1845

Texas is annexed as a slave state on December 29, 1845, immediately adding hundreds of thousands of square miles to slavery's domain. The annexation was driven by Southern planters seeking fresh cotton lands and political power. It brings the US into conflict with Mexico, fueling the Mexican-American War and the explosive question of whether slavery will expand into additional conquered territory.

Frederick Douglass's 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass documented with precise detail the violence endemic to slavery. He described overseer Austin Gore shooting an enslaved man named Demby for refusing to come out of the water where he stood after a whipping — and facing no legal consequences. He described the brutal beating of his Aunt Hester before he was seven years old, which he called his 'entrance to the hell of slavery.' He documented how Edward Covey, a hired 'slave-breaker,' beat him weekly until Douglass fought back. Douglass's Narrative became one of the most widely read abolitionist texts in the world and sold 11,000 copies in its first three years.

Frederick Douglass's 1845 Narrative documented with precise detail the violence endemic to slavery. He described overseer Austin Gore shooting an enslaved man named Demby for refusing to come out of the water after a whipping, facing no legal consequences. He documented how Edward Covey, a hired slave-breaker, beat him weekly until Douglass fought back. Douglass's Narrative became one of the most widely read abolitionist texts in the world, selling 11,000 copies in its first three years.

Congress admitted Texas as a slave state on December 29, 1845 — the largest slave state by area ever added to the Union. Texas had declared independence from Mexico in 1836 partly to preserve slavery, which Mexico had abolished. The annexation added hundreds of thousands of square miles where slavery could legally expand and shifted the balance of power in the Senate toward slave states. Texas's constitution explicitly protected slavery and prohibited the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without slaveholder consent and full compensation. Approximately 30,000 enslaved people lived in Texas at annexation; by 1860 the number exceeded 180,000.

In the 1840s the surgeon later called the "father of modern gynecology" developed his techniques through repeated operations on enslaved women — among them Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy — without anesthesia and without the power to consent.

The "father of modern gynecology" develops surgical techniques through repeated operations on enslaved women — Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey — without anesthesia.