1831
Political disorder in Greece becoming increasingly serious, the President,
Capo d'Istria, attempted restrictive measures which were violently
resented. His opponents burned the Greek fleet at Hydra to prevent it
falling into his hands. On October 9 Capo d'Istria was assassinated; his
brother succeeded him and headed the government for a short time.
To suppress the Polish rebellion, Russia sent an army of one hundred and
twenty thousand men into Poland, under Diebitsch. A bloody but indecisive
campaign followed. The Russians were defeated in several battles, but
Polish expeditions into Lithuania and Volhynia failed completely; and
cholera, which had spread from India, devastated both armies, General
Diebitsch being among the first to die. The Polish struggle for
independence, however, was a hopeless one. The Russians received
assistance from Prussia and Austria, while the Poles ruined their cause by
their internal dissensions. On September 7 Paskievitch, who had succeeded
Diebitsch, took Warsaw, and the rebellion was crushed. The Polish language
was forbidden in the schools, and all who had taken part in the rising
were ruthlessly punished.
In Italy, a revolt of Modena and Bologna against Papal rule was put down
by Austria, Metternich insisting on extirpating all attempts at reform;
but France, which had approved Austrian intervention, compelled both the
Papal States and Austria to grant a few concessions to the people. The
disputed status of Belgium was settled by a conference in London, the
country being separated from Holland and established as a kingdom, with
Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as king. Luxembourg was claimed by both
Holland and Belgium, and a Dutch army advanced to support the pretensions
of the former. France thereupon sent an expedition into Belgium to defend
her neighbor and protege; but the other powers compelled both forces to
withdraw, the question of Luxembourg being left for future settlement.
The rulers of the German states sought to stamp out liberalism, and there
began a heavy emigration, many of the emigrants coming to America. Riots
in England because the House of Lords rejected a bill to reform the
election system, which the Commons had passed; the houses of several of
the opponents of reform were burned. Trade in England unsettled, and
cholera was added to destitution.
In the United States, general prosperity prevailed, and there was a heavy
westward migration. The Black Hawk War was fought to suppress a rebellion
of the Sacs and Foxes on the upper Mississippi. The abolitionist movement
progressed; Garrison's _Liberator_ was founded. France agreed to pay the
United States five million dollars for damage to shipping during the
Napoleonic wars. Schoolcraft discovered the source of the Mississippi.
Chicago organized as a town. New York the first of the States to abolish
imprisonment for debt.
Alizarin, the foundation of anilin dyes, was separated by Robiquet and
Colin, of Paris, and Michael Faraday made his great discovery of
magneto-electric induction. Deaths: James Monroe; G.W.F. Hegel, German
philosopher; Barthold Niebuhr, German historian; Mrs. Siddons, English
actress; James Northcote, English painter.
=RULERS--United States, Andrew Jackson; Great Britain, William IV; France,
Louis Philippe; Spain, Ferdinand VII; Prussia, Frederick William III;
Russia, Nicholas I; Austria, Francis I; the Papacy vacant at beginning of
year; on February 2 Cardinal Capellari became Pope, with the title of
Gregory XVI.=
1832
Otto, son of the King of Bavaria, became King of Greece. Switzerland
divided into two antagonistic federations of cantons; federal government
intervened, and tranquillity was restored. Failure of the Duchesse de
Berry to incite rebellion against the rule of Louis Philippe.
Disturbances in Portugal, owing to the misrule of Dom Miguel, who was
acting as regent for the girl queen, Maria da Gloria, daughter of Dom
Pedro, Emperor of Brazil. Miguel impoverished the country and persecuted
legitimists and foreigners; fleets were sent by France and England to
protest; and with their support Dom Pedro, who had resigned the crown,
landed in Portugal and attacked Miguel.
President Jackson opposed "wild cat" banks, and vetoed bill for a renewal
of the charter of the United States Bank at Philadelphia. Nullification in
South Carolina, and the Federal tariff laws repudiated. Calhoun resigned
as Vice-President and was immediately elected United States Senator from
South Carolina. Jackson sent troops to Charleston to collect the Federal
revenues. Renewed trouble with the Seminoles, on an attempt being made to
remove them from Florida. The Sacs and Foxes also rose in Wisconsin, but
were defeated.
Egyptians, under Mehemet Ali, invaded Turkish territory and defeated the
Turks. Repressive measures in Germany against the press and political
meetings. The actions of Papal soldiers caused renewed disturbances in
Italy; Austria sent troops again, and France landed a force at Ancona to
check Austria.
The Chartist movement in England assumed a definite organized form; Lord
Grey's ministry resigned; insistent demands for reform; rioters tried, and
several condemned to death; King William attacked by a mob; the Duke of
Wellington insulted; Wellington tried to form a new ministry, failed, and
Lord Grey was recalled; twenty new peers were created, and the Reform Bill
was finally forced through the Lords.
Sir Walter Scott, Goethe, Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon; Charles
Carroll, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence; Georges
Cuvier, naturalist; Sir James Mackintosh, philosopher, and George Crabbe,
poet, died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year.=
1833
Opposition to the abolitionist movement bitter in America. Northern
travelers in the South subjected to violence; antislavery meetings broken
up; office of Berry's _Philanthropist_, at Cincinnati, and Lovejoy's
_Observer_, at Alton, Illinois, destroyed. Wendell Phillips became a
leader of the antislavery movement. Nullification ordinance in South
Carolina repealed; on the other hand, Congress adopted the Compromise
Tariff, reducing duties on imports.
In Portugal, Dom Miguel was driven from Lisbon, and his navy destroyed by
Dom Pedro's fleet, commanded by Sir Charles Napier. Civil war also arose
in Spain, Don Carlos claiming the throne upon the death of Ferdinand VII.
Peace treaty between Turkey and Egypt; Russia obtained concessions from
Turkey by the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, and thereby aroused the
opposition of other European powers. Tractarian movement in England. A
Quaker was admitted to Parliament on affirmation, but a bill to relieve
Jews of civil disabilities was thrown out. Slavery abolished in all
British territory, twenty million pounds being voted as reimbursement to
slave-owning planters in the colonies. On this bill Gladstone made his
maiden speech, defending his father's record as a slaveholder.
The "Young Italy" party active; Mazzini exiled. German states continued to
use stringent methods for stamping out radicalism. Polish refugees
expelled from Germany, and many come to America.
Electromagnetic telegraph set up at Goettingen, Germany. Legendre, French
mathematician; William Wilberforce, English statesman; John Randolph of
Roanoke; Edmund Kean, English actor, and Hannah More, English author,
died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year, except that Isabella succeeded
Ferdinand VII as ruler of Spain.=
1834
South Carolina Railroad built from Charleston, South Carolina, to Hamburg,
South Carolina, a distance of one hundred and thirty-four miles--the
longest line then in existence. Indian Territory set apart, and several
tribes transferred to it. Jackson censured by Congress for removing
government deposits from the United States Bank; specie payments resumed
after thirty years' suspension. Abolitionist movement gained in strength,
and bitter debates resulted in Congress.
China took from the British East India Company its monopoly of the opium
trade; British ships on the Canton River fired on. Trade-union strikes
general throughout England. The Houses of Parliament almost totally
destroyed by fire. Violence and labor troubles in France. Civil disorders
continued in Spain and Portugal; but the strife in the latter country was
ended by the submission of Dom Miguel on May 22. In Spain the cause of
Don Carlos was maintained by Zumalacarregui, a guerrilla chieftain of
Navarre.
Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English authors; Joseph
Jacquard, inventor of the Jacquard loom; the Marquis de Lafayette;
Schleiermacher, German theologian; Thomas Robert Malthus, English
economist; Thomas Stothard, English artist, died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year.=
1835
Attempt made to remove the Seminoles from Florida, and war followed;
Micanopy and Osceola, Indian leaders, were successful in fights at Fort
King and near Wahoo Swamp, but were defeated by General Clinch on the Big
Withlacoochee. Inhabitants of Texas successfully resisted a Mexican force
under Santa Anna. Fire in New York City caused a loss of twenty million
dollars. Colt revolver patented.
In England, Peel's ministry was wrecked on the Irish Church question;
Melbourne again formed a cabinet. Orange lodges abolished by the Duke of
Cumberland, head of the Orange order, it having been charged that the duke
was conspiring to seize the crown on the death of his brother, William IV.
South Australia became an English crown colony; Melbourne founded. War
between the English and Kaffirs in South Africa; friction between the
Dutch and English settlers; Dutch migration over the Orange River.
John Marshall, American jurist; Karl von Humboldt, German philologist and
statesman; William Cobbett, English reformer and journalist, and Mrs.
Hemans, English poet, died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year, except that Ferdinand succeeded
Francis I as Emperor of Austria.=
1836
Fighting with the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama added to the trouble with
the Seminoles; Creeks subdued, and many forced beyond the Mississippi;
Seminoles driven to the Everglades. "Gag law" to exclude antislavery
petitions passed by Congress. In Texas, the Mexicans under Santa Anna
captured the Alamo at San Antonio, and slaughtered its defenders,
including Bowie and Crockett; but on April 21 the Mexican general was
decisively defeated at San Jacinto, and taken prisoner. Texas became an
independent republic. Arkansas admitted to the Union. James Smithson, an
English merchant, left half a million dollars to the United States, "for
the diffusion of knowledge"; it was used to establish the institution now
bearing his name.
The French met with reverses in Algeria. Louis Bonaparte attempted an
insurrection against the government of Louis Philippe, but failed, and
fled to the United States. Magyar and Slav opposition to Austrian rule;
Louis Kossuth sentenced to imprisonment for circulating speeches in the
Magyar language. First railroad in Canada opened. Continuation of Carlist
rebellion in Spain; Portugal abolished its slave trade.
The British Parliament passed a bill for municipal reform in Ireland,
granted the right of counsel to persons accused of felony, and abolished
the law ordering the execution of a murderer within forty-eight hours of
his conviction. Wheatstone sent messages for a distance of four miles with
his electromagnetic telegraph.
Among the famous people who died in 1836 were Aaron Burr, ex-President
James Madison, James Hogg, Scottish poet; Andre Ampere, French scientist,
and Mme. Malibran, Spanish singer.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year.=
1837
A year of financial panic and specie stringency in the United States.
Attempt in the Senate to censure ex-President John Quincy Adams, who had
become a Congressman from Massachusetts, for his attitude on antislavery
petitions. Henry Clay began a movement for international copyright.
Michigan admitted to the Union. Chicago incorporated as a city. Work begun
on the Croton aqueduct, to supply New York with water. First railroad in
Cuba opened.
Queen Victoria's reign began June 20, her first prime minister being Lord
Melbourne. The kingdom of Hanover was now separated from the British
crown; Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and brother of William IV,
became its king.
A rebellion broke out in Canada, under the leadership of Papineau in Lower
Canada (Quebec) and of Mackenzie in Upper Canada (Ontario). Froebel opened
his first kindergarten at Blankenburg. Constantine, Algeria, captured by
the French. In South Africa, the Boers, under Maritz and Potgieter,
defeated Dingaan's Zulus, December 16; the anniversary of the battle has
ever since been celebrated as Dingaan's Day.
Francois Fourier, French socialist; Alessandro Leopardi, Italian poet, and
Alexander Pushkin, Russian author, died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year, except that Martin Van Buren
became President of the United States, and Queen Victoria succeeded her
uncle, William IV, as sovereign of England.=
1838
The remainder of the Cherokees ejected from their lands in Georgia by
State troops in violation of treaties with the Federal government. Nearly
five thousand of the Indians died of hunger and exposure in making their
way to the Indian Territory. The Seminoles renewed war in Florida; Osceola
treacherously captured, and died in Fort Moultrie; Zachary Taylor, leader
of the American troops, forced the Indians back to the Everglades. The
Mormons were driven out from their settlement at Nauvoo, Illinois, and
started westward to the Great Salt Lake.
Papineau's rebellion in Canada suppressed by loyalists and British troops;
Lord Durham, sent out as special commissioner to investigate the causes of
Canadian discontent, proclaimed an amnesty. Father Theobald Mathew began
his temperance crusade in Cork, Ireland. Chartist movement strong in
England; demands for the ballot and other reforms presented to Parliament.
Heroic action of Grace Darling in rescuing survivors of the wrecked vessel
Forfarshire, in the Farne Islands.
Mexico and the Argentine Republic became involved in war with France; the
French bombarded Vera Cruz and blockaded Buenos Ayres. The steamer Great
Western crossed from Bristol to New York in fifteen days.
Talleyrand, French diplomat, and John Stevens, American engineer, died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year.=
1839
Anti-rent disturbances in New York State; settled by the Dutch patroonates
of tenants being permitted to purchase the ground. Abolitionists met at
Warsaw, New York, and planned to form a political party. Goodyear patented
his method of vulcanizing rubber. First normal school for teachers started
in Massachusetts.
Queen Victoria betrothed to her cousin, Prince Albert of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Chinese Emperor tried to stop the opium trade, and
ordered the destruction of eighteen million dollars' worth of the drug,
imported from British India, at Canton. Several encounters ensued between
the Chinese and British, and a strong naval force was ordered to the scene
of the trouble. England also at war with Afghanistan; Candahar and Kabul
captured; Shah Shuja made ruler under British protection. Aden, in Arabia,
captured and annexed to the British dominions.
In England, a uniform penny postal rate was introduced by Sir Rowland
Hill. Civil war in Spain temporarily ended; Spain almost ruined
financially and industrially. France withdrew from Mexico, having received
six million dollars indemnity; revolt in Paris suppressed with much
bloodshed. Austria and France withdrew their troops from the Papal States.
War between Egypt and Turkey; Egypt victorious. Perpetual neutrality of
Belgium guaranteed.
Dr. Theodore Schwann published his theory of the cellular construction of
plants and animals. Daguerre announced his invention of the sun prints,
since known as daguerreotypes. Letizia Ramolino, mother of Napoleon; Lady
Hester Stanhope, Joseph Schelling, German philosopher, and John Galt,
Scottish author, died.
=RULERS--The same as in the previous year.=
1840
Famous "hard cider and log cabin" campaign in the United States, ending in
the defeat of Van Buren and the election of William Henry Harrison as
President, with John Tyler as Vice-President. New Mexico declared itself
independent of Mexico. Upper and Lower Canada reunited. Hawaii recognized
as an independent kingdom.
On February 10 Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg.
Young Ireland movement started. Continuation of the war between China and
England; England successful in many engagements. Khelat, in Baluchistan,
lost by the British in July, regained in November. Chartist petition with
a million and a quarter signatures presented to Parliament; demands
refused. Sir James Brooke helped the Sultan of Borneo to quell a native
uprising.
In France, Louis Napoleon landed at Boulogne and made another attempt at
insurrection; captured and imprisoned in the fortress of Ham. Napoleon's
body removed from St. Helena to Paris. Maria Cristina, Queen Regent of
Spain, forced to leave the country; General Espartero made regent.
Among the celebrities who died in 1840 were Nicolo Paganini, Italian
violinist; Marshal MacDonald, French soldier; Lucien Bonaparte, brother of
the great Napoleon, and George Bryan, famous as Beau Brummel.
Hunting the Grizzly.