1854 Delaware gubernatorial election, Bibliography
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1854 Frome by-election
The Frome by-election of 1854 was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 24 October 1854 for the House of Commons constituency of Frome, a parliamentary borough in Somerset.


1854 Frome by-election, Vacancy
The vacancy had been caused by the death of the borough's 45-year-old Liberal MP Colonel Robert Edward Boyle, who had held the seat since the 1847 general election. Serving with the Coldstream Guards in the Crimean War, he died of fever in Varna, and was buried at sea.


1854 Frome by-election, Vacancy
Boyle had been returned opposed in 1847 and in 1852, and was also unopposed at the by-election in 1853 which followed the annulment on petition of the 1852 result.


1854 Frome by-election, Candidates
Two candidates were nominated. Donald Nicoll was a tailor from London, and a former Sheriff of London. Richard Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan was a grandson of the 8th Earl of Cork, and a nephew of the late MP Robert Edward Boyle.


1854 Frome by-election, Candidates
The Earls of Cork had long dominated the borough in alliance with the Conservative-supporting Marquess of Bath, but their support for Dungarvan was controversial. At the West Somerset by-election in 1851, Dungarvan had stood as a Conservative, opposed to the Liberal government of Lord John Russell. He had staunchly opposed the Liberal principle of free trade, and Liberal opinion in Frome was further alarmed by tractarian support for Dungarvan. Nicoll had issued a statement supporting Liberal principles, and was invited to stand. He rapidly became the leading candidate.


1854 Frome by-election, Candidates
A Mr Curling from Southwark also addressed the voters, but soon abandoned his campaign and left Frome.


1854 Frome by-election, Election
The secret ballot was not used in British parliamentary elections until the passage of the Ballot Act 1872, so elections were still held in public. That was one of the many points of difference between the two candidates in Frome, with Nicoll supporting secret ballots while Dungarvan preferred public polls.


1854 Frome by-election, Election
The election in Frome began on Saturday 21 October, amidst such an uproar from the crowd that even those closest to speakers were unable to hear all that they said. Once the nomination formalities had been completed, both candidates addressed the crowd. Dungarvan spoke of his family's long history association with Frome, and how a secret ballot was un-needed because the townspeople were "not slaves". He derided Nicoll's claim to have given employment to the town, saying it was the "toil and sweat of the poor man" which allowed Nicoll to travel in such style from Regent Street.


1854 Frome by-election, Election
When it was Nicoll's turn to speak, the majority of the crowd cheered him. He proclaimed that he had always had been a free trader, and remained so. He was opposed to unfair and excessive taxation, and had no titled relatives to be supported by public sinecures. He said that while canvassing, the vast majority of those to whom he had spoken supported a secret ballot, and that all other reforms would be undermined without it.


1854 Frome by-election, Election
On a show of hands, the vast majority of those present supported Nicoll. However, Lord Dungarvan demanded a poll, which was set for Monday 23 October.


1854 Frome by-election, Election
Voting took place throughout the day on Monday, amidst scenes of disorder which The Times reported as involving "innumerable broken windows, and not a few broken heads". By 9am, Dungarvan had established a lead of 9 votes out of the 131 cast, and by the close of poll at 4pm his total of 181 votes was 52 ahead of Nicoll's 129. The disorder escalated, and at 7.15pm the Riot Act was read, and a unit of yeomanry with swords drawn entered the town to disperse the crowd.


1854 Frome by-election, Aftermath
Dungarvan held the seat for less than two years, before he succeeded to the peerage in 1856. This triggered another by-election, at which Nicoll was again an unsuccessful candidate, losing by only 1 vote.


1854 Frome by-election, Aftermath
Nicoll went on to win the seat at the 1857 general election, serving as Frome's MP for two years.


1854 Grand National
The 1854 Grand National was the 16th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 1 March 1854.


1854 Iga–Ueno earthquake
The 1854 Iga–Ueno earthquake (Japanese: 伊賀上野地震) occurred on July 9, 1854, and struck the Kansai region of central Japan. According to the official confirmed report, 2,576 houses and buildings were damaged, with 995 human fatalities and 994 injures in the affected area.


1854 Iowa Senate election
In the 1854 Iowa State Senate elections, Iowa voters elected state senators to serve in the fifth Iowa General Assembly. Elections were held for 19 of the state senate's 31 seats. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate.


1854 Iowa Senate election
Following the previous election in 1852, Democrats had control of the Iowa Senate with 20 seats to Whigs' 11 seats.


1854 Iowa Senate election
To claim control of the chamber from Democrats, the Whigs needed to net 5 Senate seats.


1854 Iowa Senate election
Democrats maintained control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1854 general election with the balance of power shifting to Democrats holding 17 seats and Whigs having 14 seats (a net gain of 3 seats for Whigs). Democratic Senator Maturin L. Fisher was chosen as the President of the Iowa Senate for the fifth General Assembly, succeeding Democratic Senator William E. Leffingwell in that leadership position.


1854 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Thursday 1 November 1854. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1854 Liverpool Town Council election, By-elections, No. 9, Great George, Wednesday 1 November 1854
Caused by the resignation of Councillor John McNichol (Conservative, elected 1 November 1852)


1854 Macedonian rebellion
The Macedonian rebellion of 1854 (Greek: Μακεδονική επανάσταση του 1854) was a Greek rebellion which took place in 1854 and is divided into two phases: the first phase took place in Western and Southern Macedonia and the second in Chalkidiki. However, after pressure from the United Kingdom and France on the government of King Otto of Greece, he was forced to recall the chieftain taking part in the rebellions throughout the Greek-inhabited regions of the Ottoman Empire, including Macedonia. The governments of the United Kingdom and France had assumed that the rebellions were related to the Crimean War (1854–1856).


1854 Macedonian rebellion
In Southern Macedonia, the chieftains of Mount Olympos and fighters from independent Greece and Thessaly and Magnesia captured the Vale of Tempe and some parts of Pieria. In Western Macedonia, the revolutionaries led by Theodoros Ziakas took control of the western Pindus and attacked the area of Grevena, but the numerical superiority of the Ottoman army and the hostile stance of the United Kingdom and France resulted in the signing of an armistice and the return of the chieftains to Greece on June 1854.


1854 Macedonian rebellion
The second phase took place in Chalkidiki and it was led by Tsamis Karatasos, former adjutant of King Otto. Karatasos had disembarked in Sithonia in April 1854, but he confronted the French forces which continuously fired on him, as they were afraid of his possible entrance into Thessaloniki. After a brief capture of Karyes in Mount Athos, whose monks hadn't supported the rebellion, Karatasos had to return to Greece on a French naval ship. The consuls of the United Kingdom and France took over the protection of the non-combatants and of the fighters who had supported Karatasos from a possible Ottoman invasion of Mount Athos.


1854 Maltese general election
General elections were held in Malta between 3 and 11 November 1854.


1854 Maltese general election, Background
The elections were held under the 1849 constitution, which provided for an 18-member Government Council, of which ten members would be appointed and eight elected.


1854 Maltese general election, Results
A total of 4,348 people were registered to vote, of which 3,882 cast votes, giving a turnout of 89%.


1854 Maryland constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Maryland Colony on 29 March 1854. The new constitution was approved by voters and general elections were subsequently held on 15 May, before independence was declared on 8 June.


1854 Maryland constitutional referendum, Background
The Maryland State Colonization Society was established in Maryland in the United States in 1830. The group established the Maryland Colony in Africa on 22 February 1834. After Liberia declared independence in 1847, the desire for independence also grew in Maryland, and the settlers presented a petition to the authorities for a referendum, which was held in January 1853 and approved by 100% of voters.


1854 Maryland constitutional referendum, Background
In February 1854 elections for a Constitutional Council were held. The Council subsequently produced a constitution making the territory a presidential republic with a bicameral legislature. The House of Representatives would have five members serving two year terms and the Senate four members serving four year terms. The presidential term would be two years. Elections would be held under universal suffrage for "colored" men, and only Maryland citizens would be able to own property.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The 1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 15. Know-Nothing candidate Henry J. Gardner was elected to his first term as Governor, defeating incumbent Whig Governor Emory Washburn.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
Future Senator and Vice President of the United States Henry Wilson also ran as a candidate for the new Massachusetts Republican Party. This marks the first campaign in which the new party participated, following its founding on Worcester Common in September.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The election was also the first after the 1853 legislature repealed the secret ballot law passed a few years earlier, returning the state to public balloting.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Republican convention
The new Republican Party held their founding convention on Worcester Common on September 7. A highlight of the convention was the speech of Charles Sumner.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Republican convention, Candidates
All of the candidates were considered free-soilers, except Samuel Hoar, though he had founded the Free Soil Party.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Republican convention, Balloting
A Democrat, Increase Sumner of Great Barrington, was nominated for Lieutenant Governor.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Republican convention, Balloting
A platform was adopted opposing the acquisition of Cuba or any other territory without a free vote of its residents, denouncing the Boston Municipal Government for the arrest of Anthony Burns and calling for state intervention, and pledging "to make the question of freedom paramount to all other political questions." The platform proposed the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act, restoration of abolition in Kansas and Nebraska, prohibition of slavery in all territories, refusal of admission for new slave states, and abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Democratic convention
The Democratic Party held their convention in Lowell on September 26. Isaac Adams was elected President with 297 out of 553 votes.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Democratic convention, Candidates
Henry Bishop was nominated by acclamation, despite his letter declining the nomination.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Democratic convention, Candidates
A state party platform was passed endorsing the national Democratic platform of 1852, the Pierce administration, the principle of democratic self-government, and a recent act of Congress "changing the superintendence of our National armories from the military to the civil." The platform also included a plank emphasizing the freedom of religion.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Free Soil convention
At the Free Soil convention in Springfield on October 17, the party voted to disband and endorse the Republican ticket.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Native American convention
The Native American Party (better known as the "Know Nothings") held their first convention at Tremont Temple in Boston on October 18. Henry J. Gardner served as President.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Native American convention, Balloting
After the contentious first ballot, Henry Wilson withdrew his name from consideration. A motion was passed disqualifying any person who had joined the party within the prior month, effectively eliminating front-runner Marshall Wilder as well. There was some accusation that the Boston Whig Party had inordinate influence at the convention.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, Native American convention, Balloting
After balloting was concluded, the party secretary was instructed to misinform the Boston newspapers as to which candidates had been nominated.


1854 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, General election, Campaign
A dominant issue in the campaign was the Fugitive Slave Act. Allen and Wilson both strongly opposed it and Allen charged Gardner with having supported it, which he denied. Gardner advocated for the repeal or modification of the law and said that he had, in the past, favored a fusion between the Whig and Free Soil parties.


1854 Massachusetts legislature
The 75th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1854 during the governorship of Emory Washburn. Charles Edward Cook served as president of the Senate and Otis P. Lord served as speaker of the House.


1854 Massachusetts legislature
Notable legislation included incorporation of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company and funding for a "project to build a railroad tunnel through Hoosac Mountain that cost state taxpayers more than $10 million and took 21 years to complete."


1854 Mexican presidential referendum
A referendum on whether Antonio López de Santa Anna should remain President., and if not, who should replace him, was held in Mexico on 1 December 1854. The proposal was approved by 99.07% of voters. On 11 December Santa Anna ordered reprisal measures against those who had voted no. On 2 January 1855 he declared that the country had confirmed his position in office. He was subsequently overthrown on 8 December that year.


1854 Mexican presidential referendum, Background
Santa Anna took over as President for a year in 1853. On taking office on 20 April, he abolished the 1824 constitution and ruled as a dictator. On 16 December he declared himself President for Life. After the Plan of Ayutla was proclaimed in March 1854, aimed at reinstituting the 1824 constitution, a revolt started. As it spread, the decision was made to hold a referendum.


1854 Mexican presidential referendum, Background
However, the press was only allowed to announce the referendum on the day it was held. Voting was not secret and voters had to name and sign their ballots.


1854 Mexican presidential referendum, Results
Should the current President of the Republic continue in the supreme command with the same broad powers as currently exercised?


1854 Mexican presidential referendum, Results
If he does not continue with the same broad powers as now vested, who shall immediately command?


1854 Michigan gubernatorial election
The 1854 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1854. Republican nominee Kinsley S. Bingham defeated Democratic nominee John S. Barry with 53.02% of the vote.


1854 Nankai earthquake
The 1854 Nankai earthquake occurred at about 16:00 local time on 24 December. It had a magnitude of 8.4 and caused a damaging tsunami. More than 30,000 buildings were completely destroyed and there were at least 3,000 casualties.


1854 Nankai earthquake
It was the second of the three Ansei great earthquakes; the 1854 Tōkai earthquake of identical magnitude had hit northwest the previous morning, and the third 1855 Edo earthquake struck less than a year later.


1854 Nankai earthquake, Background
The southern coast of Honshu runs parallel to the Nankai Trough, which marks the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Movement on this convergent plate boundary leads to many earthquakes, some of them of megathrust type. The Nankai megathrust has five distinct segments (A–E) that can rupture independently, the segments have ruptured either singly or together repeatedly over the last 1300 years. Megathrust earthquakes on this structure tend to occur in pairs, with a relatively short time gap between them. In addition to the two events in 1854, there were similar earthquakes in 1944 and 1946. In each case the northeastern segment ruptured before the southwestern segment.


1854 Nankai earthquake, Damage
The damage due to the earthquake was severe with 5,000 houses being destroyed and 40,000 houses badly damaged. A further 6,000 homes were damaged by fire. The tsunami washed away a further 15,000 houses and a total of 3,000 people died from either the earthquake or the tsunami. The death toll associated with the tsunami was less than would be expected in comparison to the 1707 tsunami, because many people had left the coastal area following the large earthquake the previous day. In Hiro (now Hirogawa), Goryo Hamaguchi set fires using rice straw to help guide villagers to safety. This story was turned into "A living god" by the Greek-born writer Lafcadio Hearn.


1854 Nankai earthquake, Characteristics, Earthquake
Much of southwestern Honshu, Shikoku and Kyūshū experienced shaking of 5 or more on the JMA scale, with most of Shikoku and nearby coastal areas of Kansai suffering an intensity of 6.


1854 Nankai earthquake, Characteristics, Tsunami
On Shikoku, the greatest inundation heights were 7.5 m in Mugi, 7.5 m in Kamikawaguchi (Japanese: 上川口) of Kuroshio, 7.2 m at Asakawa on the Tokushima coast, 7.4 m at Usa, 8.4 m at Ōnogō in the Susaki area, 8.3 m at Kure on the Kōchi coast and 5 m at both Hisayoshiura and Kaizuka on the coast of Ehime.


1854 Nankai earthquake, Characteristics, Tsunami
A tsunami was observed in Shanghai, China, and a water surge of about 2 to 3 Chi was recorded in Huangpu River.


1854 New York state election
The 1854 New York state election was held on November 7, 1854, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, a Canal Commissioner and an Inspector of State Prisons, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly.


1854 New York state election, History
The National Democratic (in the press referred to as Hards) state convention met in July and nominated Greene Bronson for governor as well as candidates for the other down-ballot offices. They informed the nominees by letter on July 12 of their nominations. Their letters of acceptance were published on September 11 in the New-York Daily Times.


1854 New York state election, History
The Democratic (in the press referred to as Softs) state convention met on September 6 at Wieting Hall in Syracuse. Lorenzo B. Shepard was Temporary Chairman until the choice of William H. Ludlow as President. The convention appointed a Democratic State Central Committee which included John Cochrane and Horatio Ballard, and then adjourned.


1854 New York state election, History
On September 7, the convention passed a resolution approving the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which led to the eventual withdrawal of delegates Preston King, Charles G. Myers, Abijah Mann, Philip Dorsheimer and few more Barnburners, all of whom would be the next year among the founders of the Republican Party. Governor Horatio Seymour was re-nominated "by acclamation" with a few contrary votes. William H. Ludlow was nominated for Lieutenant Governor on the first ballot (vote: Ludlow 234, Philip H. Crook 28, Oakley 14, Albert Lester 7, Isaiah Rynders 2, Preston King 2). Jason Clark was nominated for Canal Commissioner by acclamation. W. R. Andrews was nominated for Inspector of State Prisons on the first ballot (vote: Andrews 92, Amos Pilsbury 56, Henry Storms [incumbent] 27).


1854 New York state election, History
The Free-Soil Democratic state convention met on September 25 in Auburn.


1854 New York state election, History
The Anti- Nebraska state convention met on September 26 in Auburn. Myron H. Clark was nominated for Governor by acclamation. Henry J. Raymond was nominated for Lieutenant Governor on the first ballot (Raymond 127, Bradford R. Wood 84). After this vote, a minority of about 20 seceded from the convention and re-assembled at the Court House and nominated their own ticket.


1854 New York state election, History
The Temperance state convention met on September 27 in Auburn. Myron H. Clark was nominated for Governor by acclamation. Henry J. Raymond was nominated for Lieutenant Governor on the first ballot (Raymond 163, Bradford R. Wood 112).


1854 New York state election, History
The Liberty state convention met on September 28 at the Market Hall in Syracuse.


1854 New York state election, History
The Anti-Rent state convention met on October 26 at Beardsley's Hall in Albany.


1854 New York state election, Results
Due to the split of the Democratic Party, the whole Whig ticket was elected. The American Party (in the press referred to as the Know Nothings, and ridiculed) showed a surprisingly big strength. Myron H. Clark won this election with the lowest percentage in any New York gubernatorial election. The incumbent Governor Seymour was defeated, the incumbent Fitzhugh was re-elected.


1854 New York state election, Results
82 Whigs, 26 Softs, 16 Hards and 3 Temperance man were elected for the session of 1855 to the New York State Assembly. "Know Nothings are sprinkled miscellaneously among Whigs, Hards and Softs; and exactly how many there are of these gentry in the Assembly Nobody Knows."


1854 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
The 1854 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election occurred on October 10, 1854. Incumbent governor William Bigler, a Democrat, was a candidate for re-election but was defeated by Whig candidate James Pollock. Bigler became the last sitting Governor of Pennsylvania to be defeated for reelection until Tom Corbett in 2014. Also the last time someone that a candidate that wasn’t part of the Democratic or Republican parties won a governor election in Pennsylvania.


1854 Philadelphia mayoral election
The Philadelphia mayoral election of 1854 saw the election of Robert T. Conrad.


1854 Philadelphia mayoral election
This was the first mayoral election since Philadelphia's county-city consolidation. It was also the first election to a two-year term, with previous elections having been to only a single-year term. It was also the last won by the Whig Party.


1854 Skvortsov
1854 Skvortsov (prov. designation: 1968 UE1) is a stony background asteroid and relatively slow rotator from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 9 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 22 October 1968, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on the Crimean peninsula. It is named after astronomer Evgenii Skvortsov.


1854 Skvortsov, Orbit and classification
The asteroid orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4.04 years (1,477 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.14 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. Skvortsov was first observed at Goethe Link Observatory in 1962, when it was identified as 1962 HC, extending the body's observation arc by 6 years prior to its official discovery observation.


1854 Skvortsov, Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of Evgenii Skvortsov (1882–1952), an instructor of astronomy in the Simferopol Pedagogical Institute, an active observer of minor planets at the Crimean Simeiz Observatory, and the discoverer of several minor planets, including 1149 Volga, 1167 Dubiago and 1381 Danubia. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1975 (M.P.C. 3825).


1854 Skvortsov, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
In March 2006, a rotational lightcurve for Skvortsov was obtained from photometric observations made by American astronomer Brian D. Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado. It gave a rotation period of 78.5 hours with a brightness variation of 0.56 magnitude (U=2). This is a rather slow rotation rate compared to the average asteroid spin of 2–20 hours.


1854 Skvortsov, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Skvortsov measures between 9.60 and 10.27 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has an albedo of 0.203 to 0.252. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 8.97 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.6.


1854 Swiss federal election
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 29 October 1854. The Radical Left remained the largest group in the National Council, winning 80 of the 120 seats.


1854 Swiss federal election, Electoral system
The 120 members of the National Council were elected in 49 single- and multi-member constituencies; there was one seat for every 20,000 citizens, with seats allocated to cantons in proportion to their population. The elections were held using a three-round system; candidates had to receive a majority in the first or second round to be elected; if it went to a third round, only a plurality was required. Voters could cast as many votes as there were seats in their constituency. In six cantons (Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri), National Council members were elected by the Landsgemeinde.


1854 Town of Nelson by-election
The 1854 Town of Nelson by-election was a by-election held in the multi-member electorate of Town of Nelson during the 1st New Zealand Parliament, on 17 June 1854, and was the first by-election in New Zealand political history.


1854 Town of Nelson by-election
The Town of Nelson member of parliament William Travers and the neighbouring Waimea electorate's MP William Cautley resigned on 26 May 1854, two days after the start of the first Parliamentary session of the 1st New Zealand Parliament. On nomination day (17 June) Samuel Stephens and Francis Jollie were nominated (both candidates were nominated in absentia), and after a show of hands Stephens was declared elected. The outgoing MP Travers was subsequently elected two days later in the Waimea by-election, as expected, Jollie coming second.


1854 Town of Nelson by-election, Nomination meeting
The nomination meeting was held on Saturday, 17 June 1854 at the Court House. The Returning Officer was J. Poynter. No contest was expected, so a minimal number of electors were present. First the writ was read by Poynter, and after it was read Poynter called for the small number of electors to proceed with the nominations. As the first nomination, Mr. Webb proposed Francis Jollie, which was seconded by Mr. Cann. B. Walmsley nominated Samuel Stephens, seconded by the outgoing MP William T. L. Travers.


1854 Town of Nelson by-election, Nomination meeting
Both the candidates could not come to the meeting, since Stephens was in the Auckland Region, and Jollie had moved to Peel Forest in Canterbury in late 1853, and therefore there were no speeches from the candidates. Following a show of hands, Stephens was declared elected, as Jollie's supporters did not demand a poll.


1854 Treaty Authority
The 1854 Treaty Authority is an intertribal, co-management agency committed to the implementation of off-reservation treaty rights on behalf of its two-member Ojibwa tribes.


1854 Treaty Authority
Based out of Duluth, Minnesota, 1854 Treaty Authority's policy is set by the Board of Commissioners composed of the tribal chairperson from each member tribe or a designee. 1854 Treaty Authority has three divisions including Administration, Conservation Enforcement and Resource Management.


1854 Treaty Authority, History
In 1985, The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking a declaratory judgment that the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe reserved the Band's right to hunt and fish in the 1854 Treaty-Ceded Territory free of state regulation. The other Bands that signed the treaty and resided in the territory (Fond du Lac, Bois Forte) subsequently joined the lawsuit. By 1988, an out of court agreement was negotiated and ultimately ratified by the Minnesota State Legislature:


1854 Treaty Authority, History
In 1988, the Tri-Band Authority was established to implement the agreement and was governed by a Board of Directors, which consisted of the duly elected officials of each of the Grand Portage, Bois Forte, and the Fond du Lac Bands. However, in 1989, Fond du Lac (who is now a party to the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission) withdrew from the agreement. The Tri-Band Authority then became the 1854 Authority and subsequently changed their name in 2006 to the 1854 Treaty Authority and continued to implement the agreement for the Grand Portage and Bois Forte Bands.


1854 Tōkai earthquake
The 1854 Tōkai earthquake was the first of the Ansei great earthquakes (1854–1855). It occurred at about 09:00 local time on 23 December 1854. It had a magnitude of 8.4 and caused a damaging tsunami. More than 10,000 buildings were destroyed and there were at least 2,000 casualties.


1854 Tōkai earthquake
It was the first of the three Ansei great earthquakes; the 1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake of similar size hit southern Honshu the following day.


1854 Tōkai earthquake, Background
The southern coast of Honshu runs parallel to the Nankai Trough, which marks the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Movement on this convergent plate boundary leads to many earthquakes, some of them of megathrust type. The Nankai megathrust has five distinct segments (A-E) that can rupture independently, the segments have ruptured either singly or together repeatedly over the last 1300 years. Megathrust earthquakes on this structure tend to occur in pairs, with a relatively short time gap between them. In addition to the two events in 1854, there were similar earthquakes in 1944 and 1946. In each case the northeastern segment ruptured before the southwestern segment.


1854 Tōkai earthquake, Damage
Much of central Japan experienced seismic intensities of 5 (on the JMA scale). Damage from this earthquake was particularly severe in the coastal areas of Shizuoka Prefecture from Numazu to Tenryū River, with many houses being damaged or destroyed.


1854 Tōkai earthquake, Damage
On the east side of the Izu Peninsula, Shimoda was hit by the tsunami one hour after the earthquake. A series of nine waves struck the city, destroying 840 houses and claiming 122 lives. Diana, the flagship of a visiting Russian admiral, Putyatin, in Japan to negotiate what would become the Treaty of Shimoda, was spun round 42 times on its moorings and was so badly damaged that it sank in a later storm.


1854 Tōkai earthquake, Damage
At Suruga Bay, on the west side of the Izu Peninsula, the village of Iruma was destroyed and a 10 m high sand dome was deposited, on which the village was later reconstructed.


1854 Tōkai earthquake, Characteristics, Earthquake
The rupture area, magnitude and epicenter have been estimated from seismic intensity measurements, information about tsunami arrival times and evidence of co-seismic uplift/subsidence.


1854 Tōkai earthquake, Characteristics, Tsunami
In most of the affected areas, run-up heights were in the range of 4–6 m.At Iruma, run-up heights of 13.2 and 16.5 m have been measured, much higher than most of the surrounding area. This and the deposition of the unusual sand dome, with an estimated volume of 700,000 m3, is interpreted to have been caused by the effects of resonance in the V-shaped Iruma bay.


1854 United States House of Representatives election in Florida
The 1854 United States House of Representatives election in Florida was held on Monday, October 2, 1854 to elect the single United States Representative from the state of Florida, one from the state's single at-large congressional district, to represent Florida in the 34th Congress. The election coincided with the elections of other offices, including the senatorial election and various state and local elections.


1854 United States House of Representatives election in Florida
The winning candidate would serve a two-year term in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1855, to March 4, 1857.


1854 United States House of Representatives election in Florida, Campaign
Despite Brown leaving office as a popular governor, the national Whig Party had all but collapsed by this election. Additionally, many Southerners who were formerly sympathetic to the Whigs now aligned fully with the Democratic Party, due to the perception that the Whigs were willing to compromise with abolitionist Northerners. To take advantage of this, Maxwell actively campaigned in Pensacola, a former Whig stronghold, as well as running up his margins in deeply conservative North Central Florida, particularly in Columbia and Jefferson counties, both of which had high enslaved populations.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York
The 1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held on November 7, 1854, to elect 33 U.S. Representatives to represent the State of New York in the United States House of Representatives of the 34th United States Congress, and two representatives to fill vacancies in the 33rd United States Congress.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Background
33 U.S. Representatives had been elected in November 1852 to a term in the 33rd United States Congress, beginning on March 4, 1853. Gilbert Dean was appointed to the New York Supreme Court and resigned his seat on July 3, 1854; Gerrit Smith resigned his seat on August 7, 1854; leaving vacancies in the 12th and the 22nd District. The other representatives' term would end on March 3, 1855. The elections were held with the annual State election on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, about four months before the congressional term began, and a little more than a year before Congress actually met on December 3, 1855.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Congressional districts
The geographical area of the congressional districts remained the same as at the previous elections in 1852, which were apportioned by the New York State Legislature on July 10, 1851. In 1854, the City of Williamsburgh was annexed by the City of Brooklyn, and became the 13th through 16th Ward of Brooklyn. It is unclear if the annexation happened before or after this election.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Congressional districts
Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. Bronx and Nassau counties had not yet been established. The area of the Bronx was at this time in Westchester County; and the area of Nassau in Queens County.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Result
25 Whigs, 4 Softs, 3 Know Nothings and 1 Hard were elected to the 34th Congress; and 2 Whigs were elected to fill the vacancies in the 33rd Congress. The incumbents Wheeler, Sage, Simmons, Matteson, Bennett, Morgan, Oliver, Pringle, Flagler and Haven were re-elected; the incumbents Walsh, Hughes, Hastings, Carpenter and Fenton were defeated.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Result
Note: For candidates running on more than one ticket, the number of votes is the total polled on all tickets.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Aftermath
Isaac Teller and Henry C. Goodwin took their seats in the 33rd United States Congress at the beginning of the second session on December 4, 1854.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Aftermath
The House of Representatives of the 34th United States Congress met for the first time at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 1855. Thomas Child, Jr., never took his seat, due to a prolonged illness.


1854 United States House of Representatives elections in New York, Aftermath
Orsamus B. Matteson resigned his seat on February 27, 1857; and Francis S. Edwards and William A. Gilbert resigned on February 28. The three seats remained vacant for the remaining days of this Congress.


1854 United States elections
The 1854 United States elections was the midterm election choosing members of the 32nd United States Congress during the middle of Democratic President Franklin Pierce's term. It was part of the transition from the Second Party System to the Third Party System, as the Whigs collapsed as a national party and were replaced by a coalition running on the Opposition Party ticket and the nascent Republican Party.


1854 United States elections
In the House, Democrats suffered a massive defeat, losing seats to the Opposition Party, and to the American Party; the latter (also known as the Know Nothings) won more seats in the House than any other third party in the history of the chamber. Nathaniel Banks, a member of the American Party and the Free Soil Party, won election as Speaker of the House after a protracted battle, defeating Democrat William Aiken. In the Senate, Democrats retained a strong majority, while the Opposition replaced the Whigs as the second largest party in the chamber.


1854 Vermont gubernatorial election
The 1854 Vermont gubernatorial election for governor of Vermont took place on September 5. The Whig nominee was Stephen Royce, former Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. The Democratic nominee was Merritt Clark, and Lawrence Brainerd ran as the nominee of the Free Soil Party even as he was one of the organizers of the new anti-slavery Republican Party and appeared as a Whig candidate for the Vermont Senate on the ballot in Franklin County. Whig William C. Kittredge was nominated for governor against his wishes by advocates of the Temperance movement and Democrat Horatio Needham also attracted the support of some Free Soil advocates.


1854 Vermont gubernatorial election
With the Whig Party splintering nationally over the slavery issue, the Republican Party was formed as the main abolitionist party, and Royce was endorsed by the new organization. In the September voting, Free Soil advocates, Republicans, and anti-slavery Whigs largely backed Royce, who was easily elected with 62.6 percent to 33.9 for Clark and 1.4 for Brainerd. Kittredge, Needham, William R. Shafter, and other write-in candidates all received less than one percent each. Royce took the oath of office and began a one-year term on October 12.


1854 Waimea by-election
The 1854 Waimea by-election was a by-election held in the multi-member electorate of Waimea during the 1st New Zealand Parliament, on 21 June 1854, and was the second by-election in New Zealand political history (and the first contested by-election), coming two days after the Town of Nelson by-election.


1854 Waimea by-election
The Waimea member of parliament William Cautley and the neighbouring Town of Nelson electorate's MP  William Travers both resigned on 26 May 1854, two days after the start of the first Parliamentary session of the 1st New Zealand Parliament. On nomination day (20 June) William Travers and Francis Jollie were nominated (Jollie was nominated in absentia), and after a show of hands in favour of Jollie, Travers demanded a poll. William Travers was subsequently elected the following day.


1854 Waimea by-election, Run up to the election
Up to 17 June 1854 it was unknown in the public that multiple candidates would seek nomination by the electors; Francis Jollie was thought to be the only candidate. On that date William Travers, who had resigned from the Town of Nelson electorate on the same date as Cautley, announced his candidacy.


1854 Waimea by-election, Run up to the election, Nomination meeting
The nomination meeting was held on 20 June 1854 in Richmond, with the polling date set for 21 June. There was a reasonable number of electors present. The Returning Officer then read the writ. F. Otterson proposed Francis Jollie, as expected, seconded by Mr. Harkness. J. W. Saxton said he was happy to propose Mr. William L. T. Travers, a nomination seconded by S. Wells. A show of hands then happened after speeches, which was declared in favour of Jollie, to which Travers demanded a poll.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 34th Congress were held during President Franklin Pierce's term at various dates in different states from August 1854 to November 1855.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
This midterm election was among the most disruptive in American history, auguring the collapse of the Second Party System.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
Both major parties, the Democratic Party and the Whig Party, organized as rivals for roughly 20 years, lost critical voter support. Northern voters strongly opposed to the Kansas–Nebraska Act shifted sharply against Democrats, who lost 69 seats, nearly half their House delegation. Whigs also lost seats as the party disintegrated over slavery.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
The elected majority temporarily coalesced as the Opposition Party. This transitional party included Whigs, Free Soil members, American Party members (or Know Nothings), the People's Party of Indiana, Anti- Nebraska candidates, disaffected Northern Democrats, and members of the nascent Republican Party, which would soon absorb most of these factions and replace the Whigs as rival to the Democrats.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
Candidates opposed to the Democratic Party won widely in the North through November 1854. The American Party, ignoring slavery and opposing immigration (particularly by Catholics from Ireland and Germany) won seats from both major parties, but to the net loss of Democrats, in New England and the South from November 1854 into 1855.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
Congress had passed the Kansas–Nebraska Act in May 1854 after aggressive sponsorship by the Pierce Administration and Democrats led by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, including radical pro-slavery legislators. The Act repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise and triggered the Bleeding Kansas conflict. With widely foreseen risks and immediately negative results, the Act publicly discredited the Democratic Party, fueling new partisan and sectional rancor. It created violent uncertainty on the frontier by abruptly making slavery potentially legal in territories originally comprising the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and attractive to contemporary settlers.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
Settlers were expected to determine the status of slavery locally. This idea appealed to Democratic politicians and to some voters in its shape and intent, but proved unworkable in Kansas where the status of slavery would be violently disputed between more numerous Northern settlers and geographically closer Southern settlers. Even some pro-slavery legislators and voters, particularly Southern Whigs, felt repealing the Missouri Compromise was politically reckless and attempting to push slavery by law and force into territories where most settlers predictably were unlikely to want it endangered its continued legal protection anywhere, even in the South. These fears proved prescient.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections
More than 21 Representatives vied for the post of Speaker. After two months and 133 ballots, American Party Representative Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts, also a Free Soiler, defeated Democrat William Aiken of South Carolina by plurality, 103-100. Banks is also the only Speaker from a third party to date.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections, Special elections
There were two special elections to the 33rd United States Congress, listed here by date and district.


1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections, California
Note: From statehood to 1864, California's representatives were elected at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections
The United States Senate elections of 1854 and 1855 were elections which saw the final decline of the Whig Party and the continuing majority of the Democrats. Those Whigs in the South who were opposed to secession ran on the "Opposition Party" ticket, and were elected to a minority. Along with the Whigs, the Senate roster also included Free Soilers, Know Nothings, and a new party: the Republicans. Only five of the twenty-one senators up for election were re-elected.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections
As this election was prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, senators were chosen by state legislatures.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Special elections during the 33rd Congress
In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1854 or in 1855 before March 4; ordered by election date.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Elections leading to the 34th Congress
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1855; ordered by state.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Elections during the 34th Congress
In these elections, the winners were elected in 1855 after March 4.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
On January 10, 1854 the Kentucky legislature elected Whig U.S. Attorney General (and former-senator and former-Governor of Kentucky) John J. Crittenden to succeed Dixon, beating the then-incumbent Governor of Kentucky, Lazarus W. Powell.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, New York
The election was held on February 6, 1855. William H. Seward had been elected in 1849 to this seat and his term would expire on March 3, 1855. At the time the Democratic Party was split into two opposing factions: the "Hards" and the "Softs". After most of the "Barnburners" had left the party, joining the Whigs, the majority of "Hunkers" split over the question of reconciliation with the minority of Barnburners who had remained Democrats. The Hard faction (led by Daniel S. Dickinson) was against it, in true Hunker fashion claiming all patronage for themselves; the Soft faction (led by William L. Marcy, which included the former Barnburners, advocated party unity as a necessity to defeat the Whigs.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, New York
In 1854, the Republican Party was founded as a national party, but in New York the Whigs and the Anti- Nebraska Party ran concurrently at the State election. The unification of these occurred in New York only during the nomination convention for the State election in November 1855. Also running in the 1854 election were the American Party and nominees of the Temperance movement. In a general way, party lines were blurred until the re-alignment during the late 1850s after the disbanding of the American Party.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, New York
At the State election in November 1853, 23 Whigs, 7 Hards and 2 Softs were elected for a two-year term (1854-1855) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1854, Whig State Senator Myron H. Clark was elected Governor of New York, and 82 Whigs, 26 Softs, 16 Hards and 3 Temperance men were elected for the session of 1855 to the New York State Assembly. "Know Nothings are sprinkled miscellaneously among Whigs, Hards and Softs; and exactly how many there are of these gentry in the Assembly Nobody Knows." The 78th New York State Legislature met from January 2 to April 14, 1855, at Albany, New York.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, New York
In the Assembly, Seward received 69 votes, given by 65 Whigs; 1 Democrat; 1 Temperance man; 1 Republican and 1 Whig-Republican. Dickinson received 14 votes, given by 13 Democrats and 1 American. Horatio Seymour received the votes of 12 Democrats. Dix received 7 votes, given by 5 Democrats; 1 Independent Democrat and 1 Temperance man. Fillmore received 4 votes, given by 2 Whigs; 1 Democrat and 1 Temperance-American. Horatio Seymour, Jr., received the votes of 2 Americans. King, Butler, Lester, Wait and Bronson received 1 Democratic vote each. Campbell received 1 Temperance-American vote. Howell received 1 American vote. Hoffman and Haven received 1 Whig vote each.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, New York
In the State Senate, Seward received 18 Whig votes, Dickinson 5 Hard votes, and Allen 2 Whig votes. Preston and Church received 1 Soft vote each. Hoffman, Babcock, Ullmann and Fillmore received 1 American vote each.


1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections, New York
Seward was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.


1854 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1854 in Australia.


1854 in Australia, Events
This was a year of intense political agitation by miners on the Victorian goldfields.


1854 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 1854 in Chile.


1854 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during 1854 in New Zealand.


1854 in New Zealand, Population
The estimated population of New Zealand at the end of 1854 is 60,650 Māori and 32,554 non-Māori.


1854 in New Zealand, Incumbents, Government and law
After New Zealand's first general election, held on 1 October 1853 the 1st Parliament opens on 24 May.


1854 in New Zealand, Incumbents, Government and law
There is neither an official Prime Minister/Premier/Colonial Secretary or Finance Minister/Colonial Secretary in the government at this point in time. (see 1st New Zealand Parliament)


1854 in South Africa
The following lists events that happened during 1854 in South Africa.


1854 in Switzerland
The following is a list of events, births, and deaths in 1854 in Switzerland.


1854 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1854 to Wales and its people.


1854 in architecture
The year 1854 in architecture involved some significant events and new buildings.


1854 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1854.


1854 in paleontology
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1854.


1854 in poetry
Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldiers knew


1854 in poetry
Their's not to make reply,Their's not to reason why,Their's but to do and die:Into the valley of Death


1854 in poetry
— From "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, first published this year


1854 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1854 in poetry, Works published in English, United Kingdom
Half a league, half a league,  Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. ' Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns' he said:Into the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred.


1854 in poetry, Works published in English, United Kingdom
'Forward, the Light Brigade!' Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldiers knew  Some one had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them  Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell  Rode the six hundred.


1854 in poetry, Works published in English, United Kingdom
Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turned in airSabring the gunners there,Charging an army while  All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre-strokeShatter'd and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but notNot the six hundred. Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them  Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of Death,Back from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them,  Left of six hundred. When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wonder'd. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade,  Noble six hundred!


1854 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1854 in poetry, Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1854 in rail transport
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1854.


1854 in science
The year 1854 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.


1854 in sports
1854 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.


1855
1855 (MDCCCLV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1855th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 855th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 55th  year of the 19th century, and the  6th   year of the 1850s decade. As of the start of 1855, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


1855 Alabama gubernatorial election
The 1855 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on August 6, 1855, in order to elect the Governor of Alabama. Democrat John A. Winston won his second term as Governor.


1855 Alabama gubernatorial election, Candidates, Know Nothing
At the time, the Know Nothing Party was known as the American Party.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1855 Atlantic hurricane season featured tropical cyclone landfalls in the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Greater Antilles, and Mexico, but none along the East Coast of the United States. It was inactive, with only five known tropical cyclones. Operationally, another tropical storm was believed to have existed offshore Atlantic Canada in late August and early September, but HURDAT – the official Atlantic hurricane database – now excludes this system. The first system, Hurricane One, was initially observed on August 6. The final storm, Hurricane Five, was last observed on September 17.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season
These dates fall within the period with the most tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic. At one point during the season, two tropical cyclones existed simultaneously. Two of the cyclones only have a single known point in their tracks due to a sparsity of data, so storm summaries for those systems are unavailable.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season
Of the season's five tropical cyclones, four reached hurricane status. Furthermore, one of those four strengthened into a major hurricane, which are Category 3 or higher on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. The strongest cyclone of the season, Hurricane Five, peaked at Category 3 strength with 125 mph (200 km/h) winds. It brought only minor impact to Louisiana and Mississippi. The first storm of the season brought locally severe impact to Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico in early August. Tropical Storm Four caused severe damage in the Lesser Antilles.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane One
Based on newspaper reports, the first hurricane of the season was within the vicinity of Tampico, Tamaulipas on August 6. Maximum sustained winds were at 105 mph (170 km/h), indicating a Category 2 hurricane. No further information is available on the meteorological history of this storm. However, it is possible that the storm developed in the Caribbean in late July, due to data obtained from the barque Bercaldine. Torrential rainfall in the Tampico area caused disastrous flooding, with heavy damage to goods and property. Eleven vessels were docked at Tampico, some of which lost their cargo. At the mouth of the Pánuco River, a pilot station and a fort were swept away. The event was considered "the worst inundation of Tampico over the last 30 years".


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Two
The ship James Foster Jr. encountered a hurricane on August 10, while located about 575 miles (925 km) east-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Sustained winds of 105 mph (170 km/h) were observed, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. Data from the James Foster Jr. and Rebecca indicate that the storm moved rapidly northeastward. This system was last noted about 560 miles (900 km) west of Ireland on August 11.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Three
HMS Walverine reported a hurricane at 12.5°N, 83.0°W, which is located about 15 miles (24 km) north of Corn Islands, Nicaragua. A sustained wind speed of 80 mph (130 km/h) was observed. Shortly thereafter, HMS Walverine was wrecked and no further information is known about this storm.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Four
Based on reports of a strong gale, a tropical storm was first tracked about 250 miles (400 km) east-southeast of Barbados early on August 24. It initially headed westward, before re-curving west-northwestward early on the following day. Shortly thereafter, the storm passed through the Windward Islands between Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm peaked with winds of 70 mph (115 km/h) while moving northwestward across the Caribbean Sea. It weakened slightly before making landfall near San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic with winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) early on August 27. The storm slowly weakened over Hispaniola and was last noted near Bombardopolis, Haiti later that day.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Tropical Storm Four
There was considerable damage in the Lesser Antilles. On Saint Vincent, rains destroyed roads and a number of houses. Many sugar cane fields were also ruined. Several vessels were lost there and on other islands, including Barbados, Dominica, and Martinique. On Saint Croix in the present-day U.S. Virgin Islands, at least one vessel was destroyed by the heavy gales. There were also strong gales reported in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Five
The ship Orphan encountered a hurricane with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) in the central Gulf of Mexico on September 15. It strengthened quickly while moving northward, becoming a Category 2 hurricane later that day. By 0000 UTC on September 16, the storm peaked as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (200 km/h), making it the strongest tropical cyclone of the season. Shortly thereafter, the hurricane made landfall near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana at the same intensity. It weakened after moving inland, decreasing to Category 1 intensity later on September 16. Early on the following day, the system weakened to a tropical storm, several hours before dissipating over central Alabama.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Hurricane Five
This was regarded as the worst hurricane in the region since 1819. In Louisiana, winds and storm surge impacted the eastern portions of the state. The wharf and bathhouse in Proctorville were swept away. About 4 feet (1.2 m) of water was reported at Proctor's Landing. A combination of strong winds and storm surge destroyed a number of houses along the shores of Lake Borgne. Along the coast of Mississippi, most structures were swept to sea. The foundation of the Biloxi Lighthouse was endangered due to erosion from this storm. The Cat Island Lighthouse was also left in "severe peril". Several ships were damaged or capsized in the Mississippi River, including Atchafalaya, J.S. Chenoweth, Ship Shoal, and Venice.


1855 Atlantic hurricane season, Systems, Other systems
In addition to the five tropical systems, another storm was operationally believed to have existed in late August and early September. The ship Atlantic encountered a very heavy gale while located west of Sable Island, Nova Scotia on August 31. The storm moved rapidly east-northeastward offshore Atlantic Canada. It was last noted on September 2 and was thought to have transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. However, HURDAT no longer includes this system in its database.


1855 Belgian general election
General elections were held in Belgium on 12 June 1855. In the Senate elections, Catholics won 31 seats and the Liberal Party won 23. Voter turnout was the lowest in Belgian history at just 35.0%, although only 42,907 people were eligible to vote. The Chamber was not up for election this year.


1855 Boston mayoral election
The Boston mayoral election of 1855 saw the election of Alexander H. Rice.


1855 Boston mayoral election
This was an early victory for a young Republican Party.


1855 Bursa earthquake
The 1855 Bursa earthquake occurred on 28 February, with an estimated magnitude of 7.02±0.64 Mw A devastating precursor quake that took place in Kemalpaşa, a town of Bursa, Turkey caused severe destruction all over Bursa and other neighboring cities. 300 people died and thousands of homes and workplaces were wrecked, and some of the historical monuments and buildings including mosques collapsed. Subsequently, fire spread out in the city, which increased the death toll.


1855 Bursa earthquake
On 11 April 1855, an aftershock of the 28 February earthquake was recorded as Mw  6.65±0.33. This aftershock affected the region from Gemlik to Mudanya. 1,300 people died. Gökmen-zâde Seyyid el-Hâcî Hüseyin Rıfat Efendî Bursavî wrote about these earthquakes in his book İşaret-numa, written in the Ottoman Turkish language.


1855 California gubernatorial election
The 1855 California gubernatorial election was held on September 5, 1855, to elect the governor of California. Incumbent governor John Bigler lost his bid for reelection.


1855 Cardigan Boroughs by-election
The Cardigan Boroughs by-election of 1855 was fought in February 1855. The byelection arose because of the death of the incumbent Liberal MP, Pryse Loveden. It was won by the Conservative candidate John Lloyd Davies. Davies defeated the Liberal candidate, John Evans, former MP for Haverfordwest.


1855 Cardigan Boroughs by-election, Background
For nearly forty years, the seat had been held by members of the Pryse family of Gogerddan. Pryse Pryse served from 1816 until his death in 1849 and was succeeded by his son, Pryse Loveden. Loveden died in 1855 at an early age.


1855 Cardigan Boroughs by-election, Candidates
John Lloyd Davies was first in the field. There were also rumours that Thomas Lloyd of Bronwydd would be a candidate.


1855 Cardigan Boroughs by-election, Candidates
At the hustings at Cardigan, Lloyd Davies criticized his opponent fear being the candidate of the Gogerddan interest, and stated that he would not have stood had a member of the Pryse family chosen to do so. He also expressed sympathy with those who objected to church rates. This may have gained sympathy in a traditionally Liberal seat


1855 Cardigan Boroughs by-election, Result
Davies secured a narrow majority of twelve votes. At the following General Election he was opposed by Edward Pryse and withdrew his candidature prior to the contest.


1855 Catalan general strike
In 1855, Catalonian workers went on strike following the dubious trial and execution of labor leader Josep Barceló Cassadó. It was the first general strike in Spanish history. A factory director was killed in Sants during the strike. As labor unions expanded in the next century, strikes became commonplace in Barcelona.


1855 Catalan general strike, Context
The strike took place during the Baldomero Espartero government of the Bienio progresista during the reign of Isabella II which began with the revolution of 1854 which included the proclamation of June 28 and the coup lead by Leopoldo O'Donnell, with the support of France and Britain.


1855 Catalan general strike, Origin
Workers initially mobilized against mechanization, specifically in relation to the spinning of yarn. This was called the Conflicto de las selfactinas.


1855 Catalan general strike, Origin
Due to new freedoms acquired after the Revolution of 1854 and the tolerance of the Espartero government, workers' associations were developed, with thirty associations forming a central council. But the newly appointed captain general of Catalonia, General Zapatero, put an end to tolerance and began a policy of repression of the labor movement.


1855 Chicago mayoral election
In the 1855 Chicago mayoral election, Know Nothing candidate Levi Boone defeated Democratic incumbent Isaac Lawrence Milliken by a 5.75% margin.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Campaigning
The mayoral election was unusual in that no candidate had entered the race until five days before the day of the election.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Campaigning
The campaign for the municipal elections of 1855 began very early in the year, before any candidates had emerged for the mayoral race. Religious, ethnic, and political leaders debated for weeks on many issues. The race quickly took a nativist tone. Topics included the role of foreigners on night police duty, controversy regarding the city's school fund, bar fights. Debate also arose from the split amongst Democrats around the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which would take an even more prominent role in the following year's election. One of the greatest controversies was about the state legislature's decision to allow a referendum for that June regarding possible prohibition of alcoholic beverages.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Campaigning
Boone received support from a coalition of Know-Nothing and pro-temperance voters. As was typical of his party, Boone's platform was anti-immigrant, anti-alcohol, and anti-catholic. Boone had run for mayor once before, having been an unsuccessful candidate in the 1850 mayoral election.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Campaigning
Boone benefitted from an article published by the Chicago Tribune that blamed Milliken for an Irish beer riot and stoked fears by warning, "Every vote given for Milliken is a vote given for whisky, Jesuitism, for Irish rule, for crime and pauperism, and for the ruin of Chicago."


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Campaigning
The management of 24 German saloons announced that their establishments would be closed on the day of the election. This was a largely unprecedented move, and received praise from both by the press and from religious leaders.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Campaigning
There were allegations that Irish and German voters from Bridgeport, which was then outside the city limits, were brought in to vote illegally for Milliken.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Aftermath
Boone's victory was also a victory for the burgeoning Know Nothing party, which had been established the previous year.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Aftermath
Despite nearly half of Chicagoans being of foreign origin, Boone had won on a nativist platform.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Aftermath
Privately, Illinois politician (and future United States President) Abraham Lincoln was vehemently opposed to the platform upon which Boone had run; however, he did not publicly denounce it out of concern that doing so would alienate the support he needed in order to build a successful anti-slavery coalition in Illinois and to win the Illinois' United States Senate election three years later.


1855 Chicago mayoral election, Aftermath
In his term as mayor, Boone cracked down on immigrants. He barred them from working for the municipal government. He also enforced liquor policies which were perceived to target German immigrants, which led to the Lager Beer Riot.


1855 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The 1855 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on April 4, 1855. Former state legislator and American Party nominee William T. Minor defeated former congressman and Democratic nominee Samuel Ingham and incumbent governor and Whig nominee Henry Dutton with 43.51% of the vote.


1855 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The results reflected the national transition from the Second Party System to the Third Party System. The Know Nothings would win the first of two such elections, and the incumbent Whig Party's vote share collapsed, with Dutton finishing a distant third.


1855 Connecticut gubernatorial election
Although Minor won a plurality of the vote, he did not receive a majority. As a result, the Connecticut General Assembly elected the governor, per the state constitution. Minor won the vote over Ingham, 117 to 70, in the General Assembly, and became the governor.


1855 Danish Folketing election
Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 14 June 1855 in order to approve amendments to the constitution. Peter Georg Bang remained Prime Minister following the elections.


1855 Danish Folketing election, Electoral system
The elections were held using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. Only 15% of the population was eligible to vote in the elections, with suffrage restricted to men over 30 who were not receiving poor relief (or who had not paid back any previous poor relief received), were not classed as "dependents" (those who were privately employed but did not have a household) and who had lived in their constituency for a certain length of time.


1855 Edo earthquake
The 1855 Edo earthquake (安政江戸地震, Ansei Edo Jishin), was the third Ansei Great Earthquake, which occurred during the late-Edo period. It succeeded the 1854 Nankai earthquake, which took place about a year prior. The earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on 11 November. It had an epicenter close to Edo (now Tokyo), causing considerable damage in the Kantō region from the shaking and subsequent fires, with a death toll of 7,000–10,000 people and destroyed around 14,000 buildings. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 on the surface wave magnitude scale and reached a maximum intensity of XI (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The earthquake triggered a minor tsunami.


1855 Edo earthquake, Tectonic setting
The Kanto area lies above a complex part of the convergent boundaries between the subducting Pacific and Philippine Sea Plates and the overriding Eurasian and North American Plates. Earthquakes with epicenters in the Kantō region may occur within the Eurasian Plate, at the Eurasian Plate/Philippine Sea Plate interface, within the Philippine Sea Plate, at the Philippine Sea Plate/North American Plate interface (under the Sagami Trough), at the Philippine Sea Plate/Pacific Plate interface (Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc), or within the Pacific Plate. In addition to this set of major plates it has been suggested that there is also a separate 25 km thick, 100 km wide body, a fragment of Pacific Plate lithosphere.


1855 Edo earthquake, Tectonic setting
The cause of the 1855 earthquake is unknown; it is consistent with a rupture along the interface between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates, adjacent to, and down dip from, the rupture that caused the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.


1855 Edo earthquake, Damage
A total of about 50,000 houses and over 50 temples were either destroyed by the earthquake shaking or subsequent fires. The area burned down in Edo was about 2.3 km2. The earthquake's destruction and associated death toll were especially great for the time, as Ansei Tokyo was composed largely of plaster-and-tile structures that were resistant to fires but prone to tremors.


1855 Edo earthquake, Damage
In spite of Japan's long history with earthquakes, as of 1855 Tokyo had not experienced a major quake for about 154 years; in the minds of the citizenry, earthquakes were either a thing of the past or simply too unlikely to reasonably plan for. This lack of structural preparation, combined with the fact that most of the well-populated areas of Tokyo were built on former wetlands artificially filled in with unstable alluvial soil, left the city undefended from the massive force of the Ansei quake.


1855 Edo earthquake, Characteristics
The earthquake was followed by 78 aftershocks in the first month.


1855 Edo earthquake, Aftermath
Two days after the earthquake, prints began to appear, with more than 400 different types being available in the following weeks. Most of the prints depicted giant catfish, a type of image known as Namazu-e. The significance being that earthquakes at the time were popularly attributed to the thrashing about of a mythological catfish under the earth, normally kept under control by the deity Kashima using a large rock. The number of prints produced during the 1855 earthquake was unprecedented and has been related to the political and social effects of the disaster.


1855 Edo earthquake, Aftermath
The prints show the people's anger with Kashima who became replaced by the solar deity Amaterasu. Some of the prints also depict the redistribution of wealth. The earthquake has been described as an act of yonaoshi or 'world rectification', in the light of the two great earthquakes of 1854 and the arrival of Perry's Black Ships in 1853.


1855 Edo earthquake, Aftermath, Era of disaster
Three large earthquakes, the 1854 Ansei-Tōkai earthquake, 1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake, and the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake are collectively called the Ansei great earthquakes (安政の大地震, Ansei no Dai Jishin). Combining the effects of these disasters with a major cholera outbreak killing over 100,000 people, a fire at Edo Castle, and the 1858 Hietsu earthquake, the Ansei era was one of quite catastrophic upheaval. Due to the cumulative effects of these disasters, the reign name was changed in 1860 to usher in a 'clean slate' and better "fortune".


1855 Grand National
The 1855 Grand National was the 17th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 7 March 1855.


1855 Grand National
The race was marred by the fatal fall of former winner, Miss Mowbray, who suffered a broken back and neck when taking off too soon at Becher's Brook on the second circuit.


1855 Kentucky gubernatorial election
The 1855 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on August 6, 1855. Know Nothing Charles S. Morehead defeated Democratic nominee Beverly L. Clarke with 51.63% of the vote.


1855 Korolev
1855 Korolev (prov. designation: 1969 TU1) is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. Discovered in 1969, it was later named after Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev.


1855 Korolev, Discovery
Korolev was discovered by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on 8 October 1969. On the same night, she also discovered 1856 Růžena.


1855 Korolev, Discovery
It was first identified as 1961 JD at Goethe Link Observatory in 1961, extending the body's observation arc by 8 years prior to its official discovery observation.


1855 Korolev, Orbit and classification
The asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,231 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.


1855 Korolev, Naming
This minor planet was named in honor of Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), a designer, integrator, organizer and strategic planner. He was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s until his early death. The lunar and Martian craters Korolev are also named in his honour. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 June 1975 (M.P.C. 3825).


1855 Korolev, Physical characteristics, Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by NASA's space-based Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Korolev measures 6.79 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a high albedo of 0.319, while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.24 – derived from 8 Flora, the largest member and namesake of its orbital family – and calculates a diameter of 7.47 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 12.8.


1855 Korolev, Physical characteristics, Rotation period
In March 2008, three rotational lightcurves of Korolev were obtained from photometric observation made by astronomers James W. Brinsfield, Petr Pravec and René Roy, giving a well-defined rotation period of 4.65–4.66 hours with a brightness variation 0.75 and 0.76 magnitude, respectively (U=3/2/3). Another concurring lightcurve was published in March 2016, using sparse-in-time photometry data from the Lowell Photometric Database (U=n.a. ).


1855 Liberian general election
Presidential elections were held in Liberia in 1855. The result was a victory for Vice-President Stephen Allen Benson, who defeated the incumbent Joseph Jenkins Roberts. Benson took office as the country's second president on 7 January 1856.


1855 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Thursday 1 November 1855. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1855 Liverpool by-election
The 1855 Liverpool by-election was held on 29 March 1855 after the incumbent Conservative MP Henry Liddell succeeded to the peerage as Baron Ravensworth. The election was won by the Whig candidate Joseph Christopher Ewart.


1855 Louisiana gubernatorial election
The 1855 Louisiana gubernatorial election was the second election to take place under the Louisiana Constitution of 1852. As a result of this election Robert C. Wickliffe became Governor of Louisiana.


1855 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The 1855 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6. Know-Nothing candidate Henry J. Gardner was re-elected to a second term as Governor in a multi-partisan race, defeating Republican Julius Rockwell and Democrat Erasmus Beach.


1855 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
This was the first election in which the new Republican Party fielded a candidate. This was also the first election won by a direct plurality vote, after the majority requirement was abolished by the legislature on May 23. Gardner won without ratification by the General Court.


1855 Massachusetts legislature
The 76th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1855 during the governorship of Henry Gardner. Henry Wetherby Benchley served as president of the Senate and Daniel C. Eddy served as speaker of the House.


1855 Massachusetts legislature
"Know-Nothings won all 40 state Senate seats and all but three of the 379 state House seats in 1854, in addition to the governorship.... Once in power, the Know-Nothings passed legislation to deport poor or mentally ill Irish residents; to 'inspect' Catholic schools and convents; and to order daily readings from the Protestant Bible in public schools."


1855 Massachusetts legislature
On May 9, 1855, Joseph Hiss became the first Massachusetts state representative to be expelled from the House.


1855 Massachusetts legislature, Notable legislation
This legislature passed the nation's first statute racially integrating public education.


1855 New York state election
The 1855 New York state election was held on November 6, 1855, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, two judges of the New York Court of Appeals, a Canal Commissioner and an Inspector of State Prisons, as well as members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.


1855 New York state election, Nominations
Both the Whig state convention and the Anti- Nebraska state convention met on September 26 at Syracuse, New York. John Alsop King presided at the Whig convention, Reuben E. Fenton at the Anti- Nebraska convention. After organizing the Whigs, the delegates decided to join the Anti-Nebraskans, and marched to their assembling place. There the two parties merged and adopted the name Republican Party, and continued as the Republican state convention with King and Fenton as co-chairmen.


1855 New York state election, Results
Due to the chaotic political situation with the major parties split over the slavery question, a new party being founded by the fusion of factions of all previous parties, and four tickets competing, the American Party had the most surprising election victory in the history of the State of New York, winning eight of the nine state offices. Only the jointly nominated Democrat Henry L. Selden could defeat his American and Republican opponents. The incumbents Cook, Follett and Darius Clark were defeated.


1855 New York state election, Results
16 Republicans, 11 Americans, four Democrats and one Temperance man were elected to a two-year term (1856–57) in the New York State Senate.


1855 New York state election, Results
47 Democrats, 44 Americans, 35 Republicans and 2 Whigs were elected to the New York State Assembly of the 79th New York State Legislature.


1855 New Zealand general election
The 1855 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 2nd term. It was the second national election ever held in New Zealand, and the first one which elected a Parliament that had full authority to govern the colony.


1855 New Zealand general election, Background
The first New Zealand elections had been held after the passage of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The 1st Parliament did not have the ability to appoint the executive branch (Cabinet) of the New Zealand government, however, and a major dispute arose between Parliament and the Governor. In the 2nd Parliament, Parliament gained the powers it sought — for this reason, some see the 1855 elections, not the 1853 elections, as the beginning of New Zealand democracy.


1855 New Zealand general election, Background
At the time of the 1855 elections, there were no political parties in New Zealand. As such, all candidates were independents. Governments were formed based on loose coalitions, with prospective Prime Ministers needing to seek support from enough individual MPs to command a majority. This means that nobody could truly be said to have "won" an election — a government usually rose or fell based on its ability to make deals with MPs, not on election results.


1855 New Zealand general election, The election
In the 1855 elections, voting occurred on a different day for each individual seat. The first seat was elected on 26 October, and the final seat was elected on 28 December. An estimated 9,891 people were eligible to vote, although records are poor for some areas. The number of electoral districts was 24, with some districts electing multiple MPs. The total number of seats was 37. Some parts of the colony were not part of any district, and did not have representation in Parliament.


1855 Newfoundland general election
The 1855 Newfoundland general election was held in 1855 to elect members of the 6th General Assembly of Newfoundland. This was the first election after responsible government was introduced to Newfoundland Colony. The Liberal Party led by Philip Francis Little formed the government.


1855 Ohio gubernatorial election
The 1855 Ohio gubernatorial election was held on October 9, 1855. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Ohio William Medill became governor after the resignation of Reuben Wood to accept a consulship, and Lt. Governor Medill became elected in his own right in 1853. The 1855 election was one of the first major tests of the fledgling Republican Party, then still a coalition of various anti-slavery forces, including former rival Democrats and Whig members. This election led them to quickly dominate Ohio politics for the next half-century.


1855 Ohio gubernatorial election
The election is also unique in that it was a contest of three Governors, past, present, and future. With Allen Trimble having served in the 1820s, William Medill serving at the time of the election, and Salmon Chase succeeding Medill. Trimble proved to be somewhat of a spoiler candidate, leaving Chase to win with only a plurality of the votes.


1855 South Australian colonial election
Colonial elections were held in South Australia on 20/21 September 1855. Only 16 of the 24 seats in the unicameral Legislative Council were popularly elected, the second occurrence of voting franchise in the colony. The 1851 election was the first of this type.


1855 South Australian colonial election
The election resulted in violence on 20 September 1855 in Hindley Street between opponents and supporters of Anthony Forster, editor and part-owner of the South Australian Register and also one of the candidates for election. A consequence of the violence was the introduction of secret ballots from the following election.


1855 South Australian colonial election
The 1857 election was the first contest which popularly elected all members to the new bicameral Parliament of South Australia.


1855 South Australian colonial election
The first six Governors of South Australia oversaw governance from proclamation in 1836 until self-government in 1857.


1855 Texas gubernatorial election
The 1855 Texas gubernatorial election was held on August 6, 1855 to elect the Governor of Texas. Incumbent Governor Elisha M. Pease was reelected to a second term, winning 57% of the vote.


1855 United States Senate election in New York
The 1855 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 6, 1855, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator (Class 3) to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Background
William H. Seward had been elected in 1849 to this seat and his term would expire on March 3, 1855.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Background
At the time the Democratic Party was split into two opposing factions: the "Hards" and the "Softs". After most of the "Barnburners" had left the party, joining the Whigs, the majority of "Hunkers" split over the question of reconciliation with the minority of Barnburners who had remained Democrats. The Hard faction (led by Daniel S. Dickinson) was against it, in true Hunker fashion claiming all patronage for themselves; the Soft faction (led by William L. Marcy, which included the former Barnburners, advocated party unity as a necessity to defeat the Whigs.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Background
In 1854, the Republican Party was founded as a national party, but in New York the Whigs and the Anti- Nebraska Party ran concurrently at the State election. The unification of these occurred in New York only during the nomination convention for the State election in November 1855. Also running in the 1854 election were the American Party and nominees of the Temperance movement. In a general way, party lines were blurred until the re-alignment during the late 1850s after the disbanding of the American Party.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Background
At the State election in November 1853, 23 Whigs, 7 Hards and 2 Softs were elected for a two-year term (1854-1855) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1854, Whig State Senator Myron H. Clark was elected Governor of New York, and 82 Whigs, 26 Softs, 16 Hards and 3 Temperance men were elected for the session of 1855 to the New York State Assembly. "Know Nothings are sprinkled miscellaneously among Whigs, Hards and Softs; and exactly how many there are of these gentry in the Assembly Nobody Knows." The 78th New York State Legislature met from January 2 to April 14, 1855, at Albany, New York.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Candidates
The incumbent U.S. Senator William H. Seward ran for re-election as a Whig.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Election
In the Assembly, Seward received 69 votes, given by 65 Whigs; 1 Democrat; 1 Temperance man; 1 Republican and 1 Whig-Republican. Dickinson received 14 votes, given by 13 Democrats and 1 American. Horatio Seymour received the votes of 12 Democrats. Dix received 7 votes, given by 5 Democrats; 1 Independent Democrat and 1 Temperance man. Fillmore received 4 votes, given by 2 Whigs; 1 Democrat and 1 Temperance-American. Horatio Seymour, Jr., received the votes of 2 Americans. King, Butler, Lester, Wait and Bronson received 1 Democratic vote each. Campbell received 1 Temperance-American vote. Howell received 1 American vote. Hoffman and Haven received 1 Whig vote each.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Election
In the State Senate, Seward received 18 Whig votes, Dickinson 5 Hard votes, and Allen 2 Whig votes. Preston and Church received 1 Soft vote each. Hoffman, Babcock, Ullmann and Fillmore received 1 American vote each.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Result
William H. Seward was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.


1855 United States Senate election in New York, Aftermath
Seward remained in the U.S. Senate until March 3, 1861, and two days later became U.S. Secretary of State, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
The 1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was held during January 1855. Henry Wilson was elected to fill the remainder of the term left vacant by the resignation of Edward Everett.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
Everett had resigned in 1854 over poor health and protest following his failure to vote against the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Prior to the election, Julius Rockwell had been appointed to the seat on an interim basis.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
At the time, Massachusetts elected United States senators by a majority vote of each separate house of the Massachusetts General Court, the House and the Senate.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background
In 1854, the anti-immigration, anti-slavery American Party (better known as Know-Nothings) swept the Massachusetts elections, taking nearly every seat in the legislature.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, American Party caucus
Henry Wilson was nominated as the American Party candidate in a legislative caucus on January 13. Most of the House participated; none of the Senators did.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Opposition to Wilson
Following Wilson's endorsement by the caucus, public opposition was aroused against his election. On January 15, a printed circular called for a caucus of "all members in the House who believe in the freedom of debate, who refuse to sanction a high-handed course of political action, and who are opposed to the election of Hon. Henry Wilson to the United States Senate." The opposition caucus met and endorsed Alexander Bullock for Senator.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Election in the House
Much of the debate in the House surrounded Wilson's loyalty to the American Party, or his lack thereof. Wilson had been the Free Soil Party candidate for Governor in 1854 but aligned himself with the nativist Know Nothing movement after their sweeping victory, in an effort to strengthen the party's emphasis on opposition to slavery. (The Free Soil Party had been dissolved into the new Republican Party.)


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Election in the House
On January 23, the House convened and elected Wilson on the first ballot. His candidacy was then sent to the Senate for ratification.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Election in the Senate
On January 31, the State Senate convened and ratified the House's choice of Wilson.


1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Aftermath
Wilson joined Samuel Hoar's new anti-slavery Republican Party upon entering the Senate.


1855 Vermont gubernatorial election
The 1855 Vermont gubernatorial election for governor of Vermont was held on September 4. With the Whig Party defunct after 1854, incumbent Stephen Royce, who had run with the support of both Whigs and the new Republican Party in 1854, ran as the nominee of the Republicans. The Democratic candidate was Merritt Clark, who had run unsuccessfully against Royce in 1854. James M. Slade, the Clerk of the Vermont House of Representatives was the nominee of the Know Nothing Party, also called the American Party.


1855 Vermont gubernatorial election
With Vermont firmly in the anti-slavery camp and the Republican Party established as the main abolitionist party, Royce was easily re-elected with 58.4 percent of the vote to 22.9 for Clark and 8.4 for Slade. Royce took the oath of office and began a one-year term on October 13, 1855.


1855 Vermont gubernatorial election
The 1855 election also marked Republican extension of the "Mountain Rule" for the governor's and lieutenant governor's offices. As originally implemented, the Mountain Rule called for one U.S. Senator to be from the west side of the Green Mountains, and one from the east, and for the governorship and lieutenant governorship to rotate between east and west. With the Republican Party's expansion of the rule, it dictated that the governor and lieutenant governor would not only be from alternate sides of the Green Mountains, but that they would also be limited to two years in office.


1855 Virginia gubernatorial election
The 1855 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on May 24, 1855 to elect the governor of Virginia.


1855 Wairarapa earthquake
The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on 23 January at about 9 p.m., affecting much of the Cook Strait area of New Zealand, including Marlborough in the South Island and Wellington and Wairarapa in the North Island. In Wellington, close to the epicenter, shaking lasted for at least 50 seconds. The moment magnitude of the earthquake has been estimated as 8.2, the most powerful recorded in New Zealand since systematic European colonisation began in 1840. This earthquake was associated with the largest observed movement on a strike-slip fault, maximum 18 metres (59 ft). It has been suggested that the surface rupture formed by this event helped influence Charles Lyell to link earthquakes with rapid movement on faults.


1855 Wairarapa earthquake, Tectonic setting
New Zealand lies along the boundary between the Australian and Pacific Plates. In the South Island most of the relative displacement between these plates is taken up along a single dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault with a major reverse component, the Alpine Fault. In the North Island the displacement is mainly taken up along the Kermadec subduction zone, although the remaining dextral strike-slip component of the relative plate motion is accommodated by the North Island Fault System (NIFS). A group of dextral strike-slip structures, known as the Marlborough Fault System, transfer displacement between the mainly transform and convergent type plate boundaries in a complex zone at the northern end of the South Island. The earthquake occurred on the Wairarapa Fault which is part of the NIFS.


1855 Wairarapa earthquake, Earthquake characteristics
The earthquake was associated with the rupturing of approximately 150 km (93 mi) of the Wairarapa Fault. A horizontal displacement of up to 18 metres (59 ft) was accompanied by uplift and tilting of the Rimutaka Range on the northwestern side of the fault with vertical offsets of about 6 metres near the fault reducing to almost nothing on the western coast of the Wellington Peninsula. The estimated magnitude of about 8.2 is unusually large for an earthquake associated with movement on a mainly strike-slip fault, and the coseismic offset would have been the largest known for such an event.


1855 Wairarapa earthquake, Earthquake characteristics
It has been suggested that this was caused by the rupture propagating down to where the fault links through to the top of the subducting Pacific Plate. Geomorphological evidence, particularly the uplifted beach ridges observed at Turakirae Head, appears to record three previous coseismic uplifts of the Rimutaka Range caused by earthquakes similar in magnitude to the 1855 event, with a recurrence interval of about 2200 years.


1855 Wairarapa earthquake, Damage
Wellington experienced severe shaking but the resulting damage was reduced as the city had been extensively rebuilt following the 1848 Marlborough earthquake using mainly wooden structures; only one recorded fatality (in a brick building) occurred. Reports identify at least another four people (possibly as many as eight) as having died in the surrounding countryside during the earthquake. Numerous landslides were associated with the earthquake, including numerous events along the slopes of the Rimutaka Range. Minor damage was recorded in places as far away as Lyttelton and Christchurch.


1855 Wairarapa earthquake, Damage
The uplift of the northwestern side of Wellington Harbour rendered many of the jetties in the harbour unusable, although this new area of land provided a new rail and road route to the north. Much of modern Wellington's central business district is formed from land raised from the harbour by the event, as shown by the series of "Shoreline 1840" plaques.