1857 in the United States
Events from the year 1857 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government">Federal government of the United States">Federal government
- President:
- Vice President:
- Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney
- Speaker of the House of Representatives:
- Congress: 34th, 35th
Events
- January 9 - The 7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake affects Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX.
- February 3 - The National Deaf Mute College is established in Washington, D.C., becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
- March 4 - James Buchanan is sworn in as the 15th president of the United States, and John C. Breckinridge is sworn in as the 14th vice president.
- March 6 - Dred Scott v. Sanford: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that Blacks are not citizens and slaves cannot sue for freedom, driving the country further towards the American Civil War.
- March 12 - Elizabeth Blackwell opens a hospital, the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children.
- May 25 - Flying Eagle cent released for circulation.
- May 26 - Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
- July 18 - The Utah Expedition leaves Fort Leavenworth, effectively beginning the Utah War.
- August 24 - Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company suspends payments, leading to the Panic of 1857.
- September 11 - Mountain Meadows massacre in Utah.
- September 12 - The sinks off the coast of North Carolina, killing 425 people and sending large quantities of gold to the bottom.
- October 1 - Eviction of last residents of Seneca Village to make way for New York City's Central Park is completed.
- October 13 - Panic of 1857: New York banks close and do not reopen until December 12. This has an impact in Europe also.
Undated
- The seat of government of Iowa is moved from Iowa City to modern-day Des Moines.
- The Mormons abandon the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada.
- Maryland politician William Daniel proposes the Local Option for prohibition.
Ongoing
Births
- January 6 - Milward Adams, orchestra and theatre manager born in Lexington, Kentucky.
- January 11 - William Gentles, U.S. Army private, known for killing Crazy Horse
- February 1 - Lucy Wheelock, early childhood education pioneer within the kindergarten movement
- February 7 - Benjamin Eli Smith, editor of reference books
- February 13 - Almanzo Wilder, writer
- March 6 - George Dayton, businessman, founder of Target Corporation
- March 7 - Genevieve Stebbins, performer of the Delsarte system of expression
- March 20 - Benjamin F. Shively, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1909 to 1916
- March 21
- * Charles Ellis Johnson, photographer
- * Hunter Liggett, general
- April 22 - Paul Dresser, songwriter
- May 17 - Mary Devens, pictorial photographer
- May 19 - John Jacob Abel, pharmacologist
- June 8 - Lawrence Marston, actor, playwright and film director
- June 10 - Caroline Louise Dudley, stage actress
- June 20 - Mary Gage Day, physician
- July 1 - Martha Hughes Cannon, politician
- July 30
- * Lucy Bacon, California Impressionist painter
- * Thorstein Veblen, economist
- August 8 - Henry Fairfield Osborn, geologist, paleontologist and eugenist
- September 13 - Milton S. Hershey, chocolate manufacturer
- September 14 - Julia Platt, embryologist and politician
- September 15 - William Howard Taft, 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930
- October 7 - George P. McLean, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1911 to 1923
- October 17 - Mary Abbott, golfer
- October 24 - Ned Williamson, baseball player
- November 5 - Ida Tarbell, investigative journalist
- December 1 - Samuel M. Ralston, U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1923 to 1925
- December 2
- * J. Frank Allee, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1903 to 1907
- * Charles E. Rushmore, businessman, attorney, namesake of Mount Rushmore
- December 4 - Julia Evelyn Ditto Young, poet and novelist
Deaths
- February 16 - Elisha Kane, Arctic explorer
- May 1 - Stephen Adams, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1852 to 1857
- May 26 - James Bell, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1855 to 1857
- June 19 - Alexander Twilight, educator and minister, first African-American known to have earned a bachelor's degree from an American college or university
- July 4 - William L. Marcy, 21st Secretary of State from 1853 to 1857
- August 29 - Stephen Cassin, United States Navy officer
- September 15 - John Henderson, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1839 to 1845
- October 7 - Louis McLane, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1827 to 1829
- October 10 - Thomas Crawford, sculptor
- October 20 - John Diamond, minstrel dancer
- October 27 - John Blennerhassett Martin, painter, engraver and lithographer
- December 24 - Robert C. Nicholas, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1836 to 1841
- Jasper Grosvenor, financier
- Aspasia Cruvellier Mirault, planter and landowner