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| 1846–48 |
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| WAR WITH MEXICO (See April). By sending American troops into the disputed area between the Rio Nueces and the Rio Grande, President Polk instigated a skirmish that enabled him to say that Mexico had “shed American blood on American soil.” An army under Gen. Zachary Taylor (1784–1850) invaded Mexico and won the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma (May 8 and 9), took Monterey (May 24), and won a victory at Buena Vista (Feb. 22 and 23, 1847). Col. S. W. Kearny occupied Santa Fe (Aug. 18, 1846). Marching inland from Veracruz, Winfield Scott (1786–1866) fought the Battles of Cerro Gordo (April 17 and 18, 1847), Churubusco (Aug. 20), and Chapultepec (Sept. 12 and 13), and captured Mexico City (Sept. 14). On the Pacific an American squadron seized the California ports. | 1 |
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| 1846, June 15 |
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| Oregon Treaty with Great Britain. By the early 1840s a substantial migration of American farmers to the Willamette Valley was under way, so the Anglo-American rivalry became one of fur trader versus settler. The treaty established the 49th parallel as the boundary on the mainland, and then extending from the middle of the channel to the ocean. | 2 |
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| Aug. 8 |
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| The Wilmot Proviso provided that in any territory acquired from Mexico, slavery should be excluded. Although it never passed in the Senate, it raised the slavery issue and aroused the fears of the South. | 3 |
| Invention of the sewing machine reduced the labor requirements for garment making, but also led to lower wages for the labor force, mostly women who worked at home as “outworkers.” When outworkers are included in the number of workers in manufacturing, women made up about 50 percent of the labor force. | 4 |
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