Tag: nineteenth century

George Washington überquert den Rhein

"Washington Crossing the Delaware" (1851) by Emanuel Leutze [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851) by Emanuel Leutze [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Ronald D. Gerste erzählt in einem in einem interessanten Artikel in der ZEIT die Geschichte des vielleicht berühmtesten Gemäldes der USA. Wie kam es dazu, dass ausgerechnet ein deutscher Auswanderer im neunzehnten Jahrhundert George Washingtons Überquerung des Delaware darstellte und warum bewegt sich der erste amerikanische Präsident eigentlich über den Rhein?

 

Over A Quarter Of U.S. Presidents Were Involved In Slavery

Over a quarter of U.S. presidents were involved in slavery

“Slave sale, Charleston, South Carolina,” wood engraving, by an unknown engraver, page taken from the Illustrated London News, 1856. Courtesy of the British Museum, London. Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

President Obama recently invited French President Francois Hollande on a tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s plantation estate in Virginia.

Jefferson—No. 3—was not the only slaveowning president.

As Clarence Lusane, professor of political science at American University writes in his book The Black History of the White House and talks about in this interview with Amy Goodman on DemocracyNow!, six of twelve slave-owning presidents kept slaves in the White House.

Read more:

“Missing From Presidents Day: The People They Enslaved.” (Clarence Lusane, The Zinn Education Project, Huffington Post, 2014/02/13)

The Distribution of Slavery in the US in 1860 [Map]

Historical map shows the distribution of slavery in the US in 1860

In 1961, the United States Coast Survey created a map showing the distribution of slavery across the US South based on data from the 1860 Census. The map was often consulted by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and even appeared in a 1864 painting. via OpenCulture.

Please also check out Mike Springer’s longer article on Open Culture.

Map Showing the Distribution of the Slave Population of the Southern States of the United States Compiled from the Census of 1860. Sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U. S. Army. By E. Hergesheimer (cartographer), Th. Leonhardt (engraver) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASlavePopulationUS1860.jpg
Map Showing the Distribution of the Slave Population of the Southern States of the United States Compiled from the Census of 1860.
Sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U. S. Army. By E. Hergesheimer (cartographer), Th. Leonhardt (engraver) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASlavePopulationUS1860.jpg