1842 - Aft 1857 (> 16 years)
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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1845 | - 29 Dec 1845: Texas annexed by U.S.,The Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States, becoming the 28th state.
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| 2 | 1846 | - 13 May 1846: Mexican-American War begins,The United States declared war on Mexico over a border dispute in Texas.
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| 3 | 1848 | - 24 Jan 1848: California Gold Rush begins,Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California, triggering a massive migration of "forty-niners."
- 24 Jan 1848: Gold discovered in California,James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, beginning the California Gold Rush.
- 2 Feb 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,The treaty was signed, ending the Mexican-American War and ceding significant territory to the United States.
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| 4 | 1850 | - 9 Sep 1850: Compromise of 1850,A series of five bills passed to address the issue of slavery, including admitting California as a free state and enacting the Fugitive Slave Act.
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| 5 | 1852 | - 20 Mar 1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin published,Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel was published, becoming a bestseller and fueling the abolitionist movement.
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| 6 | 1854 | - 30 May 1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act,The act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed settlers to decide on the issue of slavery through "popular sovereignty."
- 15 Oct 1854: Republican Party founded,Anti-slavery activists and Whig Party members formed the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin.
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| 7 | 1856 | - 21 May 1856: Sack of Lawrence,Pro-slavery forces attacked and looted the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas, during "Bleeding Kansas."
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| 8 | 1857 | - 6 Mar 1857: Dred Scott decision,The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
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| 9 | 1858 | - 15 Oct 1858: Lincoln-Douglas Debates,Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held a series of seven debates on the issue of slavery in Illinois.
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