1845 in the United States

::James K. Polk (D-Tennessee) (starting March 4) - Vice President: ::*vacant* (until March 4) ::George M. Dallas (D-Pennsylvania) (starting March 4) - Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland) - Speaker of the House of Representatives: ::John Winston Jones (D-Virginia) (until March 4) ::John Wesley Davis (D-Indiana) (starting December 1) - Congress: [28th](28th-united-states-congress) (until March 4), [29th](29th-united-states-congress) (starting March 4) #### State governments ::data[format=table] | Governors and lieutenant governors | |---| | | :: ## Events ### January–March ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/James_Knox_Polk_by_GPA_Healy,_1858.jpg" caption="March 4: [[James K. Polk]] becomes the 11th U.S. president"] :: ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/George_Mifflin_Dallas_1848_crop.jpg" caption="[[George M. Dallas]] becomes the 11th U.S. vice president"] :: - January 1 – The Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn is completed. - January 29 – "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is published for the first time (*New York Evening Mirror*). - February 1 – Anson Jones, President of the Republic of Texas, signs the charter officially creating Baylor University in present-day Waco, which becomes the oldest university in the State of Texas operating under its original name. - February 28 – The United States Congress approves the annexation of Texas. - March 1 – President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas. - March 3 - Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state (*see* History of Florida). - Postal reform act of Congress standardizes nationwide mail rates. - March 4 - The United States Congress passes legislation overriding a presidential veto for the first time. - James K. Polk is sworn in as the 11th president of the United States, and George M. Dallas is sworn in as 11th vice president. ### April–June - April 10 – The Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroys much of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. - April 21 – Peoria, Illinois is incorporated a city. - May – Frederick Douglass's *Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave*, written by himself, is published by the Boston Anti-Slavery Society. - May 23 – New York City Police Department (NYPD) is formed, replacing an old night watch system. ### July–September - July 4 – Near Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau embarks on a 2-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond (see *Walden*). - July 19 – Great New York City Fire of 1845 breaks out in Lower Manhattan. - July–August – In the *United States Magazine and Democratic Review* editor John L. O'Sullivan declares that foreign powers are trying to prevent American annexation of Texas in order to impede "the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions", the first use of the phrase "Manifest Destiny". - August 28 – The journal *Scientific American* begins publication. ### October–December ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/American_Progress_(John_Gast_painting).jpg" caption="John Gast]])"] :: - October 10 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Best School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and 7 professors. - October 13 – A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the United States Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state. - October 21 – The *New York Herald* becomes the first newspaper to mention the game of baseball. - October 22 – The *New York Morning News* becomes the first newspaper to include a box-score of a baseball game. - December 2 – Manifest Destiny: U.S. President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the Monroe Doctrine should be strictly enforced and that the United States should aggressively expand into the West. - December 5 – The Templars of Honor and Temperance is founded in the United States. - December 6 – Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity is founded. - December 9 – Joshua L. Martin is sworn in as the 12th governor of Alabama replacing Benjamin Fitzpatrick. - December 27 - Anesthesia is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia). - American journalist John L. O'Sullivan claims in a newspaper article (in connection with the annexation of the Oregon Country) that the United States has a "Manifest Destiny" to expand its borders, the second time he uses the term; it will have a huge influence on the American imperialistic movement of the 19th century. - December 29 – Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state (*see* History of Texas). ### Unknown date - Spaniards find Lost Dutchman Mine, Arizona. ## Births - January 8 – Minnie Willis Baines, American author (died [1923](1923-in-the-united-states)) - January 19 – Anna Manning Comfort, American physician (died [1931](1931-in-the-united-states)) - February 15 – Elihu Root, statesman and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912 (died [1937](1937-in-the-united-states)) - March 4 – Henry Clay Taylor, admiral (died [1904](1904-in-the-united-states)) - March 20 – Lucy Myers Wright Mitchell, scholar of classical sculpture (born in Persia, died [1888](1888)) - March 22 – John Banister Tabb, poet (died [1909](1909-in-the-united-states)) - April 21 – William Healey Dall, malacologist and explorer (died [1927](1927-in-the-united-states)) - May 14 – Charles J. Train, admiral (died [1906](1906-in-the-united-states)) - May 18 – John B. Allen, U.S. Senator from Washington from 1889 to 1893 (died [1903](1903-in-the-united-states)) - June 13 – Effie Germon, actress and singer (died [1914](1914-in-the-united-states)) - July 4 – Edmonia Lewis, African American sculptor (died 1907 in Europe) - July 19 – Horatio Nelson Young, naval hero (died [1913](1913-in-the-united-states)) - August 27 – Martha Capps Oliver, poet and hymnwriter (died [1917](1917-in-the-united-states)) - September 9 – Warner B. Bayley, admiral (died [1928](1928-in-the-united-states)) - September 17 – Calvin S. Brice, U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1891 to 1897 (died [1898](1898-in-the-united-states)) - October 13 – Charles Stockton, admiral (died [1924](1924-in-the-united-states)) - October 17 – John J. Gardner, politician (died [1921](1921-in-the-united-states)) - October 21 – Will Carleton, poet (died [1912](1912-in-the-united-states)) - November 3 – Edward Douglass White, 9th Chief Justice of the United States from 1910 to 1921, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1894 to 1910, and U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1891 to 1894 (died [1921](1921-in-the-united-states)) - November 9 – Elizabeth Reed, resident of Macon, Georgia, subject of The Allman Brothers Band song "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" (died 1885) - November 18 – Edwin Winter, railroad manager (died [1930](1930-in-the-united-states)) ## Deaths ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Andrew_Jackson.jpg" caption="[[Andrew Jackson"] :: - March 16 – Isaac C. Bates, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1841 to 1845 (born [1779](1779-in-the-united-states)) - March 18 – Johnny Appleseed, nurseryman and pioneer (born [1774](1774)) - April 10 – Thomas Sewall, anatomist (born [1786](1786-in-the-united-states)) - June 8 – Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States (born [1767](1767)) - September 10 – Joseph Story, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice from 1811 to 1845 (born 1779) - November 11 – Maria Gowen Brooks, poet (born c. 1794, died in Cuba) ## References ## References 1. O'Sullivan, John L.. (July–August 1845). ["Annexation"](http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/HIS/f01/HIS202-01/Documents/OSullivan.html). *United States Magazine and Democratic Review*. 2. Ala. General Assembly. ''Journal of the House of Representatives''. 1845 sess., [https://archive.org/details/alabama-house-journal-1845-1846/HJ_1845_1846/page/n55/ 57], accessed July 28, 2023 3. (1893). ["A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life"](https://books.google.com/books?id=zXEEAAAAYAAJ&pg=506). *Moulton*. 4. (1893). ["A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life"](https://books.google.com/books?id=zXEEAAAAYAAJ&pg=548). *Moulton*. ::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1845_in_the_United_States) and is available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the [article history page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1845_in_the_United_States?action=history). ::