TOPThe 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)
Slave Population for DC put at 3,244 (22.7%) and white at 10,266 (71.8). 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.)
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 e-mail: jh3v@virginia.edu http://minerva.acc.Virginia.EDU/vfh/roots.nehinst/background.html)
William Thornton listed with three slaves out of a total household of 8. DC Census 1800 roll # 5 microprint 0031)
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 Revolts and Escapes, Lerone Bennett, Before the Mayflower, www.afroam.org/history/slavery/revolts.html)
Prosser, Gabriel (circa 1776-1800), American leader of an aborted slave uprising, whose intention was to create a free black state in Virginia. Born near Richmond, he was the son of an African mother who instilled in him the love of freedom. Inspired perhaps by the success of the black revolutionaries of Haiti, he plotted with other slaves, notably Jack Bowler, in the spring of 1800 to seize the arsenal at Richmond and kill whites. On August 30 as many as 1000 armed slaves gathered outside Richmond ready for action. A torrential downpour and thunderstorm, however, washed away a bridge vital to the insurrectionists' march; at the same time Governor James Monroe, the future president, was informed of the plot and dispatched the state militia against them. Prosser and some 35 of his young comrades were captured and hanged. ("Prosser, Gabriel," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation.)
In August, 1800, Gabriel Prosser led a slave attack on Richmond, Virginia. During several months of careful planning and organizing, the insurrectionists had gathered clubs, swords, and other crude weapons. The intention was to divide into three columns: one to attack the penitentiary which was being used as an arsenal, another to capture the powder house, and a third to attack the city itself. If the citizens would not surrender, the rebels planned to kill all of the whites with the exception of Quakers, Methodists, and Frenchman. Apparently, Prosser and his followers shared a deep distrust of most white men. When they had gathered a large supply of guns and powder, and taken over the state's treasury, the rebels calculated, they would be able to hold out for several weeks. What they hoped for was that slaves from the surrounding territory would join them and, eventually, that the uprising would reach such proportions as to compel the whites to come to terms with them. Unfortunately for the plotters, on the day of the insurrection a severe storm struck Virginia, wiping out roads and bridges. This forced a delay of several days. In the meantime, two slaves betrayed the plot, and the government took swift action. Thirty-five of the participants, including Prosser, were executed. As the leaders refused to divulge any details of their plans, the exact number involved in the plot remains unknown. However, rumor had it that somewhere between two thousand and fifty thousand slaves were connected with the conspiracy. During the trials, one of the rebels said that he had done nothing more than what Washington had done, that he had ventured his life for his countrymen, and that he was a willing sacrifice. (Norman Coombs, The Immigrant Heritage of America, Twayne Press, 1972. , Chapter 4, Slave Insurrections. http://www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh/bx/bx04b.html)
Africans in Philadelphia petition Congress to end slavery (The History Channels Chronology of Slavery in America, http://www.historychannel.com/community/roots/chrono.html)
The White House was completed and its first occupants, President and Mrs. John Adams, moved in. (D.T.'s Chronology of History 1800-1809 http://members.xoom.com//davidtan/07cr1800.htm)
Thomas Jefferson becomes president as Democratic-Republican. VP Aaron Burr served from 1801-5 replaced by George Clinton from 1805-9
Jefferson brought his slaves from Montecello to the White House to use as his 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 99, 101)
The domestic offices and servants quarters were in the basement story. They were airy rooms directly beneath the principal floor of the house and on the north side of the long groin-vaulted hall that ran from one end of the house to the other. (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 102)
Napoleon decides to establish slavery in France again. (Chronology of the abolition of French slavery Remerciements à Pascal Boyries, Professeur d'Histoire-Géographie, au lycée Charles Baudelaire d'Annecy http://perso.wanadoo.fr/yekrik.yekrak/chronoeng.htm)
The State of 'Virginia ceded a part of Fairfax County to the
District, this area was later returned to Virginia by an act of Congress on 9 July 1849. (1890 DC Census Index)
Two counties were established in the District: Washington County, east of the Potomac, and Alexandria County, on the west side of the river. The City of Washington was incorporated in 1802. Georgetown wills and deeds continued to be registered in Montgomery County, Maryland, until the late nineteenth century. (RESEARCH OUTLINE District of Columbia FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS http://www.everton.com/usa/dc-0809B.txt This page has an extensive list of archive research sites.
After the Federal Government had formally moved to the District of Columbia, Congress made the arrangement permanent by creating the county of Alexandria, in which the laws of Virginia as they then existed should prevail and Washington County, where the laws of Maryland as they then existed should be the basic code. (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 70)
Senator Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts Republican, would latter outline how Maryland's slave code came to be the law of the District: Congress proceeded to assume that complete jurisdiction which is conferred in the Constitution by enacting, on the 27th February 1801, "that the laws of the State of Maryland, as they now exist, shall be and continue in force in that part of the said District which was ceded by that State to the United States, and by them accepted for the permanent seat of Government." Thus at one stroke all the existing laws of Maryland were adopted by Congress in gross, and from that time forward became the laws of the United States at the national capital. . . . Among the statutes of Maryland thus solemnly reenacted in gross by Congress was the following, originally passed as early as 1715--in colonial days: "All Negroes and other slaves already imported or hereafter to be imported into this province, and all children now born or hereafter to be born of such Negroes and slaves shall be slaves during their natural lives." (Laws of Maryland, 1715, ch. 44, sec. 22.)(Cong. Globe, 37th Cong., 2d Sess. 1448, 1862).
The Maryland code was latter described as "unjust, outmoded and unworthy of the nations capital" at the time of its adoption. (William Frank Zornow, "The Judicial Modifications of the Maryland Black Code in the District of Columbia," Maryland Historical Magazine, XLIV (March, 1949). 19-21). In 1830, the House Committee for the District of Columbia characterized the Code as "revolting to humanity" and "suited to barbarous ages. ("Laws for the District of Columbia," House Report No. 269, 20 Cong., 1 sess., 7) The Virginia Code was generally as cruel and oppressive as that of Maryland. The law sanctioned such primitive and savage practices as the nailing of a Negro's ears to a pillory as punishment for giving false testimony in a trial, or thirty-nine lashes "well laid on" if a black, free or slave, lifted his hand in opposition to any non-Negro. (Samuel Shepherd (comp.) The Statutes at Large of Virginia, from October Session 1792, to December Session 1806, Inclusive, in Three Volumes (new series) Being a Continuation of Hening (3 vols., Richmond, 1835), I, 125-27 (Dec, 1792). (All these citations were taken from Dorothy Sproles Provine, The Free Negro In the District of Columbia 1800-1860, Thesis Louisiana State University Department of History, 1959, 1963)
Provine would argue in her thesis that the Courts under Judge William Cranch who served on the District Court from 1801-1835, played a major role in softening the impact of the law on Negroes in the District. Provine used court cases to show that the court did allow Free Negroes to testify in cases against other Negroes and that in some cases Free Negroes were allowed to partition for their Freedom if it so stated in the will though the court held that Negroes could not enter into a contract so that if they entered into a contract that said that their servitude would last for seven years, and the master decided otherwise, the Negro had no legal recourse to enforce the contract. Cranch apparently was harder on cases brought before him on criminal where a Negro is accused of a criminal offence. One case, which drew a great deal of attention at the time because President Monroe granted a reprieve for the Cranch's death sentence to a Negro found guilty of stealing four dollars. (William F. Carne, "Life and Times of William Cranch, Judge of the District Circuit Court, 1801-1835," Records of the Columbia Historical Society, V 1902 pages 300-301), For a selection of Judge Cranch's decisions see Helen Tunnicliff Catterall (ed.), Cases from the Courts of New England, the Middle States and the District of Columbia, Vol. IV Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro, 5 vol., Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1926-1937, 154-208 some cases in Dorothy Sproles Provine, The Free Negro In the District of Columbia 1800-1860, Thesis Louisiana State University Department of History, 1959, 1963)
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))
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)
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, http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/ead/)
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.)
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. http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/amser/chrono10.html)
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)
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). (see http://vi.uh.edu/pages/mintz/11.htm)
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, http://www.cr.nps.gov/htdocs1/boaf/urrtim~1.htm)
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. http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha/news_reminiscence.asp)
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.)
Slave importation outlawed. Some 250,000 slaves were illegally imported 1808-60. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1996 from MS Bookshelf), See full text, http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/statutes/slavery/sl004.htm
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 http://www.nps.gov/crweb1/nr/underground/antislav.htm)
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 http://www.umassd.edu/SpecialPrograms/caboverde/cvchrono.html)
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)
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 slaves 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. (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. http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha/news_reminiscence.asp)
James S Morsell on behalf of Admr William Mackall, of Calvert County, deceased, for $3803 42 1/2 acres which Shoemaker paid back. As collateral was the Mills, mill seats, ways water, building and improvements... (DC Recorder of Deeds Book W22 page 112 R. Fr)
Free blacks disenfranchised in Maryland. (Maryland Historical Chronology http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/chron.html)
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. Microsoft Corporation.)
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, http://www.afroam.org/history/slavery/revolts.html)
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. http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/amser/chrono10.html)
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. http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/amser/chrono10.html)
Spring Planned slave revolt in Henry County, Virginia, soon after the Richard Fire, kills slave owner. . (From Posting by Henry Wiencek <hsw@cstone.net> 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.)
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. Microsoft Corporation.)
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. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/ghent.htm
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)
Seminole Wars begin in Florida as a result of many slaves taking refuge with Seminole Indians. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service, http://www.cr.nps.gov/htdocs1/boaf/urrtim~1.htm)
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, http://www.afroam.org/history/slavery/revolts.html)
James Monroe becomes President as Democratic-Republican. VP Daniel D. Tompkins. DC Census for 1820 records 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)
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, http://www.cr.nps.gov/htdocs1/boaf/urrtim~1.htm)
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)
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 http://www2.paltech.com/christchurch/history.htm)
According to the 1820 census the Rev. Andrew T. McCormick, Rector of Christ Church, resided with 3 slaves between the ages of 14-16
white male 10-16; 1 white male 16-18; white male 26-45, 1 white Females 4 - 10; 1 white female 10-16; and 1white 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)
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 http://www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh/bx/bx04c.html)
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, http://www.cr.nps.gov/htdocs1/boaf/urrtim~1.htm)
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, http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/foabroad.htm)
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 http://www.umassd.edu/SpecialPrograms/caboverde/cvchrono.html)
First organized emigration of blacks 86 free black colonists sail from NYC to Sierra Leone, Africa. (D.T.'s Chronology of History 1820-1829! http://members.xoom.com//davidtan/07cr1820.htm)
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.)
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)
Ve·sey (vêązê), 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 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, http://www.afroam.org/history/slavery/revolts.html)
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. http://www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh/bx/bx04b.html)
John Quincy Adams becomes President as Democratic-Republican. VP is John C. Calhoun
John Quincy Adams is elected U.S. President
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)
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.)
All slaves in New York became free under gradual emancipation law. (http://theblackmarket.com/slavefaq.htm#Black Free and Enslaved Sailors
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.)
Black abolitionist, David Walker issues David Walker's Appeal. Afterwards, severe slave revolts occurred throughout the South. (Underground Railroad Chronology, National Park Service, http://www.cr.nps.gov/htdocs1/boaf/urrtim~1.htm)
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, http://www.afroam.org/history/slavery/revolts.html)
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)
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