By David R.

1850

Ten Events Compromise of 1850:

A series of measures adopted by the Congress on September 9, 1850, prior to the Civil War, to address slavery and territory issues and to avert secession by the South.

The Gadsden Purchase: In 1853 President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden to negotiate with

Mexico. The Gadsden Purchase included land in present-day Arizona and New Mexico.

The Female Medical College is founded in Philadelphia by a group of Quakers. Eight women enroll in

the first class. The college remains a women’s institution until 1969, when it becomes coeducational

Fugitive Slave Law passed (September 18) Vermont passes a personal-liberty law declaring that fugitive slaves who

escape to that state do not have to be turned over to federal authorities for return to their masters

Ten Events University of Utah opens Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter published

Novel considered to be his best President Taylor Dies

July 9 1850 and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th president

California admitted as the 31st state (September 9) New Mexico territory organized (September 9) Dred Scott case of 1857

The case raised the issue of a black slave who lived in a free state. Congress had not asserted whether slaves were free once they set foot upon Northern soil.

V.I.P.’s That Changed The 1850’s Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

became active in the Anti-Slavery movement in the 1850's by using her gift for language as lecturer. At one time in her career as a lecturer, she made her home in Philadelphia "at the station of the Underground Rail Road, where she frequently saw passengers and their melting tales of suffering and wrong, which intensely increased their sympathy in their behalf."* Even during the Civil War, she wrote prolifically, hoping to contribute to the cause of freedom. The writing she produced during the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln's assassination further reveals her eloquence in expressing her hopes and disappointments with the progress of the fight for equality. She continued arguing for freedom, equality and reforms in her lectures and writings until her death.

In 1855, Walt Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition of Leaves of Grass, which consisted of twelve untitled poems and a preface. He published the volume himself, and sent a copy to Emerson in July of 1855. Whitman released a second edition of the book in 1856, containing thirty-three poems, a letter from Emerson praising the first edition, and a long open letter by Whitman in response. During his subsequent career, Whitman continued to refine the volume, publishing several more editions of the book

Number of States – Territorial MapThe population of the thirty-one states in

the United States is just under 23.3 million

1850 - California becomes a state 1858 - Minnesota becomes a state

Term: 13th President of the United States (1850-1853)

Born: January 7, 1800, Summerhill, New York

Education: Six months of grade school; read law in 1822

Career: Lawyer Political Party: Whig Died: March 8, 1874, Buffalo,

New York A Life in Brief: Born into

desperate poverty at the dawn of the nineteenth century, Millard Fillmore climbed to the highest office in the land -- and inherited a nation breaking into fragments over the question of slavery.

Term: 14th President of the United States (1853-1857)

Born: November 23, 1804, Hillsborough (now Hillsboro), New Hampshire

Education: Bowdoin College (graduated 1824)

Career: Lawyer, Public Official Political Party: Democrat Died: October 8, 1869, Concord, New

Hampshire A Life in Brief: Franklin Pierce, the

14th President of the United States, came to office during a period of growing tension between the North and South.

President’s

Pioneer women spent much of their time doing household chores.

Keeping a one-room log house clean wasn't easy! It involved sweeping,

scrubbing, dusting, airing mattresses, washing windows, and, sometimes,

chasing out mice and spiders!

Many families settling in Iowa did not bring wood burning cook stoves

because there was no room in their wagon. As a result, families had to

relearn how to cook over open hearths.

The majority of tools used by pioneer men in 1850 were handmade and

had wooden handles. A wooden shaving horse was used to shave down

handles, shingles, or tools like the "goad" used for oxen. The shaving

horse had a large clamp in the middle that held the tool in place. The

"brace and bit" was used to drill holes in wood.

Keeping a log house air-tight was not an easy task, though important for

keeping pests out and warmth in. In 1850, most pioneers used a two-step

process to fill in the gaps between logs in their notched log homes. They

first filled in as many gaps between logs as possible with rocks and pieces

of wood, a process called chinking. Next they made daubing, a mixture of

sand, clay, water, straw, lime, and manure to insulate the homes. They

applied the daubing over the chinking to fill in any remaining gaps.

Family Life

Fashion StatementsIn the 1850s, the domed skirts of the 1840s continued to expand. Skirts were made fuller by means of flounces (deep ruffles), usually in tiers of three, gathered tightly at the top and stiffened with horsehair braid at the bottom.Early in the decade, bodices of day dresses featured panels over the shoulder that were gathered into a blunt point at the slightly dropped waist. These bodices generally fastened in back by means of hooks and eyes, but a new fashion for a [jacket] bodice appeared as well, buttoned in front and worn over a chemisette. Wider bell-shaped or pagoda sleeves were worn over false under sleeves or engageantes of cotton or linen, trimmed in lace, broderie anglaise, or other fancy-work. Separate small collars of lace, tatting, or crochet work were worn with day dresses, sometimes with a ribbon bow.

Bad Times & Good TimesMore than eighteen thousand homeless people

are living in the cellars of buildings in New York City. By 1856 the construction of tenement apartment houses has helped to ease this problem

Delegates from nine states meet in Worcester, Massachusetts, for the first national women’s rights convention. Among the participants are Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and Lucretia Mott. The delegates call for the right to vote and equal rights “without distinction of sex or color

WarFrom the 1850s through the 1860s,

Americans, eager to mine silver, copper, and then gold in New Mexico, emigrated to Apache lands and settled there. War with the Apache ensued and the U.S. army moved in to protect the settlers. After the Civil War, the U.S. government decided to move all Indians living in Arizona and southwest New Mexico, including the Apache

InventionsSerpent

the distant ancestor of today's tuba, and was popular around 1600 to 1850.  It forms the natural bass to the cornett family, having a conical wooden bore and finger holes, with a brass-style cup mouthpiece. 

DishwasherAmerican Joel Houghton invented the first dishwasher in 1850. He made it out of wood, and gave it a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on the dishes inside. It didn't really work, but it did get the first "dishwasher" patent.

InventionsTexan Gail Borden,

who had been experimenting s with methods for preserving milk and other perishable foods, applies for a patent on his sweetened condensed milk. The patent is finally issued on 19 August 1856.

12 Aug 1851. Isaac Merrit Singer is awarded a patent for his continuous-stitching sewing machine, the first such machine that is practical for home use.

Trends & word phrasesThe traditional cowboy look didn't come

about until after the Mexican-American War in the 1850s.

In the good ol' days the cowboy was the glue that held the West together. Ranchers would hire cowboys to keep a watchful eye over the herds on the wide open range.

Some phrases of the 1850’sDo as you would like to be done byLive so that you may be lovedNever do evil that good may follow