United States of America

Place Unit Type
Nation
Containing Unit
North America
Date Type
- A large new comet, visible to the naked eye, is observed all over the northern hemisphere Science/Technology
A National Day of Fasting and Prayer is held across the North Religion/Philosophy
A partial eclipse of the Sun is visible in northwestern North America Science/Technology
- A total eclipse of the Moon late in the evening is visible across much of the United States Science/Technology
- Around midnight, a total eclipse of the Moon is visible across much of the United States Science/Technology
As the year closes, the armed forces of the United States reach a strength of more than 680,000 men Battles/Soldiers
Figures show that there were more than five thousand bank failures in the United States between December 1856 and December 1857 Business/Industry
First perforated U.S. Postage stamps issued Business/Industry
National day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" takes place throughout the United States Education/Culture
Railroad deaths in 1860 down by more than half compared to 1859 Business/Industry
Statistics indicate deaths from steamboat boiler explosions down for the year 1860 Crime/Disasters
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated across the country Religion/Philosophy
The "Great Comet of 1860" reaches its closest point to the Earth Science/Technology
The Bank of England raises its discount rate as financial disruption in the United States effects Europe Business/Industry
The Bank of England replenishes its gold reserves as American financial disruption effects Europe Business/Industry
The first overland mail for California leaves St. Louis for San Francisco Business/Industry
The U.S. Government counts only eighteen veterans remaining from the Revolutionary War Lawmaking/Litigating
The United States and several European powers sign a joint trade agreement with Japan. US/the World
The United States Navy celebrates the eighty-fifth anniversary of its founding Education/Culture
Treaty signed between United States and China US/the World
United States Gold Coinage in 1859, by the numbers Business/Industry
19th-Century Immigration
1860 Census
Name Type
Alabama State or Province
Alaska State or Province
Arizona State or Province
Arkansas State or Province
Arkansas River Rivers/Waterways
California State or Province
Chesapeake Bay Region
Colorado State or Province
Connecticut State or Province
Cumberland Valley Region
Dakota Territory State or Province
Deep South Region
Delaware State or Province
Des Moines River Rivers/Waterways
District of Columbia State or Province
Florida State or Province
Georgia State or Province
Idaho State or Province
Illinois State or Province
Indian Territory State or Province
Indiana State or Province
Iowa State or Province
Kansas State or Province
Kentucky State or Province
Louisiana State or Province
Lower North Region
Maine State or Province
Maryland State or Province
Mason-Dixon Line Region
Massachusetts State or Province
Michigan State or Province
Minnesota State or Province
Mississippi State or Province
Mississippi River Rivers/Waterways
Mississippi River Valley Region
Missouri State or Province
Missouri River Rivers/Waterways
Mobile River Rivers/Waterways
Montana State or Province
Nebraska State or Province
Nevada State or Province
New England Region
New Hampshire State or Province
New Jersey State or Province
New Mexico State or Province
New York State or Province
North Carolina State or Province
North Dakota State or Province
Northern Seaboard Region
Northwest Region
Ohio State or Province
Ohio River Rivers/Waterways
Ohio River Valley Region
Oklahoma State or Province
Oregon State or Province
Pennsylvania State or Province
Platte River Rivers/Waterways
Potomac River Rivers/Waterways
Red River Continent
Rhode Island State or Province
Shenandoah River Rivers/Waterways
South Carolina State or Province
South Dakota State or Province
Susquehanna River Rivers/Waterways
Tennessee State or Province
Tennessee River Rivers/Waterways
Texas State or Province
Upper South Region
Utah Territory State or Province
Vermont State or Province
Virginia State or Province
Wabash River Rivers/Waterways
Washington Territory State or Province
West Region
West Virginia State or Province
Wisconsin State or Province
Wyoming State or Province
Date Title
New Orleans (LA) Picayune, “The Fugitive Slave Law,” June 18, 1851
Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “The Cuban Movement,” November 11, 1852
John Henry Hill to Philadelphia Vigilance Committee, November 1, 1853
Debate over the Estimates for Rivers and Harbors, House of Representatives, January 6, 1854
New York Times, “Tendencies Towards Free-Trade,” March 23, 1857
New York Times, “England and America,” April 29, 1857
Richmond (VA) Dispatch, "England and America," May 14, 1857
New Orleans (LA) Picayune, “Great Britain in Honduras,” May 24, 1857
New York Times, “The American Panic,” October 14, 1857
San Francisco (CA) Evening Bulletin, “Immigration into the United States for the Last Fifteen Years,” June 24, 1858
Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, "The Atlantic Telegraph Cable," June 29, 1858
New York Times, “A Telegraphic Bureau,” September 1, 1858
New York Times, “The Boundary Survey between Mexico and the United States,” September 27, 1858
New York Times, “The Home Squadron,” October 27, 1858
New York Herald, “Gen. Walker Submitting to a ‘Legal Experiment,’” November 19, 1858
Boston (MA) Flag of Our Union, “Uncle Sam’s Farm,” December 11, 1858
New York Times, “The Cuban Scheme at the South,” February 15, 1859
New York Herald, “Immigration into the United States,” February 20, 1859
New Orleans (LA) Picayune, “Russia and America,” March 20, 1859
San Francisco (CA) Evening Bulletin, “Filibusterism and Disunion,” April 1, 1859
Washington (DC) National Intelligencer, “Railroad Disasters,” July 4, 1859
Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “The Next Census,” August 18, 1859
William Wilkins to James Watson Webb, March 26, 1860
New York Herald, “The Mode of Taking the Census,” June 10, 1860
Boston (MA) Advertiser, “Relations with Japan in Jeopardy,” June 30, 1860
New York Herald, “The Ovations to the Prince of Wales,” August 9, 1860
New York Times, “The Nonsense of Disunion,” September 22, 1860
Chicago (IL) Press and Tribune, "The Prince of Wales," October 16, 1860
Newark (OH) Advocate, "The Prince's Visit from a Canadian Point of View," November 2, 1860
New York Herald, “The English Press Upon the Prince's Visit,” December 2, 1860
Chicago (IL) Tribune, "The Prime Cause," December 8, 1860
Lowell (MA) Citizen & News, “British Views of Secession,” December 14, 1860
New York Herald, “Is South Carolina Out of the Union?,” December 30, 1860
New York Times, “Flight of a Great Criminal,” December 31, 1860
Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “The One Man Power,” January 11, 1861
New York Times, “Secession of Florida,” January 23, 1861
New York Herald, “Resignations in the Army, Navy and Civil Service of the Federal Government,” March 3, 1861
New York Herald, “The Republican Party and their Professions for the Poor,” March 31, 1861
Chicago (IL) Tribune, “War Inaugurated!,” April 13, 1861
Richmond (VA) Dispatch, “New European Views of the South,” May 17, 1861
Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “Abusing England,” May 27, 1861
Charleston (SC) Mercury, “The Military Policy of the North,” May 29, 1861
Newark (OH) Advocate, “England and the United States,” May 31, 1861
New York Times, “One of their Errors,” June 3, 1861
Entry by Kate Stone, July 4, 1861
Gideon Welles to Abraham Lincoln, August 5, 1861
Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson
American Slavers and the Federal Law, 1837-1862
The Deepest South: The United States, Brazil, and the African Slave Trade
Freebooters and Smugglers: The Foreign Salve Trade in the United States after 1808
The United States and Mexico
How to Cite This Page: "United States of America," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/9093.