Browse Items (19 total)

Gabriel’s Conspiracy illustrated the lengths to which some enslaved people were willing to fight for freedom in pre-Civil War America. In 1800, a group of enslaved men living in the vicinity of Richmond planned a conspiracy to take over the capital,…

In 1803, Congress appropriated money for an exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the vast expanse of land the United States had purchased from France for $15 million. Americans had not yet explored much of the 828,000 square miles, and President…

After the American Revolution, some Virginians, inspired by the language of liberty, freed their enslaved laborers. By 1800 the population of free Black men and women had increased to nearly 20,000, primarily in urban areas like Richmond and…

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.…

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

Commonwealth causes are criminal cases filed by a county's prosecuting attorney (commonwealth's attorney) against individuals who violate Virginia law. Prior to the abolition of slavery in Virginia in 1865, criminal offenders and victims included…

Nat Turner was born enslaved in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1800. He became a preacher and self-proclaimed prophet who believed that he had been called to lead a rebellion against slavery. On August 21, 1831, Turner began a slave revolt that…

Black Hawk, born in 1767 and known in his native language as Makataimeshekiakiak, was a Sauk warrior and tribal leader. The Sauk lived on the Rock River, a tributary of the Mississippi, in what is now Illinois, and fought against the United States…

Virginia's economy was based on slavery until the Civil War and emancipation. In 1860, Virginia was home to 500,000 enslaved people, more than any other state. Although most Virginians were not enslavers, farmers and planters used enslaved laborers…

In December 1833, a group of about sixty Black and white men met in Philadelphia and organized the American Anti-Slavery Society to seek the immediate emancipation of enslaved people. The Society viewed slavery as a violation of the principle of…