People, Locations, Episodes

Chile Declares Independence From Spain

*On this date in 1808, Chile declared its Independence from Spain. This declaration eventually led to over a decade of violence and war, which did not end until the last royalist stronghold fell in 1826. At the start of 1808, the Captaincy General of Chile – one of the smallest and poorest colonies in the […]

Andrew Johnson, Politician born

*Andrew Johnson was born on this date in 1808.  He was a white-American tailor and politician.   Johnson was born in poverty in Raleigh, North Carolina, and never attended school.  Jacob Johnson’s father was a porter at an inn, among other jobs, and died when he was 3, while his mother, Mary “Polly” McDonough Johnson, was a laundress and seamstress.   Apprenticed […]

Jonathan Wright, Lawyer, and Politician born

*On this date in 1809, Jonathan Jasper Wright was born. He was an Black lawyer and politician.

Wright attended Lancaster University. Upon completing his legal studies, he attempted to stand the Pennsylvania bar, but it wasn’t allowed, presumably because of his race. Wright accepted a position in Beaufort to open a school and teach the newly freed slaves. In addition to teaching school, he taught the Black citizens of the community. He lectured every Thursday evening on legal and political matters. He gave legal advice, particularly on labor relations.

Abraham Lincoln, American Politician born

*Abraham Lincoln was born on this date in 1809. He was a white American politician and lawyer and the 16th President of the United States.

Joseph Roberts, Liberia’s First President born

*This date celebrates the birth of Joseph Jenkins Roberts in 1809. He was a Black nationalist during slavery and the first president of Liberia (1848-56).

Benjamin Curtis, Supreme Court Judge born

*On this date, in 1809, Benjamin Curtis was born.  He was a white-American attorney and the United States Supreme Court Justice.  Curtis was the first and only Whig justice of the Supreme Court.  He successfully acted as chief counsel for the Impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson. Benjamin Robbins Curtis was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the son […]

William Gladstone, Politician and Slaveowner born.

*William Gladstone was born on this date in 1809. He was a white British statesman, enslaver, and politician. Born in Liverpool, William Ewart Gladstone was of Scottish ancestry, the fourth son of the wealthy enslaver John Gladstone and his second wife, Anne MacKenzie Robertson. In 1814, young “Willy” visited Scotland for the first time, as […]

Cow Tom, Interpreter born

*Cow Tom’s birth, in 1810, is celebrated on this date. He was a Black Creek Native American interpreter.  He was born a slave in Alabama to the Muskogee leader Yargee of the Upper Creeks.  As a young man, Tom was known to tend to the cattle of Chief Yargee; thus, the name Cow Tom was […]

The Corps of The Colonial Marines, a story

*The Corps of Colonial Marines began on this date in 1810.  They were two British Marine units raised from former Black slaves for service in the Americas. At the behest of Alexander Cochrane, the units were created at two separate points during the wars (Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812). They were later disbanded once the […]

Samuel McCulloch Jr., Freedmen and Soldier born

*Samuel McCulloch Jr. was born on this date in 1810. He was a Black soldier who fought in the Texas Revolution. He was born in Alabama. His white father, Samuel McCulloch Sr., had three daughters. There is no mention of Samuel’s mother in any official record. His father moved the family to Montgomery, Alabama, in […]

Cassius Marcellus Clay, Abolitionist born

*Cassius Marcellus Clay was born on this date in 1810. Nicknamed the “Lion of White Hall,” he was a Kentucky planter, politician, and abolitionist.   Cassius Marcellus Clay was born to Sally Lewis and Green Clay, one of Kentucky’s wealthiest planters and enslavers, who became a prominent politician. He was one of six children who survived to […]

Billy Bowlegs, Seminole Chief born

*November is Native American history month, and the birth of Chief Billy Bowlegs in c. 1810 is celebrated on this date.   He was a Native American leader of the Seminoles and slave owner of Africans in Florida during the Second and Third Seminole Wars against the United States.  Bowlegs was born into a family of hereditary chiefs descended from Cowkeeper of the Oconee tribe of the Seminole in the […]

Charles Sumner, Abolitionist in Politician born

Charles Sumner was born on this date in 1811. He was a White American politician and abolitionist.

Édouard de Laboulaye, French Ambassador born

*Édouard de Laboulaye was born on this date in 1811.  He was a white-French jurist, poet, author, and anti-slavery activist.   Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye was born in Paris, France to a wealthy family.  Laboulaye was received at the bar in 1842 and was chosen professor of comparative law at the Collège de France in 1849.   A careful observer of […]

Beverly P. Yates, Liberian Politician born

*Beverly Page Yates’ birth 1811 is celebrated on this date. He was a Liberian politician, businessman and soldier.

Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, Yates was eighteen when he left Virginia for Monrovia in 1829. Like many of Liberia’s early colonists, Yates turned to commercial trade for his livelihood and was soon counted among the colony’s principal merchants. Operating from a single warehouse in 1838, the trading partnership of Yates rapidly expanded its business, and by 1844 owned four warehouses as well as its own ship.