Authors: Ross Lockridge
1816 | Indiana becomes a State. |
1801â1847 | John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) plants apple-tree nurseries in the Middle West. |
1826 | New Harmony, Indiana, founded by Robert Owen on the southern Wabash. |
1844, November | James K. Polk, Democrat, defeats Henry Clay, Whig, in Presidential Election. |
1846â1848 | The War with Mexico. |
1846, August | The Wilmot Proviso, proposing that land acquired from Mexico be free territory, reopens the slavery controversy. |
1847, September 11 | Stephen Foster's âOh! Susanna' sung, probably for the first time, at Andrews' Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh. |
1848 | Â |
January 24 | Gold discovered in California. |
July 4 | Cornerstone of the Washington Monument laid. |
November | General Zachary Taylor, Whig, wins Presidential Election. |
1851 | Hawthorne's story âThe Great Stone Face' published in |
1852 | Uncle Tom's Cabin |
1854 | Â |
May 25 | KansasâNebraska Bill passed. |
July 6 | A Republican Party founded in convention at Jackson, Michigan. |
October 16 | The âPeoria Speech' makes Abraham Lincoln famous throughout the Northwest for its clear statement of the moral and political case against slavery and its extension. |
1855 | Hiawatha |
1856, November | James Buchanan, Democrat, defeats John C. Frémont, Republican, in Presidential Election. |
1858, June 16 | Lincoln opens senatorial campaign against Douglas with âHouse Divided' speech. |
1859 | Â |
October 16 | John Brown raids Harper's Ferry. |
December | John Brown hanged at Charles Town, Virginia. |
1860, November | Lincoln elected President of the United States. |
1861 | Â |
February 8 | Confederate Government formed. |
March 4 | Lincoln inaugurated in Washington. |
April 12â14 | Fort Sumter besieged and surrendered; Civil War begins. |
1863 | Â |
January 1 | The Emancipation Proclamation. |
May 2â4 | The Battle of Chancellorsville. |
July 1â3 | The Battle of Gettysburg. |
July 8â13 | Morgan's Raid passes through Indiana. |
September 19â20 | The Battle of Chickamauga. |
SeptemberâNovember | The Siege of Chattanooga. |
November 19 | Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. |
November 25 | The Battle of Missionary Ridge. |
1864 | Â |
November 14â16 | The destruction of Atlanta, Georgia. |
Nov. 15âDec. 10 | Sherman's Army marches to the Sea. |
1865 | Â |
February 17 | Fall of Columbia, South Carolina. |
March 4 | Lincoln inaugurated for a second term. |
April 9 | Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Court House. |
April 14 | Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theatre in Washington. |
May 23â24 | The Grand Review in Washington. |
1869, May 10 | The Golden Spike driven at Promontory Point, linking the continent by rail. |
1869â1877 | Presidential term of Ulysses S. Grant. |
1876 | Â |
June 26 | Custer Massacre at the Little Big Horn. |
July 4 | Centennial Fourth in Philadelphia; America is one hundred years old. |
November | Disputed Presidential Election between Tilden and Hayes; finally awarded to Hayes. |
1877, July | The Great Railroad Strike. |
1892 | Â |
June | Republicans nominate Benjamin Harrison for President; Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland. |
July 1 | Carnegie and Company lock out 3800 men on a wage dispute at Homestead. |
July 4 | The Populist Party convenes at Omaha, Nebraska. |