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In 1846 the United States was just 70 years old having gained indepedence from England in 1776. The Constitutional Convention of
1787 had given the people of the new nation individual freedoms and liberty unheard of in prior history. These liberties were based on the observations and beliefs of the founding fathers that "all men are created
equal" and Americans are bound together as "one people under God". The Bible was the principal source of education, both spiritual and moral, and the foundation for learning to read and write.
In 1803 the
land west of the Mississippi, known as the Louisiana Purchase, was acquired from France. This act led to the rapid expansion of settlement from east to west. By 1840 the United States population had reached 17 million. Missouri
was the most western extent of significant settlement at that time. Robert Fulton had invented the steamboat and began operations between New York and Albany, NY in 1807. Steamboats began plying the Mississippi in 1811. In the
same year construction began on the National Road from Cumberland, Maryland to the Ohio River. In 1829 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad carried passengers in a horse drawn train. Later, steam was added and the line extended
125 miles to Cumberland. The abolitionist movement had become a significant national political and social issue. James K. Polk of Tennessee was elected President in 1844.
This was the era in which Alexander Slayback
lived. He was 30 years old at the time of his journey to the National Presbyterian Assembly in 1846. Alexander was a lawyer and an active layman in the Presbyterian Church of Marion and Shelby Counties, Missouri, 100 miles
north of St. Louis on the banks of the Mississippi. He was the son of Dr. Abel and Amelia Eliza Hull Slayback of Cincinnati and married Anna Maria Minter, whose family resided at "Plum Grove" near Philadelphia,
Missouri.
The National Presbyterian Assembly was being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Alexander was selected as a delegate to represent his district in Missouri. The journey takes him cross country by buggy,
steamboat, stage and rail to the more developed eastern states. Along the way, he records many interesting observations that demonstrate enthusiasm and pride in his young and growing country. You can also appreciate in his
words his strong moral character and staunch Christian faith. In visiting the eastern states, he expresses concern over the moral direction in which the country is headed, just as many of us do today.
Alexander Slayback
was my great, great, grandfather and his journal has been preserved and handed down through our family. I hope this journal will prove as interesting and insprirational to others as it has to me.
Peter L. Ballenger
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