1846 Havana hurricane, Impact
Damage to houses, crops, and shipping was catastrophic throughout the island; the storm was reportedly the worst in Cuban history at the time, more severe even than an earlier hurricane in 1844. Waves were high enough to reach the lanterns of the Morro Castle lighthouse. While no concrete death toll was established, reports indicated the deaths of several dozen individuals during the entire course of the storm, while other records noted that hundreds of deaths had possibly occurred across the island.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact
Damage in the United States, however, was better-documented. There, the disturbance washed away the island of Sand Key and resulted in the loss of many vessels in nearby Key West harbor. Its storm surge scattered debris throughout the city and swept many structures afloat upon high waters. In all, approximately $200,000 in damage and 40 deaths were reported, representing four percent of the town's population. Elsewhere in the state, damage remained severe, with abnormal storm tides and widespread property destruction noted.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact
Shipping and agriculture took the brunt of the storm's impact in other southeastern states; there, it produced damage similar to that inflicted by an earlier 1824 hurricane. Even farther north along the Middle-Atlantic coast, copious rainfall and intense gusts were observed, especially in the New England region. Winds uprooted trees, cracked canals, damaged railroads, and demolished factories. Rainfall totals, however, were generally low, indicative of a dry gale. In all, the hurricane caused at least 164 deaths and $338,000 (1846 USD) in damage throughout its path, although some reports indicated hundreds of additional deaths across the island of Cuba.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Early in its development, the hurricane passed near the Cayman Islands, inundating all of Grand Cayman, with its worst effects concentrated at the localities of Savannah and Newlands, both under a 15 ft (4.6 m) storm surge. Although residential damage was minimal, many grasslands were destroyed.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Celebrations coinciding with the birthday of Isabella II of Spain held in Havana, Cuba, on 10 October were disrupted by heavy rains and strong winds, indicative of the hurricane's imminent arrival that evening. Following the storm's landfall, the most severe damage as a result of the storm was observed from eastern regions of Pinar del Río to western Matanzas. Already soaked by weeks of constant rainfall, with swollen rivers, inundated roads, and spoiled tobacco crops, existing problems were only further exacerbated; at Paso Real de San Diego, cassava, sweet potato, and other vianda harvests were ruined.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
In Havana proper, 30 feet (9.1 m) waves battered ships seeking refuge in the city's harbor, grounded, driven away, capsized, and smashed, with much of their cargo, composing of cartons of sugar, bales of tobacco, and fragments of hemp, barrels, and cases strewn along the shore and sea. In all, the gale destroyed or seriously damaged 105 commercial ships, 70 sloops, pilot boats, and military craft, as well as 111 other vessels at sea; as a result, shortages of many essential goods occurred in inland provinces. Damage in Cuban port cities was only further aggravated by the amount of debris produced by the destruction of ships, warehouses, and docks, which were in turn blown into harborside structures by powerful gusts.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Masonry buildings bore the brunt of the storm, with the recently overhauled Teatro Principal wholly obliterated, the city gas plant rendered unusable after its smokestack crumpled, and numerous churches flattened. Havana Cathedral experienced considerable damage to its roof, while the Montserrat Church was completely unroofed. The hurricane destroyed parish churches at Jesus del Monte and Guanabacoa, while several hospitals, including the Real Hospital de San Lázaro, were also demolished, with its entrance wrecked, several wards and its infirmary building damaged, and its roofs crippled. Damage was so severe that some believed that the destruction was wrought by an earthquake.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Residential damage was omnipresent, with 1,275 houses razed to the ground and another 1,040 damaged in Guanabacoa alone. The storm covered streets with planks, tiles, and other debris, uprooted and defoliated palm trees, ruined gardens, and damaged balconies. The massive storm surge associated with the system annihilated and washed away most of the huts and houses of Batabanó, with only 20 left standing. Food and water supplies were lost, while the retreating tides left behind inches of mud and mounds of debris in their wake.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
At Caimito and Rosario, warehouses, their contents, piers, and wharves were all driven out into the neighboring ocean, and both towns were entirely flattened. The hurricane destroyed all the piers and nearly every building in Cabañas, and of the 23 houses built in Cojimar, only seven weathered the storm. A majority of ships at Matanzas were destroyed, with numerous ships capsized or washed aground. Massive waves crashed ashore, crushing buildings and inundating low-lying areas in the city. Many wooden and stone buildings, already impaired by an earlier hurricane in 1844, were immediately destroyed by the surge's impact.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Structures along the shoreline, in addition to towns along the courses of the Yumurí and San Juan rivers, were driven out to sea. More than forty deaths occurred in the first round of flooding brought by the storm. At Güines, the tempest wrecked all of the town's residences, public buildings, and businesses, and over a hundred individuals died. Among the losses were two distilleries, a packing plant, a lumbermill, and a warehouse, and countless other buildings, while at Pinar del Río, flooding along mountainsides and nearby rivers swamped the city and other nearby communities.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
Not a single residence remained undamaged after the hurricane's passage in Bejucal, San Antonio de los Baños, Santiago de Las Vegas, and Mariel, and those that were not destroyed were unroofed. Nueva Paz suffered the loss of 110 homes, while Madruga lost 100; only five remained standing at Managua, and of the eight left at Quivicán, all were severely damaged. At Jibacoa, only 32 of the town's 82 residences survived the storm. The seaside town of Guanabo was entirely lost, with floodwaters driving the town to sea and leaving its residents homeless.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Caribbean Sea
The hamlets of Mantilla, La Chorrera, and Paula disappeared entirely, while Candelaria was washed away with the loss of all its structures, of which a majority collapsed under the strength of the storm's powerful winds before being driven out to sea. Most structures in Cayajabos, Boyeros, and Aguacate were flattened, while the villages of Alquízar, Güira de Melena, and Vereda Nueva essentially vanished after the storm passed through. Guatao was entirely destroyed, suffering the loss of its apparently indestructible church, while Quemado wholly vanished and only four houses endured the storm's impacts at San Antonio de los Baños.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
The impacts of the hurricane were extreme throughout the state of Florida, especially in the Florida Keys. High winds washed away two lighthouses near Key West, resulting in the deaths of all 6 people at Sand Key Light and 14 individuals at the Key West Lighthouse; although keeper Barbara Mabrity survived, seven of her children died while taking refuge there during the hurricane.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
The 5 ft (1.5 m)-storm surge in Key West proper swept through downtown and forced many to abandon their homes; many attempted to flee to higher ground ("the highest piece of land — seventeen feet high, with waves threatening to push them off") but were still killed or injured. All wharves and warehouses in the town suffered some degree of damage, and of the approximately six hundred residences on the key, only six endured the storm's fury successfully, with the others unroofed or flattened by intense winds.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Fort Zachary Taylor, partially obliterated by the hurricane, endured over $200,000 in damage, while the nearby customs-house was also harmed. Uprooted trees and debris from destroyed houses rendered roads impassable. The storm also changed the landscape within the vicinity, washing away Sand Key entirety. However, the island quickly resurfaced by that December, albeit 50 ft (15 m) west of its original position. Every vessel at local harbor sustained serious damage; in addition, some 20 vessels were unaccounted for, and at least 40 deaths were documented, though another source suggested 50 lives were lost out at sea. An additional twelve died inland as a result death by being impaled, crushed, or drowned.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Powerful winds and the storm's massive flood tide washed lumber and casks aboard ships. Massive pieces of timber, hurled across town, cracked walls and inflicted significant damage. Floodwaters 3 ft (0.91 m) deep submerged already debris-clogged streets, with inundation as deep as 7.5 ft (2.3 m) in the key's northeastern sector. There, the Lafayette Salt Company was swept away along with two military cemeteries. Floodwaters exhumed many skeletons and coffins in those graveyards, dispersing them across local forests. In downtown, both the Episcopal and Methodist chapels collapsed, and warehouses were moderately damaged.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
The town's new stone marine hospital, struck by the remnants of a wharf and a large raft, was nearly completely destroyed by the storm's intense winds. Lumber, crowbars, and cannon carriages from the construction site of Fort Zachary Taylor were scattered throughout the streets. High waters floated a camp stable 200 ft (61 m) from its initial location, floating its horses and mules to safety. Four drowning deaths were chronicled at the fort, all having been swept away from the fort.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Several wooden buildings along the shoreline, not tethered to the ground, drifted out to sea upon high waters due to the sheer force of the hurricane's gusts. Other notable maritime losses were also noted nearby, with the deaths of three on the Lafayette, which capsized offshore, one fatality each upon the Exchange and Frankford, and 19 casualties on the Villa Nueva; in addition, several other abandoned vessels were driven aground, apparently without any loss of life.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
The storm's path of devastation extended northward through the state. In Manatee County, a plantation owner and his horse drowned attempting to cross the elevated waters of the Little Manatee River. To the north at Fort Brooke, high winds felled several oak trees on the grounds of a local military installation, wholly uprooting several others. Along Tampa Bay, winds obliterated several houses and flattened fences. To the northeast at Jacksonville, the storm was more severe, with the hurricane's winds having been "beyond anything in the recollection of ... the oldest inhabitant [of the town]."


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Storm tides exceeded the previously recorded high water mark by 6 ft (1.8 m), inundating numerous wharves and businesses along the path of Bay Street. By the time the storm's fury abated, the storm tossed wharves out to sea, wrecked structures along the St. Johns River, and rendered nearby saw mills' lumber worthless.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Even along other, farther north, portions of the southeastern coast, the gale remained intense. At Savannah, Georgia, one fatality occurred at sea, and damage to fences, roofs, and trees was minor despite high winds, with debris from the remnants of chinaberry trees littering the streets of the city. A schooner capsized at Union Wharf, and farther down the coast at Tybee Island, another craft was washed aground. Within the vicinity of Darien, Georgia, the gale's high tides swamped rice fields, also impeding the impending harvest along the Savannah River in South Carolina.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Although little rain fell farther north at Charleston, with merely 2.03 in (5.2 cm) measured, gusts leveled wharves, uprooted trees, prostrated fences, and unroofed buildings. Despite copious rainfall measurements at Columbia, which received 4.50 in (11.4 cm) of rainfall, damage was minimal and, for the most part, restricted to crops. The vessel Mutual Safety departed Charleston in the mid-afternoon of 10 October, but soon encountered the storm and experienced severe damage.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
In an effort to save the vessel's passengers, it was deliberately run ashore near Jacksonville, Florida, without the loss of any passengers on board; however, the steamer itself was not salvageable. A dozen ships beached or capsized in Charleston's harbors, with many wharves demolished along the city's shoreline. The western part of Tradd Street, especially near Chisolm's Mill and South Bay's sidewalk, eroded as a result of wind and water, which also fractured the South Bay and East Battery walls. Gusts unroofed the Trinity Church along Hasell Street; the roof itself landed in an adjacent graveyard.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Southeastern United States
Despite extensive damage, only one death was noted in the city, that of a slave whose boat floundered at sea. Unexpectedly low storm tides of 2 ft (24 in) at Georgetown, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina inflicted no noteworthy damage. In general, however, the hurricane was reportedly the most severe since 1824 along the southeastern seaboard.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Not a single wharf at Baltimore, Maryland escaped the hurricane's storm surge, which inundated the length of Pratt Street along the shore; meanwhile, the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Virginia, attained its highest level in 20 years, with the latter two cities plagued by surface runoff on 13 October, following the storm's passage. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal also bore the brunt of the storm's impact, having been swamped by potent rainfall as well. Low-lying areas along the Delaware River, including New Castle, Delaware, experienced storm tides not seen since the 1775 Newfoundland hurricane.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
The floodwaters were high enough to even extinguish a fire in a stationary locomotive which had been impeded by the gale's rainfall. The local Episcopal Church's steeple was tossed away by forceful gusts. To the north at Philadelphia, the tempest was the most intense in 30 years, with its high tides engulfing every wharf in the city; a total of 1.25 in (3.2 cm) of rain was measured at Pennsylvania Hospital. Despite widespread destruction along the Delaware River, damage to buildings in Philadelphia proper was less severe. Heavy rainfall was also generated throughout western portions of the state. In neighboring New Jersey, considerable damage to structures, timber, land, and livestock was observed, with winds toppling several buildings and trees; widespread rainfall, meanwhile, flooded salt marshes, also drowning cattle and sheep. High winds tangled poles and wires, in turn interrupting telegraphic communications along the Washington-Baltimore-New York corridor.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Damage was similarly severe in New England, despite the storm's transition into a weaker extratropical cyclone. Despite being significantly farther east from New York City, the storm produced severe impacts in the area. Significant damage was observed, with the waters of Upper New York Bay crashing over the Battery Park sea wall, washing away 300 ft (91 m) of its length. Gusts caved in chimneys, uprooted trees, and sank several canal boats at the city's wharves. At Buffalo, a rupture along the Erie Canal interrupted nearby traffic, and to the east in Dansville, copious rainfall was also recorded.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Approximately 1.25 in (3.2 cm) of rain accompanied low atmospheric pressure readings throughout a wide area, with winds along the gale's eastern fringes, especially at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, remaining intense. In New England, it was generally considered to be the most severe storm since a previous disturbance in October 1841, despite having produced minimal rainfall totals throughout the region, including 0.33 in (0.84 cm) at New Bedford. Gusts felled trees paralleling both sides of a roadway from Springfield to Amherst. Nearby at Worcester, winds flattened several factories, and also overturned a substantial number trees in the outskirts of Boston. A newly built brick residence's walls in the southern end of the city collapsed; on the other side of the city, a sawing and planing mill was razed to the ground.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Within the proximity of Boston at the towns of Canton and Southborough, winds obliterated two factories. High winds at Grafton collapsed the railroad sheds under the ownership of the Providence and Worcester Railroad. Malden endured the loss of a mansion which was still under construction, and several smaller buildings were also blown down there and at Monson. Winds upturned trees and toppled fences at Northampton, and nearby at Palmer, a school building was crumbled into pieces by intense winds. At Springfield, winds unroofed a repair facility at a local railroad depot and a house at the town armory.


1846 Havana hurricane, Impact, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
Gusts destroyed railroad sheds and factories in Stoughton and Worcester as well, and at Wilmington, winds crumbled a house into pieces. Slightly to the south in Norwich, Connecticut, fallen trees obstructed railroad tracks, and at Hartford, a railroad bridge was thrown farther upstream along the Connecticut River. Further railroad damage was noted to property owned by the Winchester and Potomac, Baltimore and Ohio, and other railroads throughout the region. Nearly all key bridges managed by those railroads were washed away, with many other track segments covered in debris. In all, the hurricane caused at least 164 deaths.


1846 Havana hurricane, Aftermath and records
Immediately following the storm's end, the U.S. Army Quartermaster permitted homeless citizens to rest in its local barracks. Food, water, and supplies were lacking, with most having been washed away, rendered unusable, or become inedible due to the storm's salty storm surge. The Morris's captain obtained supplies from a damaged vessel, sending them to a local Methodist minister. Efforts to reconstruct and recover from the disaster were not immediate due to the lack of available resources.


1846 Havana hurricane, Aftermath and records
With the loss of area lighthouses, local waters were difficult to navigate, with one shipwreck occurring as a result west of Key West; in response, a 60 ft (18 m) staff was placed at the former location of the now-destroyed Key West Lighthouse. Many vessels were also lost near Sand Key Light, and decades later, the tower, poorly maintained due to a lack of government funding, continued to deteriorate.


1846 Havana hurricane, Aftermath and records
The 1846 hurricane resulted in a variety of both geological, geographical, and ecological alterations. In Key West, the local salt pond shifted from its original position, becoming a hindrance to local residents and requiring it to be filled up; eventually, the tourist district of Key West emerged over the former site of the salt pond. By December 1846, Sand Key, which was inundated during the hurricane, resurfaced from the waters of the Atlantic.


1846 Havana hurricane, Aftermath and records
However, it was situated approximately 50 ft (15 m) west of its location prior to the hurricane, and even months later, the lighthouse remained under 2 ft (0.61 m) of seawater. Years afterward, greenery on the key was sparse, and little native vegetation existed. Signs of ecological damage remained even in the early 1880s, evidenced by the presence of rushes among the leaves of trees and bushes.


1846 Havana hurricane, Aftermath and records
The 1846 Havana hurricane was likely of Category 5 intensity, the earliest known tropical cyclone of its strength to strike Cuba. In 1993, the weather historian Jose Fernandez-Partagás analyzed an anomalous atmospheric pressure of 916 mbar (27.06 inHg) measured at Havana upon the vessel Thames, deeming it to be abnormally low and evaluating its true value to be closer to 938 mbar (27.70 inHg), making the hurricane the most intense in recorded history at the time. The exceptionally low pressure reading in Cuba surpassed a previous record of 948 mbar (28.00 inHg) set by an 1844 storm, with the new record eventually exceeded by the 1924 Cuba hurricane, which featured a manually recorded pressure reading of 932 mbar (27.52 inHg).


1846 Illinois gubernatorial election
The 1846 Illinois gubernatorial election was the eighth quadrennial election for this office. Democrat Augustus C. French defeated Whig nominee Thomas M. Kilpatrick, for the office. Richard Eels of the Liberty Party came in a distant third. The term was cut short, and lasted only half the normal length. This synchronized the gubernatorial election with the election for President.


1846 Iowa Senate election
In the 1846 Iowa State Senate elections, Iowa voters elected state senators to serve in the first Iowa General Assembly. Elections were held for all 19 members of the State Senate. In the newly created Senate, members were to serve four-year terms. Members of the first General Assembly were classified into two groups. Nine of the newly elected senators would serve full four-year terms, while 10 drew short terms of two years and were up for re-election in 1848. This classification process began the rotation system whereby half the members of the Senate are elected biennially for full four-year terms.


1846 Iowa Senate election
This was the first general election following Iowa's admission to the Union. Prior to statehood, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House). Therefore, the Territory Council was the predecessor of the Iowa Senate, which became the upper chamber in the new Iowa General Assembly.


1846 Iowa Senate election
In the previous election in 1845, the members of the eighth and final Territory Council were chosen. Democrats held a majority of seats with 11 to Whigs' two seats in the final Territory Council. The newly created Iowa Senate was expanded to nineteen members and districts were redrawn in advance of the election.


1846 Iowa Senate election
To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net eight seats.


1846 Iowa Senate election
Democrats maintained a majority of seats. Following the 1846 general election, Democrats held 11 seats in the Iowa Senate while Whigs held eight seats (a net gain of 6 seats for Whigs). Democratic Councilor Stephen Hempstead was the President of the eighth & final Territory Council. Democratic Senator Thomas Baker was chosen as the first President of the Iowa Senate. During the first General Assembly, Democratic Senator Thomas Hughes succeeded Senator Baker as the second President of the Iowa Senate.


1846 Liberian independence referendum
An independence referendum was held in Liberia on 27 October 1846. The result was 52% in favour, with independence being declared on 26 July 1847.


1846 Liberian independence referendum
The American Colonization Society (ACS) had established the colony of Liberia in 1817, with an appointed governor. The British did not acknowledge Liberian customs as the colony was not independent, and during the mid-19th century there were continuous clashes between Liberian government and British merchants from Sierra Leone over payment of taxes, with the merchants arguing that the country had no right to impose taxes.


1846 Liberian independence referendum
Following independence, a constitution that had been agreed on 26 July 1847 was approved in a referendum in September.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background
In the United States, there was a movement to resettle free-born blacks and freed slaves, in Africa, believing blacks would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States where their rights were still restricted. The American Colonization Society (ACS) was founded in 1816 in Washington, D.C. for this purpose, by a group of prominent politicians and slaveowners. Most African-Americans, who were native-born by this time, wanted to work toward justice in the United States rather than emigrate.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background
The ACS, supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed repatriation of free African-Americans was preferable to widespread emancipation of slaves. Similar state-based organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa and the Republic of Maryland, which were later annexed by Liberia. Colonizationists used their position to influence other former slaves to return to Africa. These individuals believed that "they could create their own version of the United States beyond the borders of a white republic."


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background
In 1822, the ACS began sending African-American volunteers to the Pepper Coast to establish a colony for African-Americans. By 1867, the ACS (and state-related chapters) had assisted in the migration of more than 13,000 African-Americans to Liberia. These free African-Americans and their descendants married within their community and came to identify as Americo-Liberians. Many were of mixed race and educated in American culture; they did not identify with the indigenous natives of the tribes they encountered.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background
They intermarried largely within the colonial community, developing an ethnic group that had a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism and Protestant Christianity. They knew nothing of the indigenous cultures, languages or animist religion. Encounters with tribal Africans in the bush often developed into violent confrontations. The colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. Because of feeling set apart and superior by their culture and education to the indigenous people, the Americo-Liberians developed as a small elite that held on to political power. It excluded the indigenous tribesmen from birthright citizenship in their own lands until 1904, in a repetition of the United States' treatment of Native Americans.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background
The ACS and American-Africans mutually agreed that Liberia was its own separate entity. The colony needed some form of formal process to realize its statehood. Even before, declaring independence the ACS was helping Liberia draft a constitution. The first referendum for independence occurred in November 1846. The general population was badly split. The referendum relied on more information from legislature to make an adequate decision. Members of both sides decided to present arguments to sway votes.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background
Many Liberians, especially the rich who were affected by the continuous regression by ACS, began to seek independence. During the mid-19th century, there were also continuous clashes between Liberian government and British merchants from Sierra Leone, with the merchants arguing that the country had no right to impose taxes. The elites in the colony wanted to declare sovereignty to overcome the issue, resulting in the declaration.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background, British Influence
British influence in Western Africa continued to expand when Sierra Leone was absorbed by Britain. Britain looked to expand its influence into more of Western African. Colonists were pushed as their sovereignty was threatened by British traders. They attempted to attack their claims on their biggest source of revenues, custom duties. American-Africans utilized this opportunity to consolidate support and establish independence to become a full taxing authority. After settling differences with Britain, Liberia aided Britain in the illegal slave trade. Due to close relations in Western Africa, Britain was the first country to recognize Liberian independence.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background, Other threats to Independence
Internally, Liberia struggled in establishing society as discrimination occurred between African-American, African tribes, Europeans, and Mulattoes. Socioeconomic classes divided interests for the development of Liberia. Externally, other international powers were looking to take advantage of Liberian resources. European diplomats looked to threaten Liberia's sovereignty. Establishing a strong tie to the United States proved vital for survival. Imperialism threatened to damage internal land claims. Establishing colonial authority with the help of the ACS proved vital for Liberia's future.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Background, Legislative development
The early legislature struggled to divide itself from the American Colonization society. Independence was an after thought as these African-Americans attempted to establish themselves on the Pepper Coast. The assistance of the ACS was necessary for the colony continue. Early colonies struggled to establish themselves from the indigenous groups. Monrovia's development allowed for the legislature and the state to development. Demands for independence only grew starting in the late 1830s and early 1840s after industry and prices. Starting in 1845, the Liberian colonies recognized that independence from the ACS was necessary to achieve their next step- independence. Fever for independence continued to grow as Liberian government wished to ensure freedom for its citizens. Government meetings in 1846 continued to embrace conversations of independence.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Aftermath
On 26 July 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and the better-organized political faction led by Joseph Jenkins Roberts who would go on to become the first President of Liberia won the struggle. However, opposition persisted as they rationalized that the ACS had other motives for their land and property.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Aftermath
A constitution was also promulgated based on the political principles denoted in the United States Constitution; drafts of the document were very similar to the U.S Constitution. The new constitution was approved in a referendum in September 1847, held alongside elections were held for president and vice president. The new government was not able to broker a deal that included the land claims for the provinces. They sent a Declaration of Independence signed by President and Governor, Roberts.


1846 Liberian independence referendum, Remembrance
26 July is now marked as independence day. In America, Liberians utilize this date as the evolution of their relationship between the United States and Liberia. Celebrations usually involve a music festival. Domestically, Liberian Independence Day is one of most recognized and celebrated holidays, alongside New Year's, Pioneer's Day, Armed Forces Day, African Liberation Day, Flag Day, and Thanksgiving Day.


1846 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Monday 2 November 1846. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1846 Liverpool Town Council election
Three of the sixteen wards were uncontested. In the uncontested elections, votes were still cast, although in very small numbers.


1846 Louisiana gubernatorial election
The 1846 Louisiana gubernatorial election was the first of two elections to take place under the Louisiana Constitution of 1845. The new constitution abolished the provision in the 1812 constitution that required a gubernatorial candidate to win a vote of the legislature to get elected, leaving the final decision up to the people. The new constitution also cut incumbent Governor Alexandre Mouton's term short by one year thus moving the election from July 1846 to January 1846 with the inauguration of the new governor in February.


1846 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The 1846 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 9.


1846 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
Incumbent Whig Governor George N. Briggs was re-elected to a fourth term in office over Democrat Isaac Davis.


1846 Massachusetts legislature
The 67th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1846 during the governorship of George N. Briggs. William B. Calhoun served as president of the Senate and Samuel H. Walley, Jr. served as speaker of the House.


1846 Naval Air Squadron
1846 Naval Air Squadron (1846 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.


1846 New York state election
The 1846 New York state election was held on November 3, 1846, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor and two Canal Commissioners, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and eight members of the New York State Senate.


1846 New York state election, History
At the Whig state convention, Young was nominated for governor on the third ballot with 76 votes against 45 for Millard Fillmore who had been the unsuccessful Whig candidate at the previous gubernatorial election in 1844.


1846 New York state election, Results
The Democratic and the Whig parties being of almost equal strength at the time, the cross-endorsed Anti- Rent ticket was elected. The incumbent governor Wright was defeated. The incumbent lieutenant governor Gardiner was re-elected.


1846 New York state election, Results
At the same time, the voters adopted the New York State Constitution of 1846, so that the elected Canal Commissioners could not take office for their elected term. Both Hudson and Clowes eventually took office by appointment to fill vacancies.


1846 New York state election, Results
Five Whigs and three Democrats were elected for the session of 1847 to the New York State Senate. Under the Constitution of 1821, every year 8 of the 32 senators were elected to a four-year term. These 8 now elected, and the 24 remaining state senators, were legislated out of office by the Constitution of 1846, their term ending on December 31, 1847.


1846 New York state election, Results
72 Whigs and 56 Democrats were elected to the New York State Assembly of the 70th New York State Legislature, of whom 6 Whigs and 4 Democrats were elected with Anti-Rent endorsement.


1846 New York state election, Results
Obs. : The number of votes is the total of Whig and Anti- Rent votes for Young and Clowes, the total of Democratic and Anti- Rent votes for Gardiner and Hudson, and the total of Liberty and National Reform votes for Bradley and Chaplin.


1846 Philadelphia mayoral election
The Philadelphia mayoral election of 1846 saw John Swift reelected to office for a tenth overall non-consecutive term.


1846 Philadelphia mayoral election, Electoral system
Beginning in 1839, the city operated under a mixed electoral system. Citizens voted for mayor in a general election. If a candidate receive a majority of the vote, they would be elected mayor. However, if no candidate received a majority, the City Council would select a mayor from the top-two finishers.


1846 St Ives by-election
The St Ives by-election of 1846 was an uncontested election held on 21 July 1846 for the constituency of St Ives in England. The by-election was brought about due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, William Tyringham Praed. It was won by the Conservative candidate William Powlett, who was the only declared candidate.


1846 State of the Union Address
The 1846 State of the Union Address was presented to the 29th United States Congress, containing both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives on Tuesday, December 8, 1846. It was the 56th address given. President James K. Polk, the 11th president, had written it. It was written during the Mexican–American War, and addresses it. "The existing war with Mexico was neither desired nor provoked by the United States."


1846 United States House of Representatives election in Florida
The 1846 United States House of Representatives election in Florida was held on Monday, October 5, 1846 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 30th Congress. The election coincided with the elections of other offices, including various state and local elections. The party primaries were held on June 20, 1846.


1846 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, 1847, to March 4, 1849.


1846 United States House of Representatives election in Florida, Background
In the 1845 congressional election, David Levy Yulee, a Democrat, was elected to the United States House of Representatives. However, Yulee was jointly elected by the Florida Legislature to the United States Senate, and so resigned from the House of Representatives before taking his seat in order to take his seat in the Senate.


1846 United States House of Representatives election in Florida, Background
A special election was held later in 1845, which saw the election of Edward Carrington Cabell, a Whig. However, his opponent, William Henry Brockenbrough, a Democrat, successfully challenged the results of the election and was seated in the House on January 24, 1846.


1846 United States elections
The 1846 United States elections occurred in the middle of Democratic President James Polk's term, during the Second Party System. The election took place during the Mexican–American War. Members of the 30th United States Congress were chosen in this election. Wisconsin joined the union during the 30th Congress. Democrats kept control of the Senate, but lost control of the House.


1846 United States elections
In the House, the Whigs won major gains, turning a dominant Democratic majority into a narrow Whig majority.


1846 United States elections
In the Senate, Democrats picked up a moderate number of seats, building on their majority.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 30th Congress were held during President James K. Polk's term at various dates in different states from August 1846 to November 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections
The Whigs gained 37 seats to win 116 and a change in partisan control, while the rival Democrats lost 30, falling to 112. The Whigs gained seats in the Mid-Atlantic and the South. The nativist and anti-Catholic American Party was reduced to one seat. One Independent, Amos Tuck, was elected from New Hampshire.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections
The Mexican–American War, which the incumbent House had voted overwhelmingly to approve, was the main issue. The war had much stronger voter support in the West, South, and among Democrats than in the East, North, and among Whigs.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections
It was widely, accurately believed that war with Mexico would be won with large territorial gains. The Wilmot Proviso was the first congressional attempt to address slavery in these projected new territories, by proposing to ban it. Congress rejected the Wilmot Proviso, but not quickly or smoothly. Protracted debate aggravated sectional tensions. The repeated failure of Congress, and later also the President and Supreme Court, over the next decade to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories was a major cause of the Civil War.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections
This was the last time the Whig Party won a House majority, though candidates opposed to the Democratic Party would win a large majority in the realigning 1854 election. Notable freshmen included Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, elected as a Whig to his only term.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Election summaries
The trend toward single-member districts culminated as no multi-member districts featured.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Election summaries
In 1845, partly motivated by the successful 1844 test of the electric telegraph between Washington and Baltimore, Congress established a uniform date for choosing Presidential electors. Gradually, states aligned nearly all elections with this date, though as of this election, only three states had done so.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Election summaries
Two seats were added for the new State of Wisconsin. Wisconsin was unrepresented for most of the first session.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Alabama
Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Connecticut
Elections were held April 5, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Indiana
Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Iowa, Elections to the 29th Congress
Elections for the new state were held October 26, 1846.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Iowa, Elections to the 30th Congress
Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Kentucky
Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Louisiana
Elections were held November 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Maryland
Elections were held October 6, 1847 elections were after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the new term, but still before the Congress convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Mississippi
Elections were held November 1–2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Missouri
Elections were held August 2, 1846. All five seats remained Democratic. Three of the members retired.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, New Hampshire
Elections were held March 9, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847. Two of the districts had run-off elections in July 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, North Carolina
Elections were held August 5, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Rhode Island
Elections were held April 7, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections, Virginia
Elections were held April 22, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections
The United States Senate elections of 1846 and 1847 were elections which had the Democratic Party gain four seats in the United States Senate.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections
As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by state legislatures.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Special elections during the 29th Congress
In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1846 or in 1847 before March 4; ordered by election date.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Races leading to the 30th Congress
In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1847; ordered by state.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Race summaries, Special elections during the 30th Congress
In this special election, the winner was elected in 1847 after March 4.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Iowa
Iowa became a state in December 1846, but did not elect its senators until December 1848.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Louisiana
Alexander Barrow (W) died December 29, 1846. Pierre Soulé (D) was elected January 21, 1847 just to finish the term. Solomon W. Downs (D) was elected to the next term.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, New Hampshire
Democratic appointee Benning W. Jenness lost the June 13, 1846 election to finish the term and the election the same day to the next term. Joseph Cilley (Liberty) was elected to finish the term, but lost the election to the next term. John P. Hale was (Independent Democratic) was elected to the next term and would later become a Free Soiler.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Virginia
William S. Archer (W) lost re-election to Democrat Robert M. T. Hunter.


1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections, Virginia (Special)
Isaac S. Pennybacker (D), who was not up for election, died January 12, 1847. James Murray Mason (D) was elected January 21, 1847.


1846 in Australia
The following lists events that happened during 1846 in Australia.


1846 in Chile
The following lists events that happened during 1846 in Chile.


1846 in New Zealand
The following lists events that happened during 1846 in New Zealand.


1846 in New Zealand, Population
The estimated population of New Zealand at the end of 1846 is 71,050 Māori and 13,274 non-Māori.


1846 in South Africa
The following lists events that happened during 1846 in South Africa.


1846 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1846 to Wales and its people.


1846 in architecture
The year 1846 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.


1846 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1846.


1846 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 1846.


1846 in paleontology, Archosauromorphs, New taxa
The name was also preoccupied by the well known species of prehistoric cat. The genus was later renamed Zanclodon.


1846 in paleontology, Archosauromorphs, New taxa
A non-dinosaurian archosaur; replacement name for Smilodon Plieninger, 1846 (non Lund 1842).


1846 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).


1846 in poetry, Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1846 in poetry, Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:


1846 in rail transport
This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1846.


1846 in science
The year 1846 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.


1846 in sports
1846 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.


1846 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 1846 in the United Kingdom. This year is noted for the repeal of the Corn Laws.


1846 in the United States
Events from the year 1846 in the United States. In this year, the United States declares war on Mexico, starting the Mexican–American War.


1846 papal conclave
The death of Pope Gregory XVI on 1 June 1846 triggered the 1846 papal conclave. Fifty of the 62 members of the College of Cardinals assembled in the Quirinal Palace, one of the papal palaces in Rome and the seat of two earlier 19th century conclaves. The conclave began on 14 June and had to elect a pope who would not only be head of the Catholic Church but also the head of state and government of the Papal States, the extensive lands around Rome and Northern Italy which the Catholic Church governed.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
It was the issue of the government of the Papal States that was to prove central to the 1846 conclave. The College of Cardinals was split into two factions. The conservatives wished to see a continuation of papal absolutism in the governance of the Papal States, a continuation of the hardline policies of Pope Gregory XVI and his right-wing Secretary of State, Luigi Lambruschini, while the liberals wished for some measure of moderate reform and favored two candidates in Tommaso Pasquale Gizzi and Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
A fourth papabile was Cardinal Ludovico Micara, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who was favored by the residents of Rome itself but he never gained support among the cardinals. Lambruschini himself was the leader of the conservatives while Tommaso Bernetti, who had served as Pro-Secretary of State under Pope Leo XII and the early part of Pope Gregory XVI's reign, was the leader of the liberal faction.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
Lambruschini received a majority of the votes in the early ballots, but failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority. Cardinal Mastai Ferretti reportedly received 15 votes with the rest going to Lambruschini and Gizzi. Cardinal Gizzi was favored by the French government but failed to get additional support from the cardinals and the conclave ended up ultimately as a contest between Cardinals Lambruschini and Mastai-Ferretti.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
In the meantime, Cardinal Bernetti reportedly received information that Karl Kajetan von Gaisruck, the Austrian Archbishop of Milan, was on his way to the conclave to veto the election of Mastai-Ferretti and realized that if Mastai-Ferretti was to be elected he had to convince the cardinals within a few hours or accept the election of Lambruschini. Bernetti then on his own initiative personally convinced the majority of the electors to switch their support to Mastai Ferretti. Cardinal Mastai Ferretti himself however made no effort to campaign for the papacy, made no promises and maintained aloofness throughout the process.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
Despite not having campaigned for the papacy, Cardinal Mastai Ferretti was perceived to be "a glamorous candidate, ardent, emotional with a gift for friendship and a track-record of generosity even towards anti-Clericals and Carbonari. He was a patriot, known to be critical of Gregory XVI " Faced with deadlock and persuaded by Bernetti to keep Lambruschini from being elected pope, liberals and moderates decided to cast their votes for Mastai Ferretti in a move that contradicted the general mood throughout Europe.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
On the second day of the conclave, on 16 June 1846, during the evening ballot or the fourth ballot the liberal candidate, Mastai Ferretti, Archbishop (personal title) of Imola, achieved that requirement and was elected, receiving four more than the required two-thirds majority. It is reported by papal historian Valérie Pirie that on the same ballot where he was elected, Mastai Ferretti was one of the scrutineers formally tabulating the votes and that he became emotional as it became apparent that he would be elected.


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
Mastai Ferretti at one point begged to be excused from his role as scrutineer but was not permitted to do so since it would have invalidated the ballot. As a result, Mastai Ferretti had the rare experience of having to formally proclaim his own election to the cardinal-electors inside the conclave. He took the name Pope Pius IX (known also as Pio Nono).


1846 papal conclave, Conclave divided over how to rule the Papal States
Because it was night, no formal announcement was given, just the signal of white smoke. Many Catholics had assumed that Gizzi had been elected successor of St. Peter. In fact, celebrations began to take place in his hometown, and his personal staff, following a long-standing tradition, burned his cardinalitial vestments. On the following morning, the senior Cardinal-Deacon, Tommaso Riario Sforza, announced the election of Mastai-Ferretti before a crowd of faithful Catholics. When the new pope appeared on the balcony, the mood became joyous. After his election Pius IX appointed Cardinal Gizzi as his Secretary of State. Pius IX was crowned on 21 June 1846.


1846 papal conclave, Failed attempt to veto Ferretti
As with other conclaves up to and including the 1903 conclave, various Catholic monarchs claimed a right to veto a cardinal who might be elected, forcing the cardinals to pick someone else. Emperor Ferdinand of Austria had charged Cardinal Karl Kajetan Gaisruck, the Archbishop of Milan (then part of the empire's territory), with vetoing the liberal Ferretti. However Gaisruck arrived too late at the conclave. By the time he got there Ferretti had been elected, had accepted the papacy and had been proclaimed publicly.


1846 papal conclave, Aftermath
Pope Pius IX was crowned with the Papal tiara on 21 June 1846. He became the longest-reigning pope since Saint Peter, sitting on the papal throne for nearly 32 years. Initially a liberal, following a short-lived deposition and the proclamation of the Roman Republic, Pius was returned to power by troops from the French Second Republic and became a conservative reactionary.


1846 papal conclave, Aftermath
In 1870 the remaining territories of the Papal States were seized by Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy. Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, with the former papal palace, the Quirinal, becoming the King's palace. Pius IX withdrew in protest to the Vatican where he lived as a self-proclaimed "Prisoner in the Vatican". He died in 1878.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine
The islands of Newfoundland and Ireland, in addition to sharing similar northern latitudes and facing each other across the Atlantic Ocean, also had in common, during the middle of the 19th century, a heavy dependence on a single agricultural crop, the potato--a dependence that allowed the same blight that precipitated the Great Famine in Ireland to wreak havoc on this former British colony as well. Though acute, and the source of great suffering, the famine in Newfoundland lasted for fewer years than its Irish contemporary, which extended from 1845 to 1849. Beginning a year later, in 1846, it ended with the return to prosperity of the local fisheries in the spring and summer of 1848.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Background and context
The first known outbreak of the potato blight, Phytophthora infestans, occurred in the eastern United States in 1843. As the blight spread to the north, it also crossed the ocean, reaching the potato fields of Ireland in September 1845, three months before completing its journey along the American coast and arriving on the Southern Shore of Newfoundland.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Background and context
Although the blight destroyed potato crops throughout North America and Europe, most of the populated regions in the Northern Hemisphere maintained an agricultural diversity sufficient to withstand the loss of the potato. Ireland, however, suffered severely, with millions relying on the potato as nearly their sole source of sustenance. Newfoundland at the time, with a population that was 50% Irish, also relied heavily on its potato crop, but had the advantage of bountiful fisheries (seals in the spring, codfish in the summer).


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Failure of the fisheries
The famine in Newfoundland was preceded by an unusual train of disasters that greatly aggravated the effects of the blight when it arrived. The returns from the annual seal hunt in the spring of 1846 had been disappointing. In June a major fire in the capital of St. John's destroyed its waterfront and most of its mercantile premises. As the summer progressed, the poor returns from the seal hunt were matched by an equally unsuccessful cod fishery. Then, in September, an unusually strong gale swept across the island, destroying fishing premises, boats, and supplies, including winter provisions. With its mercantile establishments already in ashes, St. John's businesses were unable to deliver to the smaller villages the supplies that were essential to recovery and to preparation for the harsh Newfoundland winter.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Failure of the fisheries
By December 1846, even before the blight had spread beyond the south coast, numerous communities were reporting a scarcity of food, and there was little hope for the timely arrival of relief. Most if not all of the island was inaccessible throughout the winter, with harbors frozen until the following spring, and the colony had no means of communication with either Europe or mainland America.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Failure of the fisheries
When harbors re-opened in the spring of 1847, the traditional seal hunt began with thousands of Newfoundlanders sailing to the ice fields, laboring under an acute shortage of provisions. Much as in the previous spring, many found no seals and returned to shore, several months later, "without a morsel of food or a penny in their pockets." This second unsuccessful seal hunt was followed by a summer cod fishery that was also as dismal as the previous year's. With the failure of its fisheries for the second consecutive year, the inhabitants of Newfoundland fell into the same precarious position as those in Ireland, dependent for sustenance on a single agricultural crop.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Progress of the blight
Until the fall of 1847, the potato blight and resulting hunger in Newfoundland had been limited to the Southern Shore. In September, however, the disease advanced rapidly from the south coast and swept across the island, destroying the last significant source of nutrition. Potato fields that "had never been known to fail" were turned into wastelands, and Newfoundlanders rushed to harvest and store potatoes still unaffected by the blight. As the fall progressed, however, the potatoes that had been harvested and stored suddenly succumbed to blight in storage. As the editor of the Harbour Grace newspaper stated, "The potatoes are gone; literally vanished; they are left undug; or thrown up in putrid heaps poisonous to the very hogs that are suffered to touch them."


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Arrivals from Ireland
Compounding the tragedy that was unfolding in Newfoundland was the arrival of ships from Ireland filled with emaciated passengers who, hoping to escape starvation by joining relatives and former neighbors who had immigrated to Newfoundland earlier in the century, found that they had reached a land that itself was facing a severe shortage of food.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Failure of relief efforts
In November 1847, upon the total failure of the potato crop, the American missionary Robert Traill Spence Lowell made a widespread plea for relief. In correspondence to U.S. newspapers, Lowell described the Newfoundland fishery as "a deplorable failure" and wrote of the potato blight's "fearful ravages of the only staple crop on the Island." He urged the American people, in raising funds for the famished in Ireland, to "not turn away from the appeal of the wretched much nearer home."


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Failure of relief efforts
Similarly, the editor of the Harbour Grace newspaper described the conditions in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, writing that "[T]housands of our population in this bay are in a starving condition - that it is painful - distressing - harrowing to meet them in the street - to have them at our doors - to see them fainting at our hearths."


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Failure of relief efforts
Along with other half-hearted measures for dealing with the pervasive hunger, the Colonial Governor John Gaspard Le Marchant proposed that the famished eat less, declaring a "Day of Public Fasting and Humiliation" in hopes the Almighty may pardon their sins and "withdraw his afflicting hand." Editors of most Newfoundland newspapers agreed with him; they, too blaming the famine on the human weaknesses of indolence and improvidence. Many urged the denial of government relief, in the belief that, as a consequence of providing it, "the whole of the lower classes will become beggars by profession, and every principle of independence destroyed."


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Comparison with the Irish famine
In some respects, the Newfoundland potato famine differed significantly from the Great Famine of Ireland. Less burdened by overpopulation, Newfoundland didn't experience the mass evictions and emigration that dramatically impacted Ireland in the wake of the famine. Recovery in Newfoundland began sooner, when a successful seal hunt was followed by the return of large quantities of cod in 1848; and, despite a return of the blight in the fall of that year, recovery in Newfoundland was faster, and its long-term impact less acute.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Comparison with the Irish famine
In other respects, the two famines were similar. Both islands experienced the same blight at roughly the same time. At the height of starvation, both were exporting large quantities of food (grain from Ireland, fish from Newfoundland). The posture of government leaders, and the newspapers that reflected their points of view, were strikingly similar, with the Times of London and the Times of St. John's both insisting that the famine was a gift from Providence, sent to cure the moral defects of an indolent people.


1846–1848 Newfoundland potato famine, Comparison with the Irish famine
The deaths from the Great Famine in Ireland, from starvation and starvation-related diseases, have been estimated to be in the range of one million, with two million more Irish leaving for other lands. The number of deaths in Newfoundland remains unknown.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic
The third cholera pandemic (1846–1860) was the third major outbreak of cholera originating in India in the nineteenth century that reached far beyond its borders, which researchers at UCLA believe may have started as early as 1837 and lasted until 1863. In Russia, more than one million people died of cholera. In 1853–54, the epidemic in London claimed over 10,000 lives, and there were 23,000 deaths for all of Great Britain. This pandemic was considered to have the highest fatalities of the 19th-century epidemics.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic
It had high fatalities among populations in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. In 1854, which was considered the worst year, 23,000 people died in Great Britain.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic
That year, the British physician John Snow, who was working in a poor area of London, identified contaminated water as the means of transmission of the disease. After the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak he had mapped the cases of cholera in the Soho area in London, and noted a cluster of cases near a water pump in one neighborhood. To test his theory, he convinced officials to remove the pump handle, and the number of cholera cases in the area immediately declined. His breakthrough helped eventually bring the epidemic under control. Snow was a founding member of the Epidemiological Society of London, formed in response to a cholera outbreak in 1849, and he is considered one of the fathers of epidemiology.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, Second pandemic
The second cholera pandemic spread from India, surging outward to all of Europe and northern Africa, then crossing the Atlantic to Canada and the United States, spreading to Mexico and the Caribbean. Many sources differ regarding when the second pandemic ended, and the third pandemic began. There are sources that maintain that the third cholera pandemic started with a surge from Bengal in 1839.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1840s
Over 15,000 people died of cholera in Mecca in 1846. In Russia, between 1847 and 1851, more than one million people died in the country's epidemic.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1840s
A two-year outbreak began in England and Wales in 1848, and claimed 52,000 lives. In London, it was the worst outbreak in the city's history, claiming 14,137 lives, over twice as many as the 1832 outbreak. Cholera hit Ireland in 1849 and killed many of the Irish Famine survivors, already weakened by starvation and fever. In 1849, cholera claimed 5,308 lives in the major port city of Liverpool, England, an embarkation point for immigrants to North America, and 1,834 in Hull, England. In 1849, a second major outbreak occurred in Paris.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1840s
Cholera, believed spread from Irish immigrant ship(s) from England to the United States, spread throughout the Mississippi river system, killing over 4,500 in St. Louis and over 3,000 in New Orleans. Thousands died in New York, a major destination for Irish immigrants. The outbreak that struck Nashville in 1849–1850 took the life of former U.S. President James K. Polk. During the California Gold Rush, cholera was transmitted along the California, Mormon and Oregon Trails as 6,000 to 12,000 are believed to have died on their way to Utah and Oregon in the cholera years of 1849–1855. It is believed cholera claimed more than 150,000 victims in the United States during the two pandemics between 1832 and 1849, and also claimed 200,000 victims in Mexico. In Vietnam, cholera outbreak in 1849 killed estimatedly from 800,000 to one million people (8–10% of the kingdom's 1847 population).


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s
The cholera epidemic in Russia that started in 1847 would last until 1851, killing over one million people. In 1851, a ship coming from Cuba carried the disease to Gran Canaria. It is considered that more than 6,000 people died in the island during summer, out of a population of 58,000.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s
In 1852, cholera spread east to Indonesia, and later was carried to China and Japan in 1854. The Philippines were infected in 1858 and Korea in 1859. In 1859, an outbreak in Bengal contributed to transmission of the disease by travelers and troops to Iran, Iraq, Arabia and Russia. Japan suffered at least seven major outbreaks of cholera between 1858 and 1902. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people died of cholera in Tokyo in an outbreak in 1858–60.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s
In 1854, an outbreak of cholera in Chicago took the lives of 5.5 percent of the population (about 3,500 people). Providence, Rhode Island suffered an outbreak so widespread that for the next thirty years, 1854 was known there as "The Year of Cholera." In 1853–54, London's epidemic claimed 10,739 lives. In Spain, over 236,000 died of cholera in the epidemic of 1854–55. The disease reached South America in 1854 and 1855, with victims in Venezuela and Brazil. During the third pandemic, Tunisia, which had not been affected by the two previous pandemics, thought Europeans had brought the disease.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s
They blamed their sanitation practices. Some United States scientists began to believe that cholera was somehow associated with African Americans, as the disease was prevalent in the South in areas of black populations. Current researchers note their populations were underserved in terms of sanitation infrastructure, and health care, and they lived near the waterways by which travelers and ships carried the disease.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s, 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak
The 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak was a severe outbreak of cholera that occurred in 1854 near Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) in the Soho district of London, England, and occurred during the third cholera pandemic. This outbreak, which killed 616 people, is best known for the physician John Snow's study of its causes and his hypothesis that germ-contaminated water was the source of cholera, rather than particles in the air (referred to as "miasma").


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s, 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak
Snow identified the source of an 1854 cholera outbreak as the public water pump on Broad Street (now Broadwick Street). Although his studies were not entirely conclusive, his advocacy convinced the local council to disable the Broad Street pump by removing its handle. Snow later used a dot map to illustrate the cluster of cholera cases around the pump. He also used statistics to illustrate the connection between the quality of the water source and cholera cases, showing that water was being delivered to the outbreak area from sewage-polluted sections of the Thames, leading to an increased incidence of cholera. Snow's study was a major event in the history of public health and geography. It is regarded as one of the founding events of the science of epidemiology.


1846–1860 cholera pandemic, 1850s, 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak
This discovery came to influence public health and the construction of improved sanitation facilities beginning in the mid-19th century. Later, the term "focus of infection"  would be used to describe sites, such as the Broad Street pump, in which conditions are good for transmission of an infection. John Snow's endeavor to find the cause of the transmission of cholera caused him to unknowingly create a double-blind experiment.


1847
1847 (MDCCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1847th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 847th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 47th  year of the 19th century, and the  8th   year of the 1840s decade. As of the start of 1847, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


1847 Agreement between the Holy See and Russia
The 1847 Agreement between the Holy See and the Russian Empire was a diplomatic arrangement (in Italian, accomodamento) entered into on 3 August of that year.


1847 Agreement between the Holy See and Russia, Background
The Russian Empire acquired large Catholic-inhabited territories of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Third Partition in 1795; there were also Catholic communities among the Armenians. In Orthodox Russia, Catholics experienced discrimination and persecution: Russification was enforced, together with efforts to separate priests and faithful from their Church. Vatican relations with Russia were always difficult because of the rivalry between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.


1847 Agreement between the Holy See and Russia, Background
Upon his election to the papacy, Pope Pius IX (1846–1878) inherited the difficult relations with Russia from his predecessor Pope Gregory XVI. The Catholic Church was severely limited in its possibilities within Russia. The Pope appointed Cardinal Luigi Lambruschini to begin negotiations with Tsar Nicholas I of Russia with the aim of establishing better relations and increased freedom of action. Russia rejected the term "concordat" with the Pope as a name for the agreement.


1847 Agreement between the Holy See and Russia, Agreement
The agreement, which included 37 articles, allowed the Church to confirm the dioceses in Russia proper and create a new diocese (Diocese of Cherson) in southern Russia and the Caucasus. New seminaries were established and the Russian Empire guaranteed the financing for Church activities in an agreed upon sum of 104,480 rubles annually. Bishops were to be appointed by mutual agreement between the Vatican and the Tsar. They were authorized to preside over ecclesiastical courts and determine seminary education.


1847 Agreement between the Holy See and Russia, Agreement
Bishops could not intervene in marital or economic matters, which were to be determined by diocesan consistories consisting of several Catholic priests. The agreement of the State authorities was required for the appointment of Catholic parish priests. Their salaries were to be paid by the parishes or, if these were unable, by the Russian state.


1847 Agreement between the Holy See and Russia, Agreement
Between 1847 and 1866, the Holy See complained several times that the Tsarist government interfered in seminary education and ecclesiastical affairs. At last in 1866, the insult committed against Pope by the Ambassador of Russia to the Holy See brought about the rupture of the diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Saint Petersburg. Pope Leo XIII renewed the relations by the convention of December 1882.


1847 Alabama gubernatorial election
The 1847 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on August 2, 1847, in order to elect the Governor of Alabama. Democrat Reuben Chapman won his first term with a 56% majority.


1847 Belgian general election
Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 8 June 1847. The result was a victory for the new Liberal Association, which had been formed the previous year. It won 33 seats to the Catholics' 21, as the latter were split into dogmatic and liberal groups. Voter turnout was 77%, although only 1% of the country's population was eligible to vote.


1847 Belgian general election
Under the alternating system, Chamber elections were only held in four out of the nine provinces: East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège and Limburg. Thus, 54 of the 108 Chamber seats were up for election. The total number of Chamber seats increased from 98 to 108 following a reapportionment due to population increases.


1847 Belgian general election
While the liberals gained a majority in the Chamber, the Catholics retained theirs in the Senate. Following the election, the Catholic government led by Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt resigned. After a political crisis of two months, a liberal government was formed on 12 August 1847, headed by Charles Rogier. The liberals would go on to win the 1848 elections.


1847 Bytown municipal election
The newly incorporated Town of Bytown, Canada West (now Ottawa) held a municipal election on September 11, 1847 to elect members of the first Bytown Town Council. Franchise was granted to men over the age of 21 who were freeholders with a land value of at least £30, tenants with an annual rent of at least £10, or leaseholders who had built a house with an annual rent of at least £10.


1847 Bytown municipal election, Town Council
For the election, Bytown was divided into three wards, West, North and South. West Ward, consisting of the Upper Town portion of the town (now Downtown Ottawa) returned three councillors, while the North and South wards located in Lower Town returned two councillors each. Lower Town had a slight majority of councillors, but this did not fully reflect their large majority in numbers of householders. West Ward had three councillors for 234 householders, while the Lower Town wards had four councillors for 645 householders. This gerrymander was said to support the Tories living in Upper Town at the expense of the Reformers in Lower Town. Further, the division of Lower Town into two wards was seen as an attempt to divide the Francophone and Irish communities and commercial interests.


1847 Bytown municipal election, Town Council
* First names of candidates were omitted from the source document, so in these cases candidates' first names or initials were taken from 1851 Bytown Canada Directory, assuming they were the same people


1847 Bytown municipal election, Mayor
On September 18, after the council election, the members voted for a mayor from among their ranks. The Tory councillors from Upper Town supported John Bower Lewis, and the Reform councillors from Lower Town supported John Scott. As Lower Town had four members to Upper Town's three, Scott was elected mayor.


1847 Canterbury by-election
The Canterbury by-election of 1847 was an uncontested election held on 15 March 1847. The by-election was brought about due to the death of the incumbent Conservative MP, James Bradshaw. It was won by the Liberal candidate Lord Albert Conyngham, who was the only declared candidate.


1847 Chicago mayoral election
In the Chicago mayoral election of 1847, Democratic nominee James Curtiss defeated Liberty nominee Philo Carpenter and Whig nominee John H. Kinzie.


1847 Chicago mayoral election
Philo Carpenter had previously been an unsuccessful candidate in the prior election. John H. Kinzie had also previously been an unsuccessful candidate in the  1837 and 1845 mayoral elections.


1847 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The 1847 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on April 7, 1847. Former state legislator and Whig nominee Clark Bissell was elected, defeating Democratic nominee Isaac Whittlesey with 50.54% of the vote.


1847 Costa Rican Head of State election
The Costa Rican election of 1847 took place shortly after the coup d'état that overthrew the first head of state elected in direct elections; Francisco María Oreamuno Bonilla who was formally overthrown although he had previously left office without resigning. The de facto president was José María Alfaro Zamora who was a candidate but was defeated by José María Castro Madriz.


1847 Costa Rican Head of State election
These elections were held in two grades, first paid by all men over 20 or 18 if they were married or were teachers of some science, who chose the electors (168 in total1) who voted to choose the positions in dispute. Also the electoral legislation established that, in five years, those who could not read or write won't be able to vote.


1847 Georgia gubernatorial election
The 1847 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on October 4.


1847 Georgia gubernatorial election
The Democratic candidate George W. Towns won election over Whig challenger Duncan L. Clinch. Clinch lost by 1,278 votes.


1847 Grand National
The 1847 Grand National Steeplechase was the ninth official annual running of a Handicap Steeple-chase Horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on 3 March 1847 and attracted a then record field of twenty-six runners. It was won by Mathew, ridden by Denny Wynne in the colours of County Cork landowner, John Courtenay. This was the first time the race was officially named The Grand National Steeplechase, having previously been run under the title, Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.


1847 Grand National, The Course
Contemporary newspaper reporters stated that the race was run over the same course as the previous year, describing the start as being a ploughed field with light fencing, narrow ditching and low cops and banks over four fields before bending to the left to jump a brook with short timber. The course then turned left towards the Canal over fences described as being of a practicable character before a leap over a sharp left turn before taking a decent water and timber jump.


1847 Grand National, The Course
This took the runners over very heavy land to a ditch with a bank on the take off side. the next field led the runners into the lane at Anchor Bridge and then onto the course, the far end of which was known as the training ground with a stiff hurdle placed alongside the distance chair, topped with gorse six foot high. Opposite the stand was an artificial water jump fifteen feet wide and three feet deep.


1847 Grand National, The Course
the runners then took a very awkward bank and ditch before crossing the lane at Melling Road before setting off on a second circuit. the finish of the race was beside the distance judge's chair meaning the fences to be taken was reduced from thirty-one the previous year to twenty-nine this year.


1847 Grand National, The Course
Start - Just beyond the Melling Road. Fence 1 [17 on the second circuit] Light fence. Fence 2 [18] Light fence. Fence 3 [19] A low cops. Fence 4 [20] Bank. Fence 5 [21] Brook with short timber. Fence 6 [22] Practicable fence. Fence 7 [23] Practicable fence. Fence 8 [24] A sharp left turn Fence 9 [25] A decent timber and water jump. Fence 10 [26] A fence into very heavy land. Fence 11 [27] A ditch with a bank. Fence 12 [28] A fence into the Anchor Bridge Road.


1847 Grand National, The Course
Fence 13 [29] An artificial hurdle leaving the training ground on the racecourse proper. Fence 14 A stiff hurdle topped with gorse six feet high. Fence 15 A water jump increased in width by ten feet to fifteen feet and reduced in depth by a foot to three feet. Fence 16 An awkward bank and ditch.


1847 Grand National, Finishing order
Cure-All, Discount, Proceed, Profligate, Little Tommy, a horse by Tom Brown, Sam Slick, Railroad, Christopher North, Ragman, Forest Boy and Nimble Harry were withdrawn.


1847 Grand National, The Race
Grenade was the early leader but was jostled at the third fence and lost his place. Jerry and Ballybar then led the runners to the fourth fence where the latter refused and did not continue. The runners took the brook later to be known as Valentine's in great style but at the next obstacle several horses came into contact and Valeria was pulled up, being unable to continue.


1847 Grand National, The Race
Cumberland Lassie had been among the leaders throughout but as she approached the Anchor Bridge crossing she struck a post and ran off the course onto the road beyond.


1847 Grand National, The Race
Jerry led at the water jump, followed by Clinker, St Leger, St Ruth, Mathew, Culverthorpe, Pioneer and Brunette with these remaining the main contenders for most of the second circuit. Jerry was challenged by St Leger who appeared to the crowd to be on his way to victory until challenged and overhauled in the final strides by Mathew. Seven horses were recorded as finishing, though several other runners may have completed the course unrecorded by the press.


1847 Grand National, Aftermath
The win has gone down in history as being a hugely popular one among the Irish, bearing in mind that this was at the height of the Great Famine in the country. In truth the Irish press largely ignored the race in those days and it was only the wealthy friends of Mr John Courtenay in and around the County Cork area who benefited from the victory.


1847 Grand National, Aftermath
In actuality Courtenay was considered among the most ruthless of the landowners who were, at this time forcibly evicting their tenants for being unable to meet their rent and as a result the rank and file Irishmen had placed heir support with another Irish entrant Brunette. In the event, it was only this huge body of support from across the Irish sea, and one large wager in particular that saw her start at all as she was not considered in a fit state to race at all. Later histories of the race state that she was tailed off for most of the race  but contemporary reports place her heavily involved in the front rank and her being recorded as a finisher support the contemporary accounts.


1847 Grand National, Aftermath
Much of the early history of the Grand National was told many years after the events and often from memory with the result that the winner, Mathew appears on the winners board at Aintree carrying the modern spelling of Matthew. The sixth horse The False Heir is often recorded as a non finisher while the favourite The Roarer, along with Young Lottery are not recorded as having taken part at all. As a result, many modern books and websites state six finishers in a field of twenty-six runners instead of the seven from twenty-eight recorded by the press of the time.


1847 Greek legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece in June 1847. Supporters of Ioannis Kolettis won a majority of the 127 seats. However, he remained Prime Minister only until his death on 17 September, after which Kitsos Tzavelas assumed office.


1847 Hamilton, Ontario municipal election
The 1847 Hamilton municipal election was the first election held to the newly incorporated Town of Hamilton. The vote was held on January 12, 1847 to select ten members to represent each of the city's five wards on the Hamilton, Ontario, City Council. Those councillors would, in turn, elect one mayor from their ranks and an additional councillor to represent the seat they vacated on Saturday, January 16, 1847.


1847 Lewes by-election
The Lewes by-election of 1847 was an uncontested election held on 17 March 1847. The by-election was brought about due to the resignation of the incumbent Whig MP, Sir Howard Elphinstone. It was won by the Whig/Liberal candidate Robert Perfect, who was the only declared candidate.


1847 Liberian constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Liberia on 27 September 1847. The new constitution would create a President with executive powers and a bicameral Legislature. It would also restrict voting rights to those of African descent and landowners. It was approved by 79% of voters (although only 272 people voted). In Monrovia, Millsburg, Bassa Cove and Bexley 100% of voters supported the constitution, whilst 100% voted against it in Sinoe. In Edina opponents of the constitution prevented the polling station opening, and a fist-fight broke out between Amos Herrnig and Ephraim Titler, two of the Declaration of Independence signatories. Opponents of the constitution in Bassa Cove and Bexley chose not to vote.


1847 Liberian general election
General elections were held for the first time in newly independent Liberia on 27 September 1847, alongside a constitutional referendum. The result was a victory for Governor Joseph Jenkins Roberts of the Pro-Administration Party, who defeated Samuel Benedict of the Anti-Administration Party. In a separate vote, Nathaniel Brander was elected Vice President.


1847 Liberian general election
Roberts was sworn into office as the country's first President on 3 January 1848, with Nathaniel Brander as vice president.


1847 Liberian general election, Campaign
Due to his part in the trial of Tobias Outland, who had murdered James Stevens in 1845, Benedict had faced condemnation across the electorate.


1847 Liberian general election, Results
In Montserrado County John B. Gripon and John N. Lewis were elected to the Senate whilst D. B. Brown, William Draper, J.B. McGill, and Daniel Bashiel Warner were elected to the House of Representatives.


1847 Liverpool Town Council election
Elections to Liverpool Town Council were held on Wednesday 1 November 1847. One third of the council seats were up for election, the term of office of each councillor being three years.


1847 Liverpool Town Council election
After the annual Council election on 1 November 1847, the Aldermanic election on 9 November 1847 and the four by-elections caused by four Councillors having been elected as Aldermen on 17 November 1847, the composition of the council was:


1847 Liverpool Town Council election, Aldermanic Elections
On 9 November 1847, the term of office of eight aldermen who were elected on 9 November 1841 expired.


1847 Liverpool Town Council election, Aldermanic Elections
The following were elected as Aldermen by the council on 9 November 1847 for a term of office of six years.


1847 Liverpool Town Council election, By-elections, No. 6, Castle Street, Wednesday 17 November 1847
Caused by the election of Councillor John Holmes (Reformer, Castle Street, elected 1 November 1847) as an Alderman on 9 November 1847.


1847 Liverpool Town Council election, By-elections, No. 9, Great George, Wednesday 17 November 1847
Caused by the election of Councillor Joseph Cooper (Conservative, Great George, elected 1 November 1846) as an Alderman on 9 November 1847.


1847 Liverpool Town Council election, By-elections, No. 11, Abercromby, Wednesday 17 November 1847
Caused by the election of Councillor James Procter (Conservative, Abercromby, elected 1 November 1847


1847 Liverpool Town Council election, By-elections, No. 10, Rodney Street, Wednesday 17 November 1847
Caused by the election of Councillor John Nelson Wood (Conservative, Rodney Street, elected 1 November 1845) as an Alderman on 9 November 1847.


1847 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
The 1847 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8.


1847 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
Incumbent Whig Governor George N. Briggs was re-elected to a fifth term in office over Democrat Caleb Cushing.


1847 Massachusetts legislature
The 68th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1847 during the governorship of George N. Briggs. William B. Calhoun served as president of the Senate and Ebenezer Bradbury served as speaker of the House.


1847 Massachusetts legislature
Notable legislation included the anti-abortion "Act To Suppress Injurious Publications". Notable resolutions included opposition to the Mexican–American War.


1847 Michigan gubernatorial election
The 1847 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1847. Democratic nominee Epaphroditus Ransom defeated Whig nominee James M. Edmunds with 53.32% of the vote.


1847 Nagano earthquake
The 1847 Nagano earthquake (善光寺地震, Zenkōji jishin) occurred at about 21:30 local time on 8 May. It had a magnitude of 7.4 on the surface wave magnitude scale. It caused the destruction of many houses in Nagano and at least 8,600 people were killed. The earthquake triggered many landslides, the largest of which dammed the Sai River (a tributary of the Shinano River). 19 days later, the failure of this earthquake dam caused a flood that destroyed many more houses and killed a further 35 people.


1847 Nagano earthquake, Tectonic setting
During the middle of the Miocene period Japan was affected by the opening of the Sea of Japan as a back-arc basin in response to continuing subduction of the Pacific Plate. This period of extensional tectonics caused the development of rift basins on the western side of Honshu, including the northern part of the Fossa Magna. When the back-arc spreading stopped during the late Miocene, the rifted area started to shorten and the basins became inverted. The western margin of the Nagano Basin, part of the Fossa Magna, is formed by an active reverse fault zone, the West Nagano Basin Fault. The 1847 earthquake was caused by rupture on part of this fault zone.


1847 Nagano earthquake, Landslides
The earthquake triggered a large number of landslides, due mainly the relatively unconsolidated Miocene sediments. At least seven of these formed dams on rivers in the surrounding area. The largest of these dams was formed at the foot of Mount Iwakura from a landslide with an estimated volume of 20 million cubic metres that blocked the Sai River. The water held back by the dam eventually broke through 19 days after the earthquake, flooding a large area downstream from the dam.


1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends
The 1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends, held in Troy, New York, established a newspaper that would report on the future conventions. Noteworthy black abolitionists in attendance included Henry Highland Garnet, who was hosting the convention in his church, and Frederick Douglass, who gave a speech asking blacks to stop attending pro-slavery churches.


1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends, Issues
The convention examined several issues, from how to boost the black economy to what could be done about agriculture. The convention also determined that the 1848 national convention would be held in Newark, New Jersey. The convention also voted on and established a newspaper to publish about this and any future conventions. The convention also discussed the creation of a college specifically for black men. (See New Haven Excitement.) There was a discussion of the causes of slavery and what could be done to combat it, a report recommending blacks move into rural areas to find more freedom, and a debate on an economic trade deal with some Jamaicans.


1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends, Participants
Participants included Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass, and Alexander Crummell. Crummell argued for the establishment of a college for black men to help avoid discrimination. Douglass and Garnet argued against the self enforced segregation and stated that there was no need for the creation of the college. When debating the causes of slavery Garnet and Douglass had a disagreement over the why the South continued to practice it. Douglas blamed religious institutions teaching and promoting a culture of slavery.


1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends, Participants
Garnet disagreed and requested that the report be reconstructed to acknowledge that it was specifically pro-slavery religious institutions instead of just religious institutions. Later  Douglass gave a speech requesting that blacks stop attending pro-slavery churches and stop supporting them. Garnet did not make any radical speeches in this convention although he was known for them. James McCune Smith was also present and spoke on the importance of establishing a black press.


1847 National Convention of Colored People and Their Friends, Participants
Additionally black women were involved in raising money to finance both the convention and the new projects.


1847 Naval Air Squadron
1847 Naval Air Squadron (1847 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.


1847 New Jersey gubernatorial election
The 1847 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1847. Democratic nominee Daniel Haines defeated Whig nominee William Wright with 51.88% of the vote.


1847 New York special judicial election
At a special judicial election on June 7, 1847, four judges of the New York Court of Appeals, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, 32 justices of the new New York Supreme Court district benches, county judges, surrogates, districty attorneys and all other judicial officers in the state of New York were elected, to take office on July 5, 1847.


1847 New York special judicial election, Background
The New York State Constitution of 1846 re-organized the State's judicial system and created the Court of Appeals. Four of the judges were elected statewide, the other four were chosen by a rotative system from the New York Supreme Court district benches.


1847 New York special judicial election, Background
The Whig state convention met on May 19 at Syracuse, New York, and nominated Whittlesey, Noxon, Reynolds and David Lord. Lord declined the nomination, and Jordan was substituted on the ticket.


1847 New York special judicial election, Results
The votes are the total of Democratic and Anti- Rent votes for Gardiner and Bronson, and the total of Whig and Anti- Rent votes for Jordan, Whittlesey and Lamport. The Anti- Rent endorsement did not influence the result of this election.


1847 New York special judicial election, Results
The official result did not count the votes from Hamilton County, which were not returned, and 1,011 votes for Whittlesey in Herkimer County, which were cast for "Frederick W. Whittlesey".


1847 New York special judicial election, Results
The whole Democratic ticket was elected. Those elected were then classified by drawing lots on June 22. Jewett drew the two-year term, Bronson the four-year term, Ruggles the six-year term, and Gardiner the eight-year term. The half year remaining in 1847 was added to these terms, and afterwards every two years in odd-numbered years one judge was elected to an eight-year term.


1847 New York state election
The 1847 New York state election was held on November 2, 1847, to elect the lieutenant governor, the secretary state, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer, the state engineer, three Canal Commissioners and three Inspectors of State Prisons, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.


1847 New York state election, History
The New York State Constitution of 1846 legislated the incumbent state officers and members of legislature out of office. It required a number of state officers, who had been elected by the state legislature, to be elected by general ballot.


1847 New York state election, History
At the first judicial election under the Constitution of 1846, Lieutenant Governor Addison Gardiner was elected to the New York Court of Appeals, and took office on July 4, 1847, thus vacating the lieutenant governorship. To fill the vacancy, on September 27, an Act by the state legislature authorized a special election, to be held at the annual state election.


1847 New York state election, History
The Democratic state convention met in September in Syracuse, New York. The party split over the slavery question, and the Barnburners abandoned the convention. Orville Hungerford defeated Azariah C. Flagg for the nomination for Comptroller with 59 votes to 47.


1847 New York state election, History
The Barnburners held a separate state convention on October 26 at Herkimer, New York, but did not nominate a ticket. They told their followers "to vote as they must do when no regular nominations have been made," suggesting to support the Whig nominees rather than the Hunkers on the Democratic ticket.