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Large textile mill opens in Lowell, Massachusetts
A power canal system in this important cotton town. -
Sojourner Truth is freed from slavery
After gaining her freedom, Truth preached about abolitionism and equal rights for all. -
David Walker prints Appeal a pamphlet urging slaves to revolt
Having witnessed slavery and racism, he wrote an Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World that urged African Americans to fight for freedom and equality. -
Nat Turner leads slave rebellion
A rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia. -
National Trades Union is formed
The first organization of American wage earners on a national scale. -
Frederick Douglass flees to New York City to escape slavery
He traveled north by train and boat from Baltimore, through Delaware, to Philadelphia. -
Utopian community is established at Brooke Farm
Short-lived utopian experiment in communal living. -
Henry David Thoreau moves to Walden Pond
He settled in a forest on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and built himself a tiny cabin -
Seneca Falls Convention on women's rights is held
The first women's rights convention in the US, the meeting launched the women's suffrage movement -
Waldo Emerson led a group practicing transcendentalism
A philosophical and literary movement that emphasized living a simple life