The Arkansas Gazette was the first newspaper published in Arkansas. The first edition, with less than 100 copies printed, was issued at the then territorial capital of Arkansas Post on November 20 1819 by William E Woodruff. The Arkansas Gazette ceased publication in 1991, when it was sold to the rival Democrat-Gazette newspaper and became the 'Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'. Research Arkansas Gazette
The Confederate States was a government formed in 1861, in North America, by seceding States. The second State to secede, Mississippi, at the time of secession, January 9, 1861, proposed a convention to form a Southern Confederacy. This provisional Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, with delegates present from six of the seven States - which had then seceded. It voted by States. On February 8, it adopted a provisional Constitution, and the next day choseJefferson Davis, of Mississippi, provisional President and Alexander H Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President.
The permanent Constitution was adopted on March 11. It set forth the doctrines of State sovereignty and recognized slavery, though it forbade the slave trade. It forbade protective tariffs and Federal expenditures for internal improvements. Congress was forbidden to emit bills of credit. It could permit members of the Cabinet to speak before it. The President was empowered to veto single items in appropriation bills. His term was to be six years, and he was not to be re-elected. All the seceding States ratified the Constitution through conventions. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas seceded, and were admitted into the Confederacy. The seat of government was removed to Richmond, and Davis and Stephens were chosen again under the permanent Constitution. They were inaugurated as such on February 22, 1862.
During most of the existence of the Confederate Government, Judah P Benjamin was Secretary of State, Charles G Memminger Secretary of the Treasury, James A Seddon Secretary of War, Stephen R Mallory of the Navy and John H Reagan Postmaster-General. In this government Congress was of little account. Everything was subordinated to the energetic prosecution of the war, for which the President assumed almost dictatorial powers. Extraordinary efforts were made.
Money was obtained by means of the issue of Treasury notes, by cotton loans and by requisitions. Supplies were obtained by any means possible. Troops were obtained, finally, by conscription. The Government, though given belligerent rights by most maritime nations, could not secure any recognition of its independence. As the armies began to be more and more completely destroyed, dissensions broke out. Violent criticism of Davis prevailed. Finally, the surrender of Lee brought the Confederate Government to an end. The Federal Government of the USA never recognized its existence. Research Confederate States
Garland's Case was an important case in American legal history decided by the US Supreme Court in 1866. In 1860 A H Garland, of Arkansas, was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States as attorney and counsellor, taking the oath then required. In 1862 Congress passed an act requiring all candidates for office to take oath that they had never in any way engaged in hostility against the Union. In 1865 all persons admitted to the bar of the US Courts were required to take this oath. Garland participated in the war against the Union, but was freely pardoned. He entered a plea before the Supreme Court in 1866 against his taking the prescribed oath of 1865, saying it was unconstitutional and void as affecting his status in court, and that his pardon released him from compliance with it, even if it were constitutional. His plea was granted by the court, on the ground that the act was ex post facto. Research Garland's Case
The Mountain Meadow Massacre occurred in the autumn of 1857 when a body of thirty-six Arkansas and Missouri emigrants en route to California, were brutally murdered at Mountain Meadow, Utah, by a band of Indians, who were incited thereto by Lee, a Mormon fanatic. It was the period of the first troubles between the United States Government and the Mormons. Brigham Young had made threats of turning the Indians loose upon west-bound emigrants, but the Mormons, as a body, were innocent of the massacre. The emigrant party was encamped at Mountain Meadow when the attack began on September the 7th. They threw up earthworks and defended themselves for four days. Lee, under pretence of friendship, succeeded in drawing them out and murdering the whole party. Research Mountain Meadow Massacre
In America, after the adoption of the Constitution of 1787 the thought that the States were sovereign remained familiar to the minds of many, if not most, Americans. This led easily to the thought of secession by a State or States as a remedy for aggressive action on the part of the Federal Government.
The Federalists of New England made threats of secession in 1811 and 1814. As the slavery agitation began to be foremost among political issues, secession was extensively suggested as the constitutional right of the Southern States if the system of slavery was attacked. South Carolina was ready to secede in 1850. In 1860, upon news of the election of Abraham Lincoln, she did so, on December the 20th, by convention, which passed an ordinance purporting to repeal her adoption of the Constitution in 1788 and to revive her independence. Mississippi seceded on January the 9th, 1861, Florida on January the 10th, Alabama on January the 11th, Georgia on January the 19th, Louisiana on January the 26th, Texas on February 1st, all by conventions. These seven States formed the Confederate States of America, on February the 4th, 1861.
Buchanan's government could find no constitutional warrant for coercing a seceded State. After the firing on Fort Sumter and the decision of Abraham Lincoln and the North to suppress rebellion by armed force, four more States seceded - Arkansas on May the 6th, North Carolina on May the 20th, Virginia on May the 23rd and Tennessee on June the 8th. In most of these States there had been strong opposition to secession, but on the ground that it was inexpedient. That a State had a right to secede was the nearly universal belief. The national Government never recognized this right, nor the validity of the ordinances. Research Secession
The Arkansas Black is an American variety of apple. It is crisp with a dark skin and yellow flesh. It is not very juicy but has an aromatic flavour and keeps very well. Research Arkansas Black
The dog's tooth violet (Erythronium Americanum), or American adder's tongue is an American plant of the family Liliaceae. It is a beautiful early spring flower of the Lily family found in the eastern USA growing in damp, open woodlands from New Brunswick to Florida, and west as far as Ontario and Arkansas. The flower, which appears in April and May, is a handsome, large, pendulous, lily-like flower with the perianth divisions strongly recurved, bright yellow in colour, often tinged with purple and finely dotted within at the base, and bear six stamens. Research Dog's Tooth Violet
The Missouri Fox Trotting Horse is an American breed of horse developed during the 1820s in the Ozarkmountains of Arkansas and Missouri. The
Missouri Fox Trotting Horse has a trotting gait in which the horse walks in the front and has a sliding trot action behind, resulting in a very comfortable ride and the ability to travel for long periods of time. The
Missouri Fox Trotting Horse stands between 14.2 and 16.2 hands high and is mostly chestnut in colour with white markings. They are a very quiet and amenable horse, well suited to being ridden by children. Research Missouri Fox Trotting Horse
The Arapaho are a North American Indian tribe of the Algonquin family. The Arapaho were a nomadic people who lived by huntingbison and raising horses. By 1905 they were all but extinct as a people, remnants still living near the head-waters of the Arkansas and Platte rivers. Research Arapaho
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Arkansas Gazette
