Interactive Timeline – 1829-1860

correct incorrect David Walker publishes An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela established as independent nations

correct incorrect Britain ends slavery in British West Indies

correct incorrect Britain begins First Opium War in China (ends 1842)

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Dutch recognize Belgium independence

correct incorrect William Henry Harrison elected first Whig president but dies after a month in office, succeeded by John Tyler

correct incorrect First World Antislavery Convention held

correct incorrect THE WORLD: "Act of Union" unites Upper and Lower Canada

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica established as independent nations

correct incorrect Prigg v. Pennsylvania establishes national authority for reclaiming fugitive slaves

correct incorrect Methodist Episcopal Church forms in dispute over slavery Anti-Catholic riots in Philadelphia

correct incorrect Feb U.S. Congress passes Texas Annexation Act

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Santo Domingo wins independence from Spain

correct incorrect Dec United States formally annexes Texas Baptists divide over slavery

correct incorrect Baptists divide over slavery

correct incorrect Apr United States declares war on Mexico

correct incorrect Jun "Bear Flag" Revolt initiates collapse of Mexican authority in California

correct incorrect Aug Pennsylvania Democrat David Wilmot proposes amendment to Mexican War Appropriations Bill outlawing slavery in lands acquired from the war

correct incorrect Mar General Winfield Scott lands at Veracruz, Mexico, defeats Mexican forces, and begins march toward Mexico City

correct incorrect Sep U.S. Army captures Mexico City

correct incorrect Feb Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican War and cedes 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory to United States

correct incorrect Jul Last U.S. troops leave Mexico

correct incorrect Nov Whig Zachary Taylor elected president

correct incorrect Dec Gold discovered near Sutter's Mill in California

correct incorrect Compromise of 1850 passes, which includes provisions admitting California as a free state; opening New Mexico territory to organization under popular sovereignty; banning slave trade in Washington, DC; and creating strong federal Fugitive Slave Act

correct incorrect THE WORLD: China's Taiping Rebellion begins

correct incorrect Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin, giving expression to Northern antislavery sentiment

correct incorrect Election of Democrat Franklin Pierce to presidency

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Establishment of the Second Empire in France under Napoleon III

correct incorrect Commodore Perry arrives in Tokyo Bay, Japan

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Gold rush in Australia

correct incorrect Kansas–Nebraska Act passed, abolishing Missouri Compromise Line of 1820

correct incorrect Rendition of fugitive slave Anthony Burns from Boston inflames Northern opposition to Fugitive Slave Act

correct incorrect First Republican Party convention held in Jackson, MI

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Crimean War begins—Britain and France oppose Russian expansion into Ottoman territory

correct incorrect American Party formally organizes, linking various nativist parties across the country

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Henry Bessemer patents more efficient process for steelmaking

correct incorrect May Charles Sumner delivers "Crime Against Kansas" speech in U.S. Senate

correct incorrect May Preston Brooks beats Charles Sumner in Senate chamber

correct incorrect Pro-slavery guerrillas from Missouri lead "Sack of Lawrence" in Kansas territory

correct incorrect Nov Democrat James Buchanan elected president

correct incorrect Whig Party collapses in most states

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Crimean War ends

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Second Anglo-Chinese War begins

correct incorrect Dred Scott ruling denies citizenship to African Americans

correct incorrect Hinton Helper publishes The Impending Crisis, denouncing slavery's effect on the political and economic freedom of poor white men in the South

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Britain suppresses "Sepoy Mutiny" in India

correct incorrect Gold discovered near Pike's Peak in Colorado

correct incorrect Dec John Brown leads failed slave insurrection at Harpers Ferry, VA

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Nov Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species

correct incorrect Black population in the United States reaches four million

correct incorrect THE WORLD: Second Anglo-Chinese War ends