Birthdays
Rufus Barringer
Turns 38 on this date
Charles Garrison Harker
Turns 24 on this date
Lewis Hayden
Turns 48 on this date
Events
| Campaigns/Elections | Abraham Lincoln tests his speech on slavery during a visit to Atchison, Kansas | 12/02/1859 |
| Crime/Disasters | Small passenger ship bound for New Haven sunk in early morning collision | 12/02/1859 |
| Personal | Virginia executes John Brown | 12/02/1859 |
Documents
| Diary | Entry by Susan Bradford Eppes, December 2, 1859 | 12/02/1859 |
| Diary | Entry by Thomas Jonathan Jackson, December 2, 1859 | 12/02/1859 |
| Newspaper | Greensboro (NC) Patriot, "Salisbury Items," December 2, 1859 | 12/02/1859 |
| Letter | John Thomas Lewis Preston to Margaret Junkin Preston, December 2, 1859 | 12/02/1859 |