John Hampden Pleasants

John Hampden Pleasants (January 4, 1797 – March 1, 1846) was an American journalist and businessman. He is known as the editor and founder of the Richmond Whig, a daily newspaper that was later active during the Civil War. Pleasants died on March 1, 1846, after participating in a duel with Thomas Ritchie, who was the editor of a rival newspaper, the Richmond Enquirer.

Biography Pleasants was born on January 4, 1797, in Goochland County, Virginia, to James and Susanna Lawson Rose Pleasants. He studied at the College of William and Mary for one session, after which point he began studying law. While Pleasants was able to open his own practice, his fear of public speaking and lack of conversational skills kept him from succeeding in the profession. Like many newspapers during the Civil War, the Richmond Whig published viewpoints and news on the institution of slavery and some of these viewpoints put Pleasants at odds with Thomas Ritchie, who edited the rival newspaper the Richmond Enquirer. The arguments between the two men were known to grow so fierce that they used their own newspapers as an avenue for heated discussions and journalists from other newspapers as far as Philadelphia would occasionally take part in their debates. Neither man was opposed to the emancipation of slaves, although Ritchie favored a slower emancipation process than Pleasants. As a result, Pleasants challenged Ritchie to a duel and the two men met on February 25, 1846, in Manchester, Virginia.

Accounts of the duel differ slightly. Some allege that Pleasants had loaded his pistol with blanks, as he had only wanted to frighten his opponent, while others state that he fired into the air. Pleasants died two days later. Ritchie was tried for the crime but was acquitted. Despite his early vehemence towards the other man, Ritchie was greatly remorseful for his actions and later left Pleasants's daughter a large sum of money in his will.