Year by year · 19th century

1848

1848 in world history: 40 events, 15 births, 13 deaths, 2 works, 12 states founded and 9 that came to an end. 1,076 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 3 January

    Joseph Jenkins Roberts becomes Liberia's first president

    Joseph Jenkins Roberts, born free in Virginia, was inaugurated as president of the newly independent Republic of Liberia. Liberia became the first independent republic in Africa.

    Virginia

  2. 24 January

    Gold found at Sutter's Mill sparks the California Gold Rush

    James Marshall spotted flakes of gold in the tailrace of a sawmill at Coloma. Within a few years some 300,000 people had flooded into California, which became a state in 1850.

  3. 2 February

    Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War

    Mexico ceded about half its territory, including California, Nevada, Utah and most of Arizona and New Mexico, to the United States for 15 million dollars, and recognised Texas as American.

    United StatesMexico

  4. 21 February

    Marx and Engels publish 'The Communist Manifesto'

    Commissioned by the Communist League, the pamphlet appeared in German in London just as revolution swept Europe. Its call 'Workers of the world, unite!' inspired socialist movements for generations.

    London

  5. 3 March

    Lajos Kossuth demands constitutional reform for Hungary

    In the Hungarian Diet at Pressburg, Kossuth called for a responsible government and constitutional rule. His speech, made as revolution swept Europe, helped launch the Hungarian revolution of 1848.

    Hungarian DietHungary

  6. 10 March

    US Senate ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    The Senate approved the peace with Mexico, which ceded California and much of the Southwest. The United States paid 15 million dollars and assumed its citizens' claims against Mexico.

    United StatesMexico

  7. 18 March

    Street fighting erupts in Berlin

    Troops fired on a crowd outside the royal palace and barricade fighting spread through the city, leaving hundreds dead. King Frederick William IV withdrew the army and promised a constitution.

  8. 29 March

    Ice jam stops Niagara Falls

    Ice blocking the Niagara River at Lake Erie reduced the falls to a trickle for over a day. Sightseers walked on the riverbed; it is the only time the falls are known to have stopped naturally.

  9. 29 May

    Wisconsin becomes the 30th US state

    Wisconsin joined the Union from the old Northwest Territory. It later became known for dairy farming and as a centre of the Progressive movement.

  10. 23 June

    June Days uprising erupts in Paris

    Workers rose after the government closed the National Workshops. General Cavaignac crushed them in four days; thousands were killed and many more deported.

    Paris

  11. 19 July

    The Seneca Falls Convention opens

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott opened the first women's rights convention in the United States. Its Declaration of Sentiments, stating that 'all men and women are created equal', launched the suffrage movement.

    United States

  12. 12 September

    Switzerland adopts its federal constitution

    The Swiss Diet declared the new federal constitution accepted, turning a loose league of cantons into a federal state with a two-chamber parliament. Its framework still underpins Switzerland today.

    Switzerland

  13. 1 November

    The first medical school for women opens in Boston

    Samuel Gregory opened the Boston Female Medical School, later the New England Female Medical College, with twelve students. It was the first institution founded to train women in medicine.

    EnglandBoston

  14. Event

    Great Māhele

    The Great Māhele was the land division of 1848 in the Kingdom of Hawaii, carried out under King Kamehameha III.

  15. Battle

    Battle of Boomplaats

    The Battle of Boomplaats was fought on 29 August 1848 in the south of the present-day Free State of South Africa, between British troops under Sir Harry Smith and Boer forces under Andries Pretorius.

  16. Battle

    Battle of Custoza (1848)

    The Battle of Custoza was fought on 24–25 July 1848 near Verona during the First Italian War of Independence, between the Austrian army of Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky and the Sardinian army of King Charles Albert.

  17. Battle

    Battle of Curtatone and Montanara

    The Battle of Curtatone and Montanara was fought on 29 May 1848 near Mantua, during the First Italian War of Independence.

  18. Event

    Prague Slav Congress

    The Prague Slav Congress met in June 1848, during the revolutions in the Austrian Empire, bringing together delegates of the Slav peoples of the monarchy and some from outside it.

ProfileState916 states with a known seat in 1848Open the atlas at 1848 →

In the profiles

  • French AlgeriaNorthern Algeria is divided into the French departments of Algiers, Oran and Constantine
  • Kingdom of SardiniaCharles Albert grants the Statuto Albertino and goes to war with Austria
  • Swiss ConfederationThe Federal Constitution creates a federal state with Bern as federal city
  • Austrian EmpireRevolutions drive Metternich into exile; Franz Joseph succeeds Ferdinand I
  • Kingdom of BavariaLudwig I abdicates after the Lola Montez affair and revolution
  • German ConfederationThe Frankfurt Parliament meets in St Paul’s Church
  • Kingdom of the NetherlandsThorbecke’s constitutional revision introduces ministerial responsibility
  • Sulu SultanateSpanish steam gunboats destroy the Balangingi raiding bases
  • Orange Free StateBritain defeats Boers under Andries Pretorius at Boomplaats and rules the Orange River Sovereignty
  • Kingdom of HawaiiThe Great Māhele divides the kingdom’s land
  • AbolitionismFrance and Denmark abolish slavery in their colonies
  • RomanticismRevolutions sweep Europe; the poets Alphonse de Lamartine and Sándor Petőfi stand among their leaders
  • Women's suffrage movementThe Seneca Falls Convention in New York adopts the Declaration of Sentiments, which demands the vote for women
  • Absolute monarchyRevolutions sweep Europe; Denmark gives up absolutism and Prussia receives a constitution
  • Direct democracySwitzerland’s federal constitution makes every constitutional amendment subject to a popular vote
  • FederationAfter the Sonderbund War, Switzerland’s new constitution turns its confederacy into a federal state
  • Parliamentary democracyNova Scotia and the Province of Canada win responsible government, the first British colonies to do so

Wars and longer events

Born in 1848 15

Died in 1848 13

Works 2

States founded 12

States that came to an end 9

Great speeches

Mazzini to the Young Men of ItalyGiuseppe Mazzini

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1848. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1848
MLA
“1848.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1848. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1848.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1848.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1848’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1848 (Accessed: ).