The papers of Governor William Trousdale contain an interesting amount of material relevant to the antebellum period of Tennessee. Trousdale served only a single two-year term as Governor of Tennessee, and as such only a small number of papers are available for his Administration. Among the interesting events that are represented within these papers are the various States’ resolutions resulting from the passage of the Compromise of 1850 in Congress; slavery issues; the Wilmot Proviso (prohibiting the sale of negroes in the District of Columbia); the planned Southern Convention, which was held in Nashville, Tennessee in 1850; the African Colonization Society, and the creation of the Republic of Liberia; and the proposed Industrial Exposition of 1851, held in London, England. There is some correspondence regarding certain judicial appointments in Tennessee, which involved politicking against the Whig Party of Tennessee. The State Lunatic Hospital is discussed in one correspondence from Peter Martin, who submitted his resignation as Commissioner of said institution.