About | Events | Shop
  • Shopping Cart Shopping Cart
    0Shopping Cart
Arlington Historical Society
  • Visit
  • Stories
    • On This Day
    • Stories from the Underground
  • Exhibitions
    • Museum Exhibits
    • Online Exhibits
    • Memorializing the Enslaved in Arlington
  • Collections
    • Artifact Donation
    • Scope of Collection
  • Learn
    • Historical Milestones
    • Teaching History
      • Teaching History Subject Index
      • Geography
      • Exploration to Revolution
      • Revolution and New Nation
      • Expansion and Reform
      • Civil War
      • Reconstruction
      • Reshaping the Nation
      • Turmoil and Change
      • Since World War 2
    • AHS Magazine
    • AHS Newsletter
  • Research
    • Neighborhood Histories
    • Images
    • Preservation
      • Document Your Property’s History
      • Renovate and Get a Tax Credit
      • Preservation Research Links
    • Videos
  • Support
    • Join
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu

Expansion and Reform

  • Expansion and Reform

Source 4.01: Smith, John Rubens, Artist. Draw bridge over Potomac at George Town, D.C. 1828. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 4.02: Stone, William James, et al. Chart of the head of navigation of the Potomac River shewing the route of the Alexandria Canal: made in pursuance of a resolution of the Alex’a Canal Company Oct. 1838. [Washington: U.S. Senate, 1838] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 4.03: [Time Table for Alexandria, Loudoun, and Hampshire Railroad Company] 1860. In Netherton, Nan, and Ross De Witt Netherton. Arlington County in Virginia: A Pictorial History. Norfolk: Donning Co, 1987. Print.

These three documents (S4.01-3) illustrate aspects of the First Industrial Revolution reaching Arlington, namely canal building and railroads.

Source 4.04: Return of the Whole Number of Persons within the Several Districts of the United States According to an Act Providing for the Second Census or Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States: Passed February the Twenty Eighth, One Thousand Eight Hundred. Washington: Duane, Printer, 1801. Print.

Source 4.05: Census for 1820. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1821. The link below takes you to a zipped file of pdfs. Print.<http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860a.zip>.

Source 4.06: United States. Census Office. 6th Census, 1840. Compendium of the Enumeration of the Inhabitants and Statistics of the United States as Obtained at the Department of State, from the Returns of the Sixth Census, by Counties and Principal Towns … to Which Is Added an Abstract of Each Preceding Census. Washington: T. Allen, 1841. Print. The link below takes you to a zipped file of pdfs.  <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1840b.zip>.

Source 4.07: Kennedy, J. C. G. Population of the United States in 1860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Washington: G.P.O., 1864. Print. The link below takes you to a zipped file of pdfs.  <http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860a.zip>.

More than just tracing Arlington’s growth in population, these census schedules (S4.4-7) document the politics of slavery, freedom, gender, and race. The census is also an authentic way to review and exemplify the Three-Fifths Compromise in action. More census records can be found here.

Source 4.08: Graham, H. S, and E Hergesheimer. Map of Virginia: showing the distribution of its slave population from the census of 1860. Washington: Henry S. Graham, 1861. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

This map is useful for comparing slavery in Arlington to other parts of Virginia which before the Civil War included West Virginia.

Source 4.09: Dorr, William S, and American Anti-Slavery Society. Slave Market of America. New-York: Published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 4.10: Russell, Andrew J, photographer. Front of “slave pen,” Alexandria, Va. [between 1861 and 1865] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 4.11: Slave pen, Alexandria, Va. [photographed Between 1861 and 1865, Printed Between 1880 and 1889] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,

This poster and photos (S4.08-11) document the slave trade in Alexandria. Note that the Price, Birch & Co. building in the photographs was owned by the slave-trading firm Franklin & Armfield mentioned in the abolitionist poster.

Source 4.12: [Registry of Free Negroes] 1851?. In Netherton, Nan, and Ross De Witt Netherton. Arlington County in Virginia: A Pictorial History. Norfolk: Donning Co, 1987. Print.

This registry (S4.12) reinforces the message of the abolitionist poster that being a free black person was different from being a free white person.

Share this post
  • AHS Magazine
  • Teaching History
    • Civil War
    • Expansion and Reform
    • Exploration to Revolution
    • Geography
    • Reconstruction
    • Reshaping the Nation
    • Revolution and New Nation
    • Since World War 2
    • Teaching History Subject Index
    • Turmoil and Change

Follow Us On Facebook

Upcoming Events

May 31
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Drew Day at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary

May 31
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm

From Fleece to Cloth: Reenactment at Ball-Sellers House

Jun 7
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Memorializing the Enslaved of Arlington: Columbia Pike

View Calendar

Support

The Arlington Historical Society relies solely on membership dues and donations to support the Arlington Historical Museum and Ball-Sellers House.

Join
Donate
Volunteer

Visit Us

The Arlington Historical Museum
1805 S Arlington Ridge Rd, Arlington, VA 22202
703-892-4204
Open Saturday, Sunday 1-4 pm
Get Directions

The Ball-Sellers House
5620 3rd St S, Arlington, VA 22204
703-577-7042
Open Saturday 1-4 pm
Get Directions

Contact Us

E-mail us: info@arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org
Call us: 703-892-4204

Arlington Historical Society
P.O. Box 100402
Arlington, Virginia 22210-3402

Facebook

Copyright 2025 Arlington Historical Society. All rights reserved.

Share this post
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top