World History 1850-1860 AD

 

Taiping Rebellion, Compromise of 1850, National Women's Convention, California Gains Statehood, Blood Spilled Over Slavery, Erie Railroad Reached Great Lakes, Uncle Toms Cabin, Burma War, S, African Republic, Gadsen Purchase, Fugitve Slave Returned, Perry in Japan, Crimean War, Kansas Nebraska Act, Bloody Kansas, Compromise in Kansas, Victoria Falls, Sevastopol Taken, Arrow War, Washington Irving Dies, Sepoy Mutiny, John Brown Leads Revolt, Darwin -Origin of the Species, Italian War, Oil Well Started

1850 AD Taiping Rebellion -The Taiping rebellion broke out in 1850. The rebellion was led by Hung Hsiu-ch'uan . He believed he was Gods' second son. His believed in Christianity, and his ideology called for communal land ownership and equality between men and women. The revolt against the Manchus lasted for ten years and ended in failure. The revolt cost the lives of 20 million Chinese peasants.
1850 AD Compromise of 1850- The Compromise of 1850 held the Union together for another difficult ten years. The dispute was over the admittance of additional states into the Union, while maintaining the balance between free and slave states.

The immediate question was the clamoring of California to be admitted to the Union as a free state. The debate was begun by a frail Senator Henry Clay, who called for a compromise between the North and South. Senator John C. Calhoun, who was dying of tuberculosis, gave his last speech in the Senate; in which he once again championed the cause of the South, yet called for compromise.

1850 AD First National Women's Convention- The first national Women's Conference was held in Worcester, Massachusetts. The meeting followed a local convention in Seneca Falls the year before. The convention, after much discussion, passed a resolution that stated: "Women are clearly entitled to the right of suffrage, and to equality before the law, without distinction of sex or color."
1850 AD California Gains Statehood-On September 9th 1850, California was admitted to the Union. The admittance of California was part of the Compromise of 1850. California was the 31st State admitted to the Union.
1851 AD First Blood Spilled Over Slavery- The Fugitive Slave Law finally brought about the first blood of conflict, in what became known as the "Battle of Christiana." The town was Christiana, a Pennsylvania village near the Maryland border. On September 1, 1851, a slave owner, accompanied by relatives and two deputy marshalls, arrived in the town and demanded the return of two slaves who had escaped two years earlier. The slave holders were warned to leave town; when they refused, violence broke out. When the violence ended, the owner was dead, his son was seriously wounded. The fugitives escaped to Canada. Fillmore called in the Marines, in an attempt to find the fugitives. They arrested 30 Blacks and 6 Whites, whom they charged with treason. The case was dropped, but the first blood had been spilled.
1851 AD Erie Railroad Reached the Great Lakes- In May 1851 the Erie Railroad reached Dunkirk New York on Lake Erie. The first train to traverse the line had President Filmore and Americas elder statesman Daniel Webster on board.
1852 AD Uncle Toms Cabin Signed- In 1852, the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published. It is most likely the novel that had the greatest historic impact on American society. The novel depicted the plight of a slave family. It was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was a mother of six. In the first year hundres of thousands of copies were printed and ultimately millions of copies were sold. The helped solidify the opposition to slavery in the North. Its success in France and England served as a break in the inclination of the aristocracy in those countries to support the South during the war.
1852 AD Second Burma War - The Second Burmese War began when the Burmese ousted their king Pagan Min after a six year reign. The British captured Rangoon as the war began.
1852 AD South African Republic -The British government recognized the independence of the Boer Republic of the Transsnvall under the terms of the Sand River Convention of 1852. In 1854, under the terms of the Bloemfontein Convention, Great Britain granted independence to the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State.
1853 AD Gadsen Purchase- Under the terms of this purchase, the United States obtained the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico. The area totaled 45,535 square miles and was purchased at a cost of $10 million. The area was considered a suitable route for a railroad across the Southwest.
1854 AD Fugitve Slave Returned-In March 1854, Anthony Burns, a Virginian slave, escaped and fled to Boston. He was apprehended. Bostonians rallied to his defense and tried to block his return to Virginia. President Pierce called in Federal troops to insure Burns' return to Virginia. Thus, federal soldiers escorted a captured slave through the streets, while Bostonians stood by, with American flags flying upside down.
1854 AD Perry in Japan - Commodore Perry was sent to Japan to attempt to open trade relations, as well as provide a safe haven for shipwrecked sailors. Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay in command of a fleet of four heavily-armed warships. The Japanese initially demanded that he move to the port of Nagasaki, but realized they did not have the ability to force Perry to move.

On July 14, 1853, Perry met with representatives of the Japanese Emperor, and soon had negotiated the Treaty of Kanagawa. The treaty mandated that two Japanese ports be opened up to American ships.
Perry's successful mission to Japan quickly broke the Japanese self- imposed isolation, and heralded a rapid industrialization of the island nation.
1854 AD Crimean War Begins In October 1853 a war had broken out between Russia and the Ottomans known as the Russo-Turkish War. The war broke out after a Turkish attack on Russian forces that had occupied Walachia and Moldavia. France and Great Britain declared war on Russia in support of the Ottomans. Austria in the meantime successfully pressured Russia to withdraw from the Danubian principalities that it had occupied, and then Austria occupied them. On September 14 allied troops landed in the Crimea. On September 20th the Russians were defeated in the battle of Alma River. The allies then went on to lay siege to the Russian port of Sevastopol.
1854 AD Kansas Nebraska Act-The Kansas–Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The Act allowed Kansas and Nebraska to determine whether they wished to be slave or free states. Nebraska was not problematic, as its settlers favored the status of free state. However, the status of Kansas was bitterly fought over.
1855 AD Bloody Kansas-Northern anti-slave organizations encouraged their members to emigrate to Kansas. When it was time to vote for the first territorial legislature, Southerners poured in from Missouri and voted early and often. The supporters of slavery triumphed in this election and set up a territorial government in Shawnee Mission. The "free soilers," those who opposed slavery in Kansas, were outraged by this fraud and set up their own government in Topeka. As tension mounted, a group of pro-slavery raiders burned part of the free soil town of Lawrence, thus provoking a civil war in Kansas.
1856 AD Compromise in Kansas-Violence was temporarily abated when President Pierce sent John Geary to Kansas to put down the disturbances. Geary temporarily accomplished his task.
The issue of Kansas was far from settled, however. The underlying issue remained: was Kansas to be a free state or a slave state. The Kansas legislature passed, over the veto of Geary,a constitution that would insure the state would become a slave states. Geary then resigned.
He was replaced by Robert Walker. The pro-slave constitutional convention, meeting at Lecompton, produced a constitutional referendum providing the voters of Kansas with only two choices, accepting slavery in Kansas, or limiting the slaves of Kansas to existing slaves. Free slavers immediately branded the referendum as "The Great Swindle," they refused to participate. Those favoring slavery then voted to ask to have Kansas admitted as a slave state. This was too much for even Stephen Douglas, who had supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act. After a highly emotional and almost violent debate, the House of Representatives failed to admit Kansas as a slave state. The South felt they had been betrayed by Douglas, who then lost his Southern support.
1855 AD David Livingstone Discovers Victoria Falls - David Livingstone a Scottish explorer set off from South Africa to explore the interior of Africa. In 1855 he discovered the Victorian falls.
1855 AD Sevastopol Taken On September 11th Sevastopol, the main Russian port on the Black Sea, was captured by the allied forces. Following the capture of Sevastopol, series negotiations began between the sides.
1856 AD Arrow War- The second Anglo Chinese war, which became known as the Arrow war, began when the Chinese forced a British registered ship to lower the British flag. British and French troops reached Tienstsin in 1858 and thus threatened the Chinese capital Peking. The Chinese agreed to the Treaty of Tienstsin, which opened more treaty ports to foreigners and legalized the importation of opium.
1859 AD Washington Irving Dies - In 1859 Washington Irving the American writer died. He wrote a Five-Volume biography of George Washington. He is best known for tales, which included The Legends of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.
1857 AD Sepoy Mutiny The Sepoys who were native troops employed by the British revolted and killed their British officers. The Sepoys managed to capture Delhi. The British with the help of the Punjabs put down the revolt. The revolt ended the administration of the East India Company and was replaced by the direct administration of the British crown.
1859 AD John Brown Leads Revolt- John Brown led a group of 18 to attack the arsenal in Harpers Ferry. His goal was to forment a slave rebellion. The revolt was subdued by the US army under the command of Robert E Lee. Brown was hung.
1859 AD Darwin Publishes Origin of the Species In 1859 Darwin published the Origins of Species in which he posited the theory of evolution. That theory stated that man descended from apes and that only fittest species survived and evolved.
1859 AD Italian War -The Italian War broke out when Austria tried to extend its already extensive control over the Italian penninsular. On May 12, 1859 the French declared war on Austria. They came to the aid of Sardinia and the other Italian city states that had revolted against the Austrains. The French defeated the Austrian army on the field. Franz Joseph, the emperor of Austria, and Napoleon met and brought an end to hostilities. Napoleon, who had become concerned with the unrest caused by revolts, agreed to the restoration of power to most of the Italian princes.
1859 AD Oil Well Started Until Edwin Drake drilled his well, oil had been collected from whatever had seeped out of the ground. This oil was used for medicinal purposes. Drake, who had been a railroad conductor, was convinced that large quantities of oil could be found by drilling. Just as his money dried up and investors called for an end to the drilling, Drake struck oil.
Before long, the area around Titusville was full of oil wells and the commercial use of oil began.