Dutchess County Commemorates 200th Anniversary of Missouri Crisis with Special Presentation
Poughkeepsie, NY… Next week marks the bicentennial of a pivotal moment in Dutchess County and United States history: the beginning of the Missouri Crisis. From February 1819 until March 1820, debates raged nationwide over whether Missouri should be taken into the Union as a free or a slave state. The spark that enflamed this controversy, which nearly provoked a civil war, originated here in Dutchess County.
On February 13, 1819, Congressman James Tallmadge, Jr., a native of the town of Stanford, introduced an amendment to admit Missouri as a free state. Had Tallmadge’s amendment passed, the balance of power between the southern and northern states would have shifted against slaveholders. As a result, southern representatives argued vehemently against the amendment, provoking an equally determined protest from abolitionist interests in the north.
On Sunday, February 10, 2019, Dutchess County will commemorate this important historical moment with a special presentation in Bangall. John R. Van Atta, author of the critically-acclaimed volume Wolf by the Ears: The Missouri Crisis, 1819-1821, explore the overlooked social, cultural, and economic forces that gave the confrontation such urgency. What led Tallmadge to provoke a nationwide crisis? Why did pent-up feelings explode in 1819 and not during earlier arguments over slavery? What did the debates reveal about the growth and influence of the slave power in the early republic?
County Historian William P. Tatum III said, “This event is especially important because it marks a lost moment when a Dutchess County resident played an essential role on the world stage. We usually think of FDR and Melancton Smith as influencing the course of national history during World War II and the US Constitution Debates. James Tallmadge, Jr, deserves equal recognition for his role in the struggle for freedom and the suppression of slaveholding.”
The program will begin at 1:30 PM at 97 Hunns Lake Road, Stanfordville, NY, the future home of BANGALLWORKS, a Coworking and Community Building space, located adjacent to the Bangall Post Office. The Merritt Bookstore of Millbrook will be on hand to sell copies of Dr. Van Atta’s book, which the author will be available to sign. Light freshments will be served and RSVPs are appreciated to Dutchess County Historian Will Tatum at wtatum@dutchessny.gov or via phone at 845.486.2381.
This program is a collaboration between the Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project, the Stanford Historical Society, and the Dutchess County Historian’s Office. The Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union is pleased to help sponsor this event. As a company committed to diversity, we’re happy to raise awareness of this important connection Dutchess County has to an historic milestone. For more information, please visit www.mhantislaveryhistoryproject.org.
