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Jesse Grant and his Son Ulysses In Galena, Illinois
The western state of Illinois joins the Union in 1818 and has a population of some 476,000 in the 1840 Census. Ones of its booming cities at that time is Galena, and from Jesse Grant’s shop on main street would one of America’s most famous leaders be called to war. This city takes its name from […]
June 2, 1864: President Lincoln Meets The Reverend Dr. Wilson Of Georgia At The White House And Endorses A Good-Will Mission.
You are there: In accord with the protocol of the day a visitor wishing to see the U.S. President in person can appear at the White House and be ushered in when his name is called. On June 2, 1864, one such guest is the Reverend Dr. Joseph Ruggles Wilson of Augusta, Georgia. Wilson is […]
May 28, 1754: British Army Major George Washington Triggers The French & Indian War At The Battle Of Jumonville.
You are there: As the British and French approach the Seven Years War for global hegemony, a small battle on disputed land south of Pittsburg opens the conflict in North America. The British regard the land as part of their Virginia Colony, and assign a 21 year old army Major, George Washington, to secure it […]
May 22, 1856: Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner Is Nearly Caned To Death By Irate Southern Congressman Preston Brooks.
You are there: Two days after delivering a vitriolic speech condemning the “Slavocracy” of the South, Charles Sumner is seated at his desk on the floor of the Senate when struck some thirty times with a gutta percha cane wielded by Congressman Preston Brooks. Sumner’s speech titled, Crimes Against Kansas, runs over two days and […]
May 9, 1831: A Frenchman Named de Tocquiville Arrives In America And Records His Insights On The Strengths And Challenges Of The New Nation.
You are there: On May 9, 1831, two young men involved with the French judicial system arrive in Newport, Rhode Island, after a 37 day long Atlantic crossing. One is Gustave de Beaumont, a 29 year old “King’s Prosecutor” in Paris. The other is his 25 year old friend, Alexis de Tocqueville, currently serving as […]
April 30, 1861: Napoleon Sells The Louisiana Territory To America.
You are there: As of 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte is de facto emperor of France and signaling his intent to wrest global hegemony from Great Britain. In the west his vision includes recapture of Saint Dominique (Haiti) from Toussaint’s black rebels, and perhaps even extending its 1801 seizure of New Orleans further into and the Louisiana […]
April 20, 1861: Robert E. Lee Resigns From The U.S. Army To Go With His Home State Of Virginia.
You are there: After the fall of Ft. Sumter, both President Lincoln and head of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott hope to convince Robert E. Lee to become Commander of the Union troops. Lee is 59 years old at the time and son of “Lighthorse Harry” Lee, a Major General of Dragoons during the Revolutionary […]
April 12, 1861: The Civil War Begins With The Bombardment Of Ft. Sumter
You are there: The American Civil war become inevitable once Abraham Lincoln is elected President in November 1860 with the promise of banning slavery across all of the southwestern land acquired in the Mexican War. This represents a mortal blow to the future economy of the South which hinges on opening new plantations west of […]
April 4, 1841: America’s First Whig President, William Henry Harrison. Dies After One Month In office
You are there: Thirty-one days after his inauguration President William Henry Harrison dies suddenly in the White House at age sixty-eight, thereby causing a constitutional dilemma on succession and a policy crisis for the Whig Party. Despite his campaign profile as a “log cabin and hard cider man of the west,” Harrison actually grows up […]
Freed Slave Prince Hall Organizes The First African Freemason Lodge In Boston 1776.
Prince Hall’s founding of a Freemason Lodge for Africans in the city of Boston is an early milestone in the uphill battle of Blacks to achieve social respect and acceptance. Who was Prince Hall? Facts about the early life of Prince Hall are sketchy, but he is thought to have been born in Barbados in […]