Modern Era
California Gold Rush (1848-1855): The Rush That Built the West
About 300,000 people migrated to California, which became a state in 1850, while its Native population collapsed.
Era · c. 1800 – 1945
Modern Era
Industry, science and global conflict: the century and a half that built the modern world.
Modern Era
Roman Republic (1849): Mazzini and Garibaldi Defend Rome
The republic fell to a French expeditionary army and papal rule was restored in Rome under French protection.
Modern Era
Compromise of 1850: Henry Clay's Last Bid to Save the Union
Five laws passed in September 1850 eased the crisis over slavery in the lands won from Mexico, but the Fugitive Slave Act deepened Northern hostility to slavery.
Modern Era
Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864): Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Kingdom
The Qing dynasty survived after retaking Nanjing in 1864, but the war devastated central China and shifted military power to regional armies.
Modern Era
Coup of 2 December 1851: Louis-Napoleon Ends the Republic
The Second Republic was effectively ended; Louis-Napoleon ruled with near-dictatorial powers and became Emperor Napoleon III a year later.
Modern Era
Singer Sewing Machine (1851): Isaac Singer and the Patent Wars
Singer's design became the most successful sewing machine of the nineteenth century, and his company pioneered patent pooling, mass marketing and instalment sales.
Modern Era
Nian Rebellion (1851-1868): Cavalry Insurgency in Northern China
The Nian were defeated in 1868 after Qing commanders used blockade lines and regional armies to pin down their cavalry.
Modern Era
Haussmann's Renovation of Paris: Boulevards of the Second Empire
Paris was transformed into a modern city of broad boulevards, uniform apartment blocks, parks and sanitary infrastructure, at great financial and social cost.
Modern Era
Crimean War (1853-1856): Britain, France and Russia at War
Russia was defeated; the Treaty of Paris (1856) neutralised the Black Sea and checked Russian expansion towards the Ottoman Empire.
Modern Era
Perry Expedition (1853-1854): The Black Ships Open Japan
The Convention of Kanagawa of 31 March 1854 opened Shimoda and Hakodate to American ships and began the end of Japan's seclusion policy.
Modern Era
Battle of Inkerman (1854): The Soldiers' Battle in the Crimea
Allied victory; the Russian attempt to break the siege of Sevastopol failed with heavy losses, but the allies abandoned hopes of taking the city before winter.
Modern Era
Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855): The Crimean War's Long Siege
After the French captured the Malakoff on 8 September 1855, the Russians abandoned the southern side of Sevastopol, leading to peace talks.