 12, someone would start

adding zeros," he says. Tainted History? These and other scholars say claims about black rebels derive from unreliable

anecdotes, a blurring of soldiers and laborers, and the rapid spread on the Internet of what McPherson calls

"pseudohistory." Thousands of blacks did accompany rebel troops- as servants, cooks, teamsters and musicians. Most were

slaves who served involuntarily; until the final days of the war, the Confederacy staunchly refused to enlist black soldiers.

Some blacks carried guns for their masters and wore spare or castoff uniforms, which may explain eyewitness accounts of

black units. But any blacks who actually fought did so unofficially, either out of personal loyalty or self-defense, many

historians say. (Shades of Gray: Did Blacks Fight Freely For the Confederacy?)

It Is Possible Mr. Nelson Did; Some Historians See a Rebel Whitewash By Tony Horowitz Staff Reporter of The Wall Street

Journal )

1862/04/16
Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia by Congress on this day. One million dollars was appropriated to

compensate owners of freed slaves, and $100,000 was set aside to pay district slaves who wished to emigrate to Haiti,

Liberia or any other country outside the United States. (Jet Magazine, This Week in Black History, Johnson Publishing

Company, Inc. April 21, 1997)

President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Passage of this act came 9 months before

President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. The act brought to conclusion decades of agitation aimed at ending

what antislavery advocates called "the national shame" of slavery in the nation's capital.

The law provided for immediate emancipation, compensation of up to $300 for each slave to loyal Unionist masters,

voluntary colonization of former slaves to colonies outside the United States, and payments of up to $100 to each person

choosing emigration. Over the next 9 months, the federal government paid almost $1 million for the freedom of approximately

3,100 former slaves.

The District of Columbia Emancipation Act is the only example of compensated emancipation in the United States. Though its

three-way approach of immediate emancipation, compensation, and colonization did not serve as a model for the future, it

was an early signal of slavery's death. Emancipation was greeted with great jubilation by the District's African-American

community. For many years afterward, black Washingtonians celebrated Emancipation Day on April 16 with parades and

festivals. (National Archives and Records Administration Featured Document)

The District of Columbia Emancipation Act

Lincoln was certainly not an abolitionist. He found slavery personally abhorrent, but ending it was not his first priority. He

was in many ways what we would consider in modern terms a typical cautious liberal -- a compromiser on serious moral

issues, only moving on them when pushed by social movements. As a Congressman, he was opposed to the Mexican War (which

was designed to add slave territory) but still voted to finance it. He would not speak publicly against the Fugitive Slave Act,

wrote to a friend "I confess I hate to see the poor creatures hunted down...but I bite my lips and keep quiet." He was a

lawyer, with a legalistic approach to slavery: the Constitution did not give the federal government the power to interfere

with slavery in the states. The District of Columbia was not a state, and he did offer a resolution, while in Congress, to

abolish slavery there, but accompanied this with a fugitive slave provision that escaped slaves coming into D.C. must be

returned. Wendell Phillips, the militant Boston abolitionist, called Lincoln "that slavehound from Illinois". During the Civil

War he would not do anything about slavery for fear of alienating the states fighting on the side of the North which still

had slavery, said plainly that his main aim in the war was not to end slavery but to get the South back into the Union, and

would do this even if it meant retaining slavery. The Whig Party which became the Republican Party which elected Lincoln

represented economic interests which wanted a large country with a huge market for goods, with high tariffs to protect

manufactures (which Southern states opposed). The South stood in the way of capitalist expansion. If you look at the

legislation passed by Congress during the War, with the South no longer an obstacle, you see the economic interests:

Railroad subsidies, high tariffs, contract labor law to bring in immigrant workers for cheap labor and to use as

strikebreakers, a national bank putting the government in a partnership with banking interests. The Emancipation

Proclamation was a weak document for freeing slaves, but did have great moral force. I deal with all this in my book A

Peoples History Of The United States. There's an excellent chapter on Lincoln in Richard Hofstadter's book The American

Political Tradition. (Howard Zinn, A Selection of Zinn's Posts from the ZinnZine Forum)

1864/11/01
Maryland slaves emancipated by State Constitution of 1864. (Maryland Historical Chronology )

1865
Robert E. Lee surrendered 27,800 Confederate troops to Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA, Apr. 9. J. E. Johnston

surrendered 31,200 to Sherman at Durham Station, NC, Apr. 18. Last rebel troops surrendered May 26.

President Lincoln was shot Apr. 14 by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theater, Washington; died the following morning. Booth

was reported dead Apr. 26. Four co-conspirators were hanged July 7. Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, was

ratified Dec. 6. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996, from MS Bookshelf.)

1865 Amendment XIII. Slavery abolished.
Proposed by Congress Jan. 31, 1865; ratified Dec. 6, 1865. The amendment, when first proposed by a resolution in Congress,

was passed by the Senate, 38 to 6, on Apr. 8, 1864, but was defeated in the House, 95 to 66 on June 15, 1864. On

reconsideration by the House, on Jan. 31, 1865, the resolution passed, 119 to 56. It was approved by President Lincoln on

Feb. 1, 1865, although the Supreme Court had decided in 1798 that the President has nothing to do with the proposing of

amendments to the Constitution, or their adoption.)
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly

convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996,

from MS Bookshelf.)

Andrew Johnson, Democratic/National Union Party becomes President

1865/06/19
Juneteenth or June 19, 1865, is considered the date when the last slaves in America were freed. Although the rumors of

freedom were widespread prior to this, actual emancipation did not come until General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston,

Texas and issued General Order No. 3, on June 19, almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the

Emancipation Proclamation. (For the History of Juneteenth see; NJCLC National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council’s

web page)

1866/02/27
An act of the Virginia General legalized common law marriages among free or enslaved Americans of African descent. The

Act was "rendered necessary to meet the abnormal condition that existed among the colored race in consequence of the

abolition of Negro slavery in the South as a result of the Civil War. Without this enabling act, slave-marriages which largely

obtained among that class of the population were invalid, because, being slaves, the parties were incapable to make any

contract, including that of marriage. When, therefore, these former slaves were emancipated and clothed with the rights and

privileges of citizenship, the good order of society demanded that these inchoate marriages should be recognized as lawful

and the children legitimated. And the right of children of slave-marriages to inherit property from the father was regarded

of sufficient consequence to be expressly secured both by the Constitutions of 1869 and of 1902 (Constitution of Virginia,

1869, sec. 9, Art. &I; and sec. 195, Art. XIV, of the present Constitution). The act in question (now section 2227 of the

Code) declares that, "Where colored persons prior to February 27, 1866, agreed to occupy the relation * * * of husband and

wife, and were cohabiting together * * * at that date, whether the rites of marriage had been celebrated between them or

not, they shall be deemed husband and wife, and be entitled to the rights and privileges, and subject to the duties and

obligations of that relation in like manner, as if they had lawfully married; and all their children shall be deemed legitimate,

whether born before or after said date. And where the parties ceased to cohabit before February 27, 1866, in consequence

of the death of the woman, or from any other cause, all the children of the woman, recognized by the man to be his, shall be

deemed legitimate." (Francis and Others v. Tazewell and Others, Supreme Court Of Virginia, 120 Va. 319; 91 S.E. 202; 1917

Va. Lexis 110, January 11, 1917)

"Professor John B. Minor, in his … discussion of slavery in Virginia, observes: "Previous to February 27, 1866, the marriage

laws of Virginia did not contemplate nor include Negroes, not even free Negroes, at least in respect to any penalties for

disregard of the laws touching license or prohibition of bigamy, of incestuous marriages, or lewd cohabitation; and hence

marriages of free Negroes (those of slaves being void) were governed altogether by the common law." 1 Minor's Inst. (4th

ed.), p. 268. The author, at page 188, says: "It is agreed that [*812] slaves have no power to make contracts. Hence the

marriages of slaves are void." (Lemons v. Harris and Others, Supreme Court Of Virginia, 115 Va. 809; 80 S.E. 740; 1914 Va.

Lexis 134, January 15, 1914)

Benjamin B. Minor (1818-1905), was a University of Virginia Law Professor and a member of the Virginia Branch of the

American Colonization Society. (Introductory Material Mss3Am353a1, American Colonization Society, Virginia Branch Minute

Book, 1823-1859, Richmond, Virginia; also Liberia see

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/cispubs/guides/southern_hist/plantations/plantm4.htm)

1866/04/19 The African-American citizens of Washington, D.C., celebrated the abolition of slavery. A procession of 4,000

to 5,000 people assembled at the White House, where they were addressed by President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875).

Marching past 10,000 cheering spectators, the procession, led by two black regiments, proceeded up Pennsylvania Avenue to

Franklin Square for religious services and speeches by prominent politicians. A sign on top of the speaker's platform read:

"We have received our civil rights. Give us the right of suffrage and the work is done."

"Celebration of the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the colored people in Washington, April 19, 1866,"

From Harper's Weekly, May 12, 1866, p. 300 Photomural from woodcut Prints and Photographs Division (62)

1866
Presidential meeting for black suffrage. On February 2, a black delegation led by Frederick Douglass met with President

Andrew Johnson at the White House to advocate black suffrage. The president expressed his opposition, and the meeting

ended in controversy. (Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress)

1866 Civil Rights Act. Congress overrode President Johnson's veto on April 9 and passed the Civil Rights Act, conferring

citizenship upon black Americans and guaranteeing equal rights with whites.(Timeline of African American History,

1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress)

1866
The Fourteenth Amendment. On June 13, Congress approved the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing due

process and equal protection under the law to all citizens. The amendment would also grant citizenship to blacks. (Timeline

of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress))

1867
Black suffrage. On January 8, overriding President Johnson's veto, Congress granted the black citizens of the District of

Columbia the right to vote. (Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress)

1867
That year dealt the ruling white elite of the South a grave blow. In the South, the substantial numbers of African-Americans

who had been able to vote steadfastly refused to return their former masters to power. (Original Footnote: Wade, Wyn

Craig, The Fiery Cross. (Simon and Schuster, 1987)) At the national level, Congress had grown impatient with the so-called

"Presidential" Reconstruction. Presidential Reconstruction included the return of former Confederates to power, the

Southern states’ unanimous rejection of the fourteenth amendment, and the establishment of the notorious "Black Codes,"

which gravely limited the freedoms and citizenship’s of African-Americans in the South, and made it plain that the white

aristocrats who controlled the Southern state governments "intended to yield none of their pre-war power over poor whites

and especially over Blacks." (Text footnote Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), The Ku Klux Klan, a History of Racism and

Violence. (Klanwatch. 1988), 9) As a result, the Radical Reconstructionists passed the Congressional Reconstruction Act,

which overturned the lenient reconstruction of Lincoln and Johnson and invalidated the governments of every Southern state

but Tennessee, divided them into military districts, and attempted to ensure the Civil rights of African-Americans. (Text

Footnote: Chalmers, David M., Hooded Americanism. (Duke University Press, 1987), 11) The members of the Klan correctly

perceived these actions as a threat to continued white supremacy, and quickly organized to combat them. In April of 1867,

the Klan had held a secret meeting in Nashville to prepare for the August elections, and decided to offer the leadership of

the Klan to a former Confederate Cavalry commander named Nathan Bedford Forrest. (Wade, Wyn Craig, The Fiery Cross.

(Simon and Schuster, 1987), p 37) Nathan Bedford Forrest was described by the Cincinnati Commercial as six feet one inch

and a half in height, with broad shoulders, a full chest... one hundred and eighty-five pounds; dark-gray eyes, dark hair,

mustache and beard worn upon his chin." Text Footnote: Wade, Wyn Craig, The Fiery Cross. (Simon and Schuster, 1987), A

dashing example of the Southern Caviler, he had been a millionaire slave-trader and plantation owner prior to the war, and

made a brilliant reputation as a commander of cavalry during the war. He also, however, commanded the troops which

massacred captured African-American soldiers at Fort Pillow in April of 1864. (Text Footnote: Dictionary of American

Biography, Volume III, (American Council of Learned Societies: 1930), p532.) (Robert Arjet History of the Ku Klux Klan:

The First Era, found in HateWatch which was originally called "A Guide to Hate Groups on the Internet")

For a Chronology of lynchings see Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of

Congress.

1868
Fourteenth Amendment ratified. On July 21, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship

to any person born or naturalized in the United States. (Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of

the Library of Congress)

1869
Fifteenth Amendment approved. On February 26, Congress sent the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution to the states for

approval. The amendment would guarantee black Americans the right to vote. (Timeline of African American History,

1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress)

1870
The 1870 census is usually the end of the line when tracing African American genealogy. "African American slaves didn't

appear by name on federal censuses before 1870 because they were property. But they were identified by name on other

records. They were named in deeds, wills and other court records. Court records are the next step in the research process

after the 1870 Census, particularly wills and intestate records. Intestate records list the property the deceased person left

behind if that person did not leave a will.. In Chambers County, Alabama, for instance, in many cases, slave families were

sold or otherwise passed on as units. Often, husbands, wives and small children were sold as units. The exceptions were the

young people that were over 12 years old. They were able to work and didn't require a mother's care, and were often sold

away from the family. The researcher tries to find former slaves by name. Problem! Court records usually give only the first

names of slaves. However, you must identify your ancestors by surname. How do you do this?

After emancipation former slaves were able to choose any name they desired. In many cases they chose the name of their

last owner. In many cases they chose the name of a previous owner. And in many cases they did not choose a name of any

former owner. They wanted to distance themselves from slavery. So how do you find slave ancestors? Look through court

records for first names that you recognize as belonging to your 1870 families. (After the 1870 Federal Census, What Next?

Where to look and what to look for. By Cliff Murray in African American Lifelines visit this site for many hints on

genealogical research. also see the genealogical links at AfriGeneas)

1871-1912
Height of global European Imperialism and the "scramble for Africa" proceed, rationalized as a "civilizing mission" based on

white supremacy. Europeans assert their "spheres of interest" in African colonies arbitrarily, cutting across traditionally

established boundaries, homelands, and ethnic groupings of African peoples and cultures. Following a "divide and rule"

theory, Europeans promote traditional inter-ethnic hostilities. "The European onslaught of Africa that began in the mid 1400s

progressed to various conquests over the continent, and culminated over 400 years later with the partitioning of Africa.

Armed with guns, fortified by ships, driven by the industry of capitalist economies in search of cheap raw materials, and

unified by a Christian and racist ideology against the African 'heathen,' aggressive European colonial interests followed

their earlier merchant and missionary inroads into Africa"(Mutere). [See gold "Soul Washer's Badge" taken from the Asante

king's bedroom by Lieutenant R.C. Annesley of the 79th Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, when a British military

expedition captured the Asante capital of Kumasi ["Gold Coast," now Ghana] on February 4, 1874.] (African Timelines Table

of Contents History, Orature, Literature, & Film Part IV: Anti-Colonialism & Reconstruction, compiled by Cora Agatucci,

Central Oregon Community College)

The conquest of Africa by Europe and the American acquisition of lands in the Caribbean and Pacific which were inhabited

by darker peoples, were taken as clear evidence of racial inequality even in the land which had been founded on the belief

in the equality of all men. Second-class citizenship for blacks had become a fact which was accepted by Presidents,

Congress, the Supreme Court, the business community, and by labor unions. Segregation was universal. In the North it was

rooted in social custom, but in the South it had been made a matter of law. Separate facilities were inferior facilities. The

basic political and civil rights of the Afro-American were severely limited in almost every state. (Norman Coombs, The

Immigrant Heritage of America, Twayne Press, 1972. , Chapter 4, All Men Are Created Equal, Slavery and the American

Revolution)

1868-75
Smallpox outbreaks hit New York, Philadelphia and other cities, and it was discovered that many children had not been

vaccinated. The New York City Board of Health recommended that all residents be vaccinated in 1870, but there was

widespread public resistance, since the vaccine itself was not without risk, and people perceived the campaign as creating a

panic situation and allowing doctors to profit from it. (Some Historically Significant Epidemics This list was compiled largely

from Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence, edited by George C. Kohn, and published by Facts On File, Inc., 1995)

1875
Civil Rights Act of 1875. Congress approved the Civil Rights Act on March 1, guaranteeing equal rights to black Americans in

public accommodations and jury duty. The legislation was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1883. (Timeline of African

American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress.

1877
The end of Reconstruction. A deal with Southern Democratic leaders made Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) president, in

exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the end of federal efforts to protect the civil rights of

African-Americans. (Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress.)

1878
Home rule ended in the District of Columbia. (1890 DC Census Index)

1881
Segregation of public transportation. Tennessee segregated railroad cars, followed by Florida (1887), Mississippi (1888),

Texas (1889), Louisiana (1890), Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Georgia (1891), South Carolina (1898), North Carolina

(1899), Virginia (1900), Maryland (1904), and Oklahoma (1907). (Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 by the

Staff of the Library of Congress. )

1883
Civil Rights Act overturned. On October 15, the Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional. The

Court declared that the Fourteenth Amendment forbids states, but not citizens, from discriminating. (Timeline of African

American History, 1852-1925 by the Staff of the Library of Congress)

1887
Plessy V. Ferguson. As Americans we have been struggling since the beginning of time to fight for what is right in our society.

After the Civil War many Southern states were determined to try and limit the rights of former slaves. One of the biggest

fears in society was the mixing of the races, this was something the white people vowed to stop. The government succeeded

by using the segregation laws, such as the one passed by Florida in 1887, which required railroads operating in the state or

passing through the state to house black passengers in separate cars from the whites. It was soon after this that separate

car laws were in forced in most of the South.