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Mexico gains its independence from Spain -
A southerner, Andrew Jackson, is elected president. -
The state of Texas declares independence from Mexico -
A severe depression results from a panic over the state of the economy. -
In what is now known as South Africa, Zulus and Boers clash. -
The Trail of Tears is the story of approximately 17,000 Cherokee people who were forced to flee their homeland. -
Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaims power in Mexico and establishes himself as a dictator. -
More than one million people die as a result of the Great Irish Potato Famine, and many more are forced to emigrate to the United States. -
is founded in West Africa by freed U.S. slaves and freed African Americans. -
In Seneca Falls, New York, a convention advocating for women's rights is held. -
Following the failure of a revolution in Germany, some Germans immigrate to the United States. -
In 1848, word spread in newspapers around the world that miners had discovered gold in California. Many Chinese men emigrated from China, in hopes of finding work in the American West. -
Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, a collection of poems about ordinary Americans, is published. -
The Second Opium War begins in China. -
In Massachusetts, shoemakers go on strike to demand higher wages.