1845 — Florida and Texas admitted
to the United States; beginning of
President Folk’s Administration.
— Sir John Franklin sails
on his last search for the Northwest
Passage.
— England and France war on the Argentine Confederation.
1846 — War between the United
States and Mexico; General Taylor
captures Monterey; California and New Mexico occupied
by United
States troops. See “THE ACQUISITION OF
CALIFORNIA.”
— Treaty with England arranges the Oregon boundary.
— Elias Howe patents the sewing-machine.
— “THE DISCOVERY OF NEPTUNE.”
— Great Famine begins
in Ireland. Corn-Law agitation at its
height in England, “REPEAL OF THE ENGLISH
CORN LAWS.”
— Unsuccessful uprising
of the Poles. Cracow annexed to Austria.
Election of Pope Pius IX; his reforms. See
“THE REFORMS OF Pius
IX.”
1847 — General Taylor conquers
Northern Mexico; Battle of Buena Vista.
General Scott captures Vera Cruz, marches on the
city of
Mexico, wins repeated battles, and enters the capital
in
triumph, September 14th. See “THE MEXICAN
WAR.”
— “FAMINE IN IRELAND.”
— Tumult occasioned in
Italy by the papal reforms; civil war of
the Sonderbund in Switzerland; France finally
subjugates
Morocco. See “THE FALL OF ABD-EL-KADER.”
1848 — Peace signed between
Mexico and the United States; cession of
large territory by Mexico.
— “DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.”
— The Mormons settle in Utah. See “MIGRATIONS OF THE MORMONS.”
— Italian uprisings in
Milan and Sicily; Sardinia grants a
constitution to its subjects. See “THE
REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY
IN FRANCE.” Gathering of a workingmen’s
convention in Paris.
— Outbreak of revolution
in Vienna (March 13th) and in Berlin
(March 18th). See “REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS
IN GERMANY.”
— Meeting of the German Parliament at Frankfort.
— Venice declares itself
a republic. Sardinia begins war for the
“liberation of Italy”; Battle of Custozza.
Bloody outbreak of
communists in Paris. Unsuccessful revolts in
Poland and
Bohemia.
— “THE REVOLT OF HUNGARY.”
— Storming of Vienna by
government troops. Flight of Pius IX from
Rome. Louis Napoleon elected President of France.
— The English crowd back
the Boers in Southern Africa; the Boers
migrate and form the Transvaal Republic.
1849 — Zachary Taylor inaugurated as President of the United States.
— Rome declared a republic.
The Sardinian troops defeated by the
Austrians at Novara, and the Sardinian King resigns
his throne
to his son, Victor Emmanuel II. Austria again
dominant in
Italy. Rome stormed by French troops.
See “RISE AND FALL OF THE
ROMAN REPUBLIC.”
— Venice surrenders to
the Austrians after nearly a year of
siege. Hungary declared a republic; her forces
crushed by the