The gold rush to California begins in 1849, and promotes a flood of westward migration.
1850:
President Zachary Taylor dies suddenly of an acute intestinal infection. Millard Fillmore is inaugurated as the thirteenth President of the United States. Fifty-five thousand emigrants move west along the Oregon Trail, most bound for the gold fields of California. Levi Strauss creates the first pair of "bibless" overalls in California. Seventh Census: U.S. population - 23,191,867.
1851:
A fire in San Francisco causes twelve million dollars in estimated property damage; 2,500 buildings are destroyed. Isaac M. Singer develops a practical domestic sewing machine, building on the invention of Elias Howe.
1852:
Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is published, which condemns the slave system in the U.S.
1853:
Franklin Pierce is inaugurated as the fourteenth President of the United States.
1855:
Walt Whitman publishes the first version of Leaves of Grass.
1857:
James Buchanan is inaugurated as the fifteenth President of the United States. In the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the U. S. Supreme Court rules that an African-American is not a citizen of the U.S. and therefore cannot sue in the courts; also, that restrictions upon where a master takes his slave are not legal.
1858:
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engage in a series of debates as part of their campaign for a U. S. Senate seat from Illinois. Gold is discovered at Pike's Peak in Colorado.
1859:
John Brown seizes the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in an attempt to start a nationwide slave insurrection. Two days later he surrenders to federal troops under Col. Robert E. Lee. John Brown is tried, and executed on December 2. The first major silver strike in the U.S., the Comstock Lode, is discovered in Nevada. Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of the Species.
1860:
Abraham Lincoln is elected sixteenth President of the United States. On receiving the news of Lincoln's election, the South Carolina legislature calls a special state convention to meet at Columbia on December 20. On that date, by unanimous vote, South Carolina secedes from the Union. The first "repeating" rifle in the U.S. is produced by Oliver F. Winchester. The first relay on the Pony Express Mail Service leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and arrives in Sacramento, California. Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Eighth census: U.S. population - 31,443,321.
<1840-1850|1860-1870>
