Browse Items (12 total)

In 1806, the General Assembly placed restrictions on emancipation and required that once an enslaved Virginian was freed, he or she had to leave the state within one year. Those who remained in the Commonwealth more than a year could be sold back…

Before the end of slavery, free Black Virginians found their liberty in constant jeopardy because they were not considered citizens. After Gabriel's attempted slave rebellion in 1800, the General Assembly passed an act in 1801 requiring county…

In 1801, following Gabriel's failed slave rebellion, the Virginia General Assembly decreed that county commissioners of the revenue were to return a complete list of all free Black men and women in their districts on an annual basis. The list was to…

The temperance movement was one of many reform efforts that built support in the decades before the Civil War. Temperance is defined as moderation in action, thought, or feeling, and is often used to describe the long campaign to decrease the…

After the American Revolution, relations between the United States and Great Britain remained strained. In its long war with France, Britain imposed a blockade on neutral countries, including the United States, that disrupted shipping and trade.…

Western Virginia's mineral-spring resorts were extremely popular in the 19th century. Travelers from throughout the United States, but especially from southern states, visited the resorts. There people would take in the "cure" or spring water, enjoy…

Completed in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the U.S. acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River from French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte for about $15…

In 1850, the United States was embroiled in the slave vs. Free State debate as more territories were being added to the Union. The Compromise of 1850 contained five separate bills that dealt with the issues related to enslavement and territorial…

This broadside, titled, "A Short Catechism on Negro Equality," is a criticism of actions of the Democratic Party in the 1830s. To discredit the organization, the author attacks the Democratic Party's pro-Black policies and actions, which included a…

In December 1833, a meeting of 60 abolitionists who were all men, both Black and white, was held in Philadelphia. It was at this meeting that the American Anti- Slavery Society was formed. The organization was dedicated to seeking the immediate…