1850 in the United States

1850 in the United States
Years:	1847 1848 1849 – 1850 – 1851 1852 1853
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30 stars (1848–51)
Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1849–65)

Events from the year 1850 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government

• President: Zachary Taylor (W-Virginia) (until July 9), Millard Fillmore (W-New York) (starting July 9)
• Vice President: Millard Fillmore (W-New York) (until July 9), vacant (starting July 9)
• Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland)
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Howell Cobb (D-Georgia)
• Congress: 31st

Events

January–March

• January 29 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress.
• February 28 – The University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• March 7 – United States Senator Daniel Webster gives his "Seventh of March" speech in which he endorses the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war.
• March 16 – Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is published.
• March 19 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.

April–June

• April 4 – Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.
• April 15 – San Francisco, California is incorporated as a city.
• April 19 – Clayton-Bulwer Treaty is signed by the United States and Great Britain, allowing both countries to share Nicaragua and not claim complete control over the proposed Nicaragua Canal.
• May 7 – The Brigantine USS Advance is loaned to the United States Navy.
• May 23 – The USS Advance puts to sea from New York City to search for John Franklin's Arctic expedition.
• June 3 – The traditional date of Kansas City, Missouri's founding. This is the date on which it is incorporated by Jackson County, Missouri as the "Town of Kansas".

July–September

July 9: Vice President Millard Fillmore becomes President with the death of President Taylor

• July 9 – President Zachary Taylor dies in office; Vice President Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.
• September 9
  • California is admitted as the 31st U.S. state (see History of California).
  • The New Mexico Territory is organized by order of the U.S. Congress.
• September 18 – The Fugitive Slave Law is passed by the U.S. Congress.

October–December

• October 19 – Phi Kappa Sigma International Fraternity was founded at the University of Pennsylvania.
• October 28 – Delegate Edward Ralph May delivers speech on behalf of African American suffrage to the Indiana Constitutional Convention.

Undated

• The American System of Watch Manufacturing starts in Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (the Waltham Watch Company).
• US census shows that 11.2% of the population classed as "Negro" are of mixed race.
• Lehman Brothers is established in Montgomery, Alabama.
• Allan Pinkerton forms the North-Western Police Agency, later the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
• Harriet Tubman becomes an official conductor of the Underground Railroad.
• St. Mary's Institute (the future University of Dayton) is founded in Dayton, Ohio.
• The University of Rochester is founded in Rochester, New York.

Ongoing

• California Gold Rush (1848–1855)

Births

• February 15 – Albert B. Cummins, United States Senator from Iowa from 1908 till 1926. (died 1926)
• May 8 – Ross Barnes, baseball player and manager (died 1915)
• July 7 – William E. Mason, United States Senator from Illinois from 1897 till 1903. (died 1921)
• October 30 – John Patton, Jr., United States Senator from Michigan from 1894 till 1895. (died 1907)

Deaths

• March 28 – Gerard Brandon, fourth and sixth Governor of Mississippi from 1825 to 1826 and from 1826 to 1832 (born 1788)
• March 31 – John C. Calhoun, seventh Vice President of the United States from 1825 to 1832 (born 1782)
• April 24 – John Norvell, U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1837 to 1841 (born 1789)
• May 16 – William Hendricks, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1825 to 1837 (born 1782)
• July 9 – Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States from 1849 to 1850 (born 1784)
• July 19 – Margaret Fuller, journalist, literary critic and women's rights advocate, presumed drowned (born 1810)
• November 19 – Richard Mentor Johnson, ninth Vice President of the United States from 1837 to 1841, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1819 to 1829 (born 1780)

External links

• Media related to 1850 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons