The Historical Spectator.

History as seen by the people who lived through it.


A Trip on the National Road in 1832

An English traveler named Thomas Hamilton came to America in about 1832 and, like every other English traveler of the era, proceeded to write a book about his experiences. Much of what he saw was delight­ful. The National Road, however, was not. This was our first national highway, and its route, with many of the original mile­stones, can still be followed on U. S. Route 40 and Maryland Route 144; but these roads are in much better shape now than the National Road was when our English traveler traversed it in several days of lurching discomfort.

Slavery Is the Original Sin

In 1826, J. D. Paxton was a Presbyterian minister in Cumber­land, Virginia. In an article that year he wrote that injuries to our rights are “great mother-evils,” and that no such injury could be greater than enslaving a human being. His congre­gation did not appreciate this article, and by the time it was republished in a book seven years later, Paxton was living far away in Kentucky.

An Abolitionist’s New Year’s Resolutions

Amos A. Phelps was a young Congregational minister who was about to embark on a career as a noted aboli­tionist. In 1833, he was still a year away from that adven­ture, but as the new year came in, he wrote down his resolu­tions like a million other serious young men.

What Is Taught at a Public School?

The English public schools, Edward Lytton Bulwer has demonstrated to his own satisfaction, offer no social advan­tage to the aristocratic pupil now that the Reform Act has closed the rotten boroughs, and ordinary people have access to good education. But what of the academic advantage? Here, he says, the picture is even bleaker.

The Real Motives of the American Colonization Society

In the early 1800s, opposition to slavery in the North was con­stantly growing, and the fear of aboli­tionism mixed with the fear of slave revolt, perhaps encouraged by free black citizens, to make Southern slave­holders more than a little worried. Could they reach some agree­ment with the opponents of slavery? To some it seemed as though an obvious solution offered itself: send the free blacks back to Africa. The American Coloni­zation Society embraced both slave­holders and some aboli­tionists in an effort whose most obvious result was the founding of Liberia. But not all aboli­tionists believed that removing free blacks was a practical or righteous answer to the question. C. Stuart, an aboli­tionist of the less amenable sort, finds the real moti­vation in the American Colonization Society: it soothes the conscience of the slave-owners with the minimum possible reform.

Language of Postage Stamps

Victorians delighted in piling significance on the most insignificant things. The “language of flowers” still keeps a tenuous currency among certain young women of the more ethereal sort, but the language of postage stamps has been mostly forgotten. If you have old cards and letters with stamps affixed at odd angles in odd places, now you know why.

Prayers for the Unhappy Deluded Americans

On December 13, 1776, all the churches of England were directed to offer prayers for the success of His Majesty George III against his rebellious subjects in America. Here are two of the prayers that were directed to be offered in the Anglican liturgies on that day.

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