1838
Pennsylvania Hall, built by abolitionists at a cost of $40,000 as a free-speech venue, is burned to the ground by a mob of 10,000 on May 17, 1838 — three days after it opened. The mob was enraged by an interracial anti-slavery meeting. Philadelphia's mayor disperses police rather than protect the building. The attack embodies Northern white hostility to both abolition and racial equality.
By 1837–38 the American Anti-Slavery Society coordinates mass petition campaigns with hundreds of thousands of signatures — mostly from women, who could not vote. Over 130,000 petitions with 2 million signatures flood Congress in a single session. The Gag Rule exists specifically to suppress these. The petitions represent the largest organized political action by women in US history to that point.
Zoom in — months
Key events
- 1838Women Submit Thousands of Anti-Slavery Petitions to Congress
By 1837–38 the American Anti-Slavery Society coordinates mass petition campaigns with hundreds of thousands of signatures — mostly from women, who could not vote. Over 130,000 petitions with 2 million signatures flood Congress in a single session. The Gag Rule exists specifically to suppress these. The petitions represent the largest organized political action by women in US history to that point.
- 1838Women Submit Hundreds of Thousands of Anti-Slavery Petitions
The American Anti-Slavery Society coordinates mass petition campaigns collecting hundreds of thousands of signatures — mostly from women who could not vote. Over 130,000 petitions with 2 million signatures flood Congress in a single session. The Gag Rule exists specifically to suppress them. The campaigns represent the largest organized political action by women in US history to that point.
- May 17, 1838Pennsylvania Hall Burned by Anti-Abolitionist Mob
Pennsylvania Hall, built by abolitionists at a cost of $40,000 as a free-speech venue, is burned to the ground by a mob of 10,000 on May 17, 1838 — three days after it opened. The mob was enraged by an interracial anti-slavery meeting. Philadelphia's mayor disperses police rather than protect the building. The attack embodies Northern white hostility to both abolition and racial equality.
- May 17, 1838Pennsylvania Hall Burned by Anti-Abolitionist Mob
Pennsylvania Hall, built by abolitionists at a cost of $40,000 as a free-speech venue, is burned to the ground by a mob of 10,000 on May 17, 1838 — three days after it opened. The mob was enraged by an interracial anti-slavery meeting. Philadelphia's mayor dispersed police rather than protect the building.
- June 19, 1838Georgetown sells 272 enslaved people
The Maryland Jesuits who ran Georgetown College sell 272 enslaved men, women, and children to Louisiana planters to pay off the school's debts.