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Did You Know? - August 10th In History - Missouri Statehood and The Smithsonian Institution · Voices Of Life

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  Welcome to the Voices of Life podcast, a ministry
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  of the Church for Life. Today we step into the
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  pages of American history to uncover the stories
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  behind one remarkable date, August 10th. Two
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  events, 25 years apart, shaped the nation in
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  ways few people realize. Here to guide you through
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  this day in history is Pastor David. This is
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  your August 10th. Did you know? Moment. Welcome
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  to the Voices of Life. I'm Pastor David. Some
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  dates in history carry a single story, but August
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  10th carries two, and together they reveal the
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  tension, the hope, and the complexity of the
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  19th century America. On August 10th, 1821, Missouri
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  entered the Union as the 24th state, capping
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  a three -year constitutional crisis over slavery.
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  on august tenth eighteen forty six president
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  james k polk signed an act establishing the smithsonian
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  institution fulfilling the extraordinary bequest
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  of a british scientist who never set foot on
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  american soil territorial expansion and sectional
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  conflict on one hand scientific educational and
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  intellectual institution building on the other
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  let's explore both stories in depth so missouri
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  becomes a state The United States is a nation
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  expanding and dividing. The Missouri story started
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  long before 1821. After the Louisiana Purchase
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  of 1803, the United States more than doubled
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  in size. The land would become Missouri, was
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  the home to Native people, French settlers, and
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  a growing number of Americans moving west after
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  the War of 1812. Congress organized the Missouri
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  Territory in 1812, and by January 8, 1818, territorial
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  residents formally petitioned Congress for statehood.
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  But Missouri's request ignited a political firestorm.
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  Missouri's admission in 1821 was part of a growing
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  sectional crisis over slavery. The question was
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  simple and explosive. Would Missouri enter the
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  Union as a free state or a slave state? At the
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  time, the balance between free and slave states
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  in the Senate was delicate. Adding one more slave
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  state could shift national political power. So
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  we have to talk about the Talmadge Amendment,
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  the spark that lit the crisis. In February 1819,
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  Representative James Talmadge Jr. of New York
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  proposed amendments to Missouri's statehood bill.
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  Number one, No new enslaved people could be brought
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  into Missouri. And number two, children of enslaved
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  people would be freed by age 25. The House approved
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  the amendments. The Senate rejected them. Congress
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  adjourned without resolving the crisis. The Missouri
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  controversy became the first intense congressional
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  debate over the westward expansion of slavery
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  since the Constitutional Convention. The nation
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  had reached a breaking point. So let's speak
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  to the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Congress
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  eventually crafted a fragile peace. One, Missouri
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  would enter as a slave state. Two, Maine would
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  enter as a free state. And three, slavery would
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  be prohibited in the remaining Louisiana territory
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  north of the 36 -degree, 30 -foot latitude, except...
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  Missouri. The compromise temporarily reduced
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  sectional tensions, but it did not solve the
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  underlying slavery question. This compromise
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  preserved the Senate balance for the moment.
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  So now, Missouri had a right to its Constitution.
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  And another crisis emerged. Missouri's Constitutional
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  Convention produced a document on July 19, 1820,
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  but one provision caused immediate national controversy.
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  It directed the legislature to prevent free black
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  people from entering the state. This raised constitutional
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  concerns under Article 9, Privileges and Immunities
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  Clause. Even James Madison wrote about the issue
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  in November 1820. Congress had to negotiate a
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  second Missouri Compromise, clarifying that Missouri's
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  Constitution could not violate the rights of
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  U .S. citizens. Only then could Missouri be admitted.
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  So on August 10, 1821, Missouri becomes the 24th
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  state. President James Monroe issued the final
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  proclamation on August 10, 1821. Missouri entered
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  as a slave state, paired with Maine's admission
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  as a free state. This moment marked a turning
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  point in the national debate over slavery, a
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  debate that would intensify for decades. Missouri's
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  courts played a major role in the slavery debate.
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  In 1824, the Missouri Supreme Court established
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  the principle, once free, always free. This became
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  central to the case of Dred and Harriet Scott,
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  who sued for freedom in 1846. The controversy
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  eventually reached the U .S. Supreme Court as
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  the Dred Scott v. Sanford. In 1857, the Supreme
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  Court declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
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  a decision that pushed the nation closer to civil
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  war. Missouri's story is not just about statehood,
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  it's about the moral and constitutional struggle
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  that defined America. Let's move on to another
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  important part of August 10th in history, the
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  Smithsonian Institution, which occurred in 1846.
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  A gift from a man who never visited America.
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  Now we turn to the second August 10th story.
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  one rooted in, not in conflict, but in curiosity.
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  The Smithsonian's creation in 1846 grew out of
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  a very different question. What should the young
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  American Republic do with an extraordinary scientific
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  bequest from a British scientist? The scientist
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  was James Smithson. He was a chemist, mineralogist,
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  fellow of the Royal Society. He had never visited
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  the United States. Yet, in his 1826 will, he
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  wrote that if his nephew died without heirs,
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  his estate should go to the United States to
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  create an institution in Washington for the increase
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  and diffusion of knowledge among men. Smithsonian's
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  nephew died in 1835 without heirs. Suddenly,
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  the United States inherited more than 100 ,000
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  gold sovereigns, over 500 ,000 in American currency.
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  Congress accepted the bequest in 1836, but spent
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  nearly a decade debating what kind of institution
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  Smithson intended. Congress debated for approximately
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  eight years over the bequest and how exactly
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  it should be used. Ideas that came up were a
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  national university, a library, a museum, a research
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  center, an observatory, or maybe a combination
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  of all of it. On August 10, 1846, President James
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  K. Polk signed the act establishing the Smithsonian
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  Institution. The law created a federal trust
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  instrumentality governed by a board of regents,
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  including the vice president, chief justice,
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  members of Congress, and private citizens. The
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  institution was therefore intended to be a national
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  center for the acquisition, preservation, production,
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  and dissemination of knowledge. This was far
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  more than a museum. It was a national commitment
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  to learning. Joseph Henry served as the first
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  secretary. The board elected him as a leading
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  American scientist, and they felt he would be
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  the best person to start the institution. Henry
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  emphasized scientific research, publication,
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  international cooperation, and exchange of knowledge.
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  He did not want the Smithsonian to become merely
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  a collection of curiosities. He wanted it to
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  be the center of discovery. The iconic Smithsonian
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  Castle designed by James Renwick Jr. was completed
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  in 1855. It housed laboratories, offices, lecture
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  halls, exhibition rooms, specimen storage, and
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  even Henry's living quarters. It became the symbolic
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  heart of the institution. Fire, growth, and legacy.
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  A devastating fire struck the castle in 1865,
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  just 10 years later, destroying important papers.
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  But the Smithsonian survived and grew. Today,
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  it includes 21 museums and galleries, the National
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  Zoo, vast scientific and cultural collections,
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  and global research programs, all from the bequest
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  of one man who never visited America. And I think
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  that's very important today because there's a
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  lot of controversy about how the trustees of
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  the Smithsonian are putting things in there that
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  do not match up with our history and creativity.
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  of a nation. The president, as we know, has been
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  trying to do something about it. But as we just
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  discussed, this was created by Congress, and
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  there is a formal board, and it's that board's
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  responsibility to oversee and see if the secretary
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  or the president or whomever is not doing their
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  jobs, they need to go ahead and act. And that's
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  how our American republic works. So let's talk
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  about the remarkable connection between the two,
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  the statehood and the Smithsonian. Here is the
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  heart of your did you know moment. Both events
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  happened on August 10th, exactly 25 years apart.
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  Territorial expansion and sectional conflict
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  on the one hand, scientific, educational, and
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  intellectual institution building on the other.
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  Missouri's admission revealed the nation's political
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  fractures. The Smithsonian's founding revealed
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  the nation's intellectual aspirations. Together,
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  they show a country struggling and striving all
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  at the same time. August 10th teaches us that
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  history is really one -dimensional. On one side,
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  Missouri's admission reminds us that moral questions
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  cannot be postponed forever. On the other, the
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  Smithsonian's founding reminds us that knowledge
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  is a gift we must steward, we must protect, and
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  we must keep for the legacy that it was intended
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  for future generations. Conflict and curiosity.
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  Division and discovery. a nation wrestling with
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  its identity and reaching for its potential.
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  History speaks, and if we listen closely, it
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  still speaks life. I'm Pastor David. Thank you
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  for joining me today on this look at August 10th
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  in history, and we'll see you next time. Thank
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  you for joining me for this August 10th edition
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  of the Voices of Life podcast. Every date in
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  history carries a story. Some carry two. And
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  some, like today, remind us how far we've come
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  and how far we still must go. Until next time,
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  keep seeking truth, keep learning, and keep listening
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  for the voices that still speak life. On behalf
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  of Pastor David, this has been your Did You Know?
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  moment. Be courageous. Be thoughtful. And we
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  will see you next time.