What Happened in 1858

General James Bethune hires Perry Oliver to promote and tour "Blind Tom" Wiggins around the country

Slaves with musical talent meant income for their owners and in 1858 James Bethune "hired out" Tom to concert promoter Perry Oliver for a period of... Read more

Lincoln Uses Judicial Notice in the "Armstrong Case"

The Trial The acquittal represented a personal and professional triumph for Lincoln, who once rocked the defendant's cradle in New Salem.... Read more

Minnesota is the 32nd State Admitted to the Union

On May 11, 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state admitted into the Union. Minnesota's application for statehood was submitted to President James... Read more

Charles Dickens and Catherine Hogarth seperate

In June of 1858 Catherine and Charles were legally separated. Days later Dickens published a notice in the London Times and Household Words that... Read more

Abraham Lincoln Delivers the House Divided Speech

A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the... Read more

Henry Clemens (Mark Twain's Brother) Dies While Working on Steamboat

While training, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him. Henry was killed on June 21, 1858, when the steamboat he was working... Read more

Charles Darwin First Goes Public on Views of Evolution

Darwin’s book was half way when, on 18 June 1858, he received a paper from Wallace describing natural selection. Shocked that he had been... Read more

The United States And Japan Sign The Treaty Of Amity And Commerce

On July 29, 1858, the United States and Japan signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce (the Harris Treaty). Townsend Harris, the first U.S.... Read more

Julia Archibald Holmes Becomes The First Woman To Reach Pikes Peak

On August 5, 1858, Julia Archibald Holmes became the first woman on record to reach the summit of Pikes Peak. She, her husband James Holmes, and... Read more

Charles Darwin Publishes 'On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties'

This famous paper originally appeared in the Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology, but has been printed in books, in part or in whole,... Read more

Lincoln Loses First of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates on Slavery

August 21, 1858, was the day that Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas met in Ottawa, Illinois, in the first of the famous Lincoln-Douglas... Read more

Freeport Doctrine Is Focal Point in Douglas' Argument at the Second Lincoln-Douglas Debate

At Freeport Lincoln challenged Douglas to reconcile popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision. Douglas replied that settlers could... Read more

Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Slave State Borders

MR. DOUGLAS’ SPEECH. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I appear before you today in pursuance of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr.... Read more

Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Coles County Fairgrounds

Fourth Joint Debate at Charleston Mr. Lincoln’s Speech (September 18, 1858) LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It will be very difficult for an... Read more

Douglas Seeks to Prove that Lincoln was an Abolitionist at the Fifth Lincoln-Douglas Debate

At Galesburg Douglas sought again to prove that Lincoln was an abolitionist with the following quotes from Lincoln: “I should like to know, if... Read more

Lincoln Declares Slavery a Moral Wrong in the Sixth Lincoln-Douglas Debate

It was, wrote Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer of the Quincy Debate between U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, “the... Read more

The Slave Debate Comes to a Head at the Seventh and Final Lincoln-Douglas Debate

SENATOR DOUGLAS’ SPEECH. Long and loud bursts of applause greeted Senator Douglas when he appeared on the stand. As he was about to commence... Read more

Theodore Roosevelt is Born

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in a four-story brownstone at 28 East 20th Street, in the modern-day Gramercy section of New York... Read more

Denver, Colorado is Founded

Denver City was founded in November 1858 as a mining town during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush in western Kansas Territory. That summer, a group of gold... Read more