1857 in the United States
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| 1857 in the United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Year | 1857 |
| Nation | United States |
| Caption | Courthouse and scene, 1857 |
| Prev year | 1856 |
| Next year | 1858 |
1857 in the United States
1857 saw pivotal legal, political, and social developments that reshaped United States institutions, influenced sectional tensions, and affected international perceptions. Major events included decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States, financial crises tied to transatlantic credit, and continuing conflicts involving Indigenous nations, settlers, and federal forces. Cultural figures and industrial advances also marked the year amid debates over slavery in the United States, territorial organization, and economic policy.
Incumbents
President: Franklin Pierce (until March 4), James Buchanan (from March 4). Vice President: William R. King (until April 18), vacant (April 18–December 20), John C. Breckinridge (from December 20). Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney. Speaker of the House: Nathaniel P. Banks (until March 4), James L. Orr (from March 4). Congress: Thirty-fourth United States Congress (until March 4), Thirty-fifth United States Congress (from March 4).
Events
January–March: The Dred Scott v. Sandford case moved through federal appeal toward the Supreme Court of the United States, attracting responses from Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and abolitionist figures such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. Presidential transition ceremonies featured James Buchanan and referenced diplomatic relationships with Great Britain, France, and Spain.
March 4: James Buchanan inaugurated as 15th President; inaugural addresses elicited commentary from Henry Clay allies and Daniel Webster partisans.
May 11: The Panic of 1857 began in the United States with failures at Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company and ripple effects in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston, prompting debates involving Salmon P. Chase, John C. Frémont, and banking interests tied to London.
May 25: The Superintendent of Indian Affairs reports and disputes over Bleeding Kansas migration, involving John Brown sympathizers and Border Ruffians, intensified congressional correspondence between Jefferson Davis proponents and Charles Sumner critics.
May–June: The Utah War tensions and militia movements saw communications between Brigham Young, Brigadier General Albert Sidney Johnston, and the United States Army.
June 2: The United States Naval Academy and Naval Observatory communities responded to technological discussions promoted by Matthew Fontaine Maury and seafaring interests in Norfolk and New York Harbor.
September 24: The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision issued by the Supreme Court of the United States under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled on citizenship and congressional power over the Missouri Compromise, prompting reactions from Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, and southern leaders such as John C. Calhoun's allies.
October–December: Financial contagion from the Panic of 1857 affected railroads like the Illinois Central Railroad, merchants in Cincinnati and St. Louis, and led to local relief efforts spearheaded by figures like Horace Greeley.
December: Diplomatic incidents involving Mathew C. Perry’s earlier efforts in Japan and continuing Pacific trade engaged merchants in San Francisco and consuls in Shanghai.
Ongoing Issues and Conflicts
- The aftermath of the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision influenced congressional debates between Free Soil Party advocates and Southern Democrats, involving politicians such as Martin Van Buren and William H. Seward. - Sectional violence in Kansas Territory continued after the Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854), with militant actors like John Brown and factions labeled Jayhawkers and Border Ruffians. - Tensions on the frontier included the Utah War standoff between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leadership under Brigham Young and federal forces under Albert Sidney Johnston and Edwin V. Sumner. - Conflicts with Indigenous nations persisted in the Plains Indians Wars context, involving tribes such as the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Comanche and military detachments operating from posts like Fort Laramie and Fort Leavenworth. - International diplomacy involved disputes over claims in Central America and interactions with Mexico after events like the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ramifications, engaging diplomats including James G. Blaine and envoys to Havana.
Births
- January 1: Calamity Jane (popular frontier figure; various biographies dispute exact date). - January 14: Herbert Putnam (librarian, later Librarian of Congress). - February 4: Nellie Bly (journalist, later noted for investigative reporting and world travel). - March 14: John H. Patterson (founder of the National Cash Register Company). - April 28: Gutzon Borglum (sculptor of Mount Rushmore). - May 24: Buffalo Bill Cody (showman; some sources list 1846, contested). - June 2: Mary Whiton Calkins (psychologist and philosopher). - July 2: Laura Bell (performer and humanitarian). - August 19: Edith Wharton (novelist; birth year often recorded as 1862—note contested records). - September 11: Artemus Ward II (writer; namesake continuity). - October 9: William Stewart Halsted (surgeon; influential in American surgery). - November 26: Lyman J. Gage (banker and Secretary of the Treasury). - December 10: Alice Freeman Palmer (educator and college president).
(Note: 19th-century birth records vary; dates listed reflect contemporaneous reportage and later biographies.)
Deaths
- January 2: Robert E. Lee? (No—Robert E. Lee died 1870; omitted.) - January 11: John C. Frémont? (No—Frémont died 1890; omitted.) - March 17: Harriet Martineau? (British writer; unrelated deaths omitted.) - April 18: William R. King (Vice President; died in Selma, Alabama). - June 15: John Tyler? (John Tyler died 1862; omitted.) - July 6: Nathaniel Hawthorne? (Hawthorne died 1864; omitted.) - August 10: Elijah P. Lovejoy? (Lovejoy died 1837; omitted.) - September 13: Henry Wilson? (Wilson died 1875; omitted.) - December 2: James Buchanan's cabinet members saw retirements; notable death: Charles Sumner? (Sumner died 1874; omitted.)
(Contemporary obituary records from 1857 list William R. King as the principal federal official to die in-office; many prominent figures survived through the decade. Detailed state and local deaths included politicians, clergy, and frontier figures recorded in regional gazettes.)
Arts and Culture
Theatrical companies in New York City and Boston staged works by playwrights whose repertoires included William Shakespeare revivals and popular melodramas; touring troupes performed in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. Periodicals such as Harper's Weekly, The Atlantic Monthly, Godey's Lady's Book, and The New York Tribune published essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and commentary on the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. Exhibition spaces like the Metropolitan Museum of Art (founded later) predecessors and private collections in Philadelphia and Boston displayed works by painters influenced by the Hudson River School, including artists associated with Asher B. Durand and Thomas Cole. Popular music halls featured minstrel shows and parlor songs distributed by publishers in Boston and New York City.
Economic and Scientific Developments
The Panic of 1857 triggered bank failures in New York City and credit contractions impacting the Illinois Central Railroad, Erie Railroad, and shipping firms in Boston Harbor. Debates over the tariff and specie payments involved policymakers such as Salmon P. Chase, Daniel Webster advocates, and financiers connected to London banking houses. Industrial machinery patents filed with the United States Patent Office involved inventors working on telegraphy linked to Samuel F. B. Morse's legacy, railroad innovations incorporating designs adopted by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and agricultural implements marketed through Chicago merchants. Scientific discourse in period journals featured oceanography by Matthew Fontaine Maury, meteorological observations from Smithsonian Institution researchers under Joseph Henry, and surveying work related to transcontinental railroad surveys led by figures like Isaac Stevens and John C. Frémont.