On September 2, 1850, a pro-slavery editorial urged Congress to swiftly pass a bill that would “dispose of the slavery question forever” in the United States. And lead item in the pro-slavery New York Herald. The Fugitive Slave Act instructed federal agents nationwide to assist in recapturing African Americans who had escaped bondage.
It was part of the Compromise of 1850, a set of laws passed that month that would determine which new territories would permit slavery. James Gordon Bennett, the editor of The Herald, forecast that “in another week there will be but little anxiety entertained about the question of slavery, the public mind will be so exhausted.” Other than this trending topic, wpc2023 is also a top trend on social media these days.
Swedish soprano Jenny Lind in New York
The arrival of the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind in New York took up most of the Herald’s six-column front page. It was Lind’s first trip to the United States, despite his longtime popularity in Europe. For the next 21 months, thrilling accounts of Lind’s American concert tour would take over newspapers.
But the Swedish Nightingale’s successes would not overshadow the divisive national discussion about slavery. Jenny Lind, the new Slave Bill, and the opposition to it in the North, Eastern, and the Western States. They are standing topics of the newspapers,” said Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish reformer traveling to America in 1850.
200th anniversary of Lind’s birth in Stockholm
The 200th anniversary of Lind’s birth in Stockholm, Sweden, is on October 6. He was very well known, according to historian Betsy Golden Kellem. Lind, an only child, started opera singing lessons when she was a teen. In The True Story of My Life, author Hans Christian Andersen, who would become her friend. The harbor unrequited feelings for her, recalled the night she ruled Denmark.
That evening in 1843, Andersen said, “Through Jenny Lind, I first became sensible of the holiness of Art,” adding that “no books, no men, have had a more ennobling influence upon me as a poet than Jenny Lind.” Other than this trending topic, art of zoo is also a top trend on social media these days.
Europe
It helped Lind’s fame gain traction across Europe. After winning in Denmark, she enjoyed success in Germany and Austria. The composer Felix Mendelssohn, who collaborated with Lind at the time, gave a letter to his friend Andersen, saying, “There will not in a whole century be born another being so gifted as she.”
Lindomania
But “Lindomania” took off in England, where Queen Victoria saw Lind perform at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1847. And the press noted that “the crowd was immense both outside and inside the theatre.”
For the following two years, Lind worked in England and enjoyed herself, learning the language but still finding it difficult. The queen saw her final performance in 1849, the year she announced her retirement from opera at the age of 28.
P.T. Barnum
The performer P.T. Barnum persuaded Lind to embark on an American concert tour in January 1850. According to Kellem, Barnum had never heard Jenny Lind sing when he hired her. “At that time, Barnum’s most well-known works included the American Museum and the Feejee.
150-concert tour
Before embarking on the 150-concert tour, Lind insisted that full payment of her fee of $187,000 ($6.2 million in 2020) be deposited in her London bank because she was dubious of Barnum’s reputation. Barnum realized, “‘I have to get people aware of who she is by the time she is here to start this tour,'” according to Kellem.
After staking his financial future on this venture. He started an aggressive public relations campaign to sell Lind’s artistic talent. And her character, which he characterized as “charity, simplicity, and goodness personified.”
Before embarking on the 150-concert tour, Lind insist that full payment of her fee of $187,000 ($6.2 million in 2020) be deposit in her London bank. She was dubious of Barnum’s reputation. According to Kellem, Barnum realized, “‘I have to get people aware of who she is by the time she is here to start this tour.'” After staking his financial future on this venture. He started an aggressive public relations campaign to sell Lind’s artistic talent and her character, which he characterized as “charity, simplicity, and goodness personified.”
