1847
The Mexican-American War (1846–48) conquers 525,000 square miles of territory. Black leaders and abolitionists including Frederick Douglass condemn it as a slaveholders' war of expansion. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transfers California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado to the US, immediately triggering the agonizing question: will slavery extend into all of it?
Frederick Douglass launches The North Star newspaper in Rochester, New York on December 3, 1847. Its masthead reads: "Right is of no sex — Truth is of no color — God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren." The paper becomes a central organ of Black political thought, running until 1851 and then as Frederick Douglass's Paper until 1860.
Zoom in — months
Key events
- 1847Mexican-American War Raises Specter of Slavery's Expansion
The Mexican-American War (1846–48) conquers 525,000 square miles of territory. Black leaders and abolitionists including Frederick Douglass condemn it as a slaveholders' war of expansion. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transfers California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado to the US, immediately triggering the agonizing question: will slavery extend into all of it?
- December 3, 1847Frederick Douglass Founds The North Star
Frederick Douglass launches The North Star newspaper in Rochester, New York on December 3, 1847. Its masthead reads: "Right is of no sex — Truth is of no color — God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren." The paper becomes a central organ of Black political thought, running until 1851 and then as Frederick Douglass's Paper until 1860.