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Period: to
Antebellum Period
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Transcendental Club Begins
A club of young thinkers started by Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Ripley, and George Putnam. It was to be a place where these young intellectuals could share their frustrations about current society, the American culture, and often about the Unitarian church. The Transcendentalist movement spread the ideas of goodness in people and nature, and the corruptness of society on them. -
Graves Vs. Cilley Duel
There was already a tense political climate between the Whig party and the Democratic party when Jonathan Cilley, a Democrat, choose to voice some biased comments about the Whigs to the House. William Graves, a Whig, challenged Cilley to a duel using a procedure called code duello. This was a code that was widely used as a means to setle disagreements of honor during this time. In the end, Cilley was killed. -
Murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers
Mary Rogers, also known as the "Beautiful Cigar Girl," disappeared and 3 days later was found in the Hudson River dead. Her death was highly publicized and became the inspiration for many new fiction writers. This led to the spread of many stories, and thus the commercialization, of death, vice and scandal (as can be seen by the stories of Edgar Allan Poe). -
Coining of "Manifest Destiny"
John O' Sullivan, a journalist, put a name to the very American mindset of "Manifest Destiny." The US already thought of themselves as morally superior and with this concept they gave themselves a reason to spread their superior institutions. This mindset then spread all across the nation. -
Henry David Thoreau arrested
Thoreau was a leading member of the transcendentalists. He gave many speeches against the Fugitive Slave Laws and he defended John Brown. He had a philosophy of civil disobediance (which influenced Ghandi, Tolstoy, and MLK) so when he disagreed with the Mexican-American War he refused to pay his taxes to fund it and was arrested for doing so. -
Seneca Falls Convention
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott get 240 people together to discuss the reform of practices that discriminate against women.They came up with the Declaration of Sentiments that addresses many of their issues. This is the beginning of a long struggle for the cause of women's rights. -
Spread of Sexuality
Prostitution, although always there, started to become evident in this time being fueled by the spread of stories of vice innewspapers and books. Along with that the arrival of the gaslight allowed night life to flourish. The influx in sexuality all around prompted the need for early birth control as is found to be available in the 1850s. -
Republican Party Founded
After the Whig party and the Free-soil Party fell apart, some of their former members came together in Ripon, Wisconsin, to form the Republican party. The formation was intended to be an opposition to the spread of slavery into the western states. Their supporters started to add up in the North, giving them the push to get Abraham Lincoln elected president later. -
John Brown Raids Harpers Ferry
Five black men and 16 white men, led by John Brown, hoped to seize the US arsenal that was at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He had convinced many Northern abolitionists to fund this escapade in an attempt to create an army of free blacks to siege upon slave owners and free their slaves. In the uprising though he was captured by Marines and then sentenced to hang. This gave him the facade of being a martyr and also influenced many to take a stance against slavery. -
Married Women Allowed to Keep Rights
States such as Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and New York have passed laws stating that when a women gets married they are free to keep their own earnings instead of being forced to relinquish it all to their spouse. This was a key step to women's rights.
