<span class="mw-page-title-main">1840s</span>

1840s

<p>The <b>1840s</b> (pronounced "eighteen-forties") was a <a href="/en/Decade" title="Decade" class="wl">decade</a> of the <a href="/en/Gregorian_calendar" title="Gregorian calendar" class="wl">Gregorian calendar</a> that began on January 1, 1840, and ended on December 31, 1849.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Decade of the Gregorian calendar</div>

<figure class="wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:1840s_montage.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:1840s_montage.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/1840s_montage.jpg/335px-1840s_montage.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="3264" data-file-height="3264" data-file-type="bitmap" height="335" width="335" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/1840s_montage.jpg/503px-1840s_montage.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/1840s_montage.jpg/670px-1840s_montage.jpg 2x" alt="1840s_montage.jpg"></a><figcaption>From top left, clockwise: <a href="/en/Mexican–American_War" title="Mexican–American War" class="wl">Mexican–American War</a> was a conflict that ushered the American expansion in its <a href="/en/Western_United_States" title="Western United States" class="wl">western frontier</a>, paving way for new territories (and eventually states) such as <a href="/en/Texas" title="Texas" class="wl">Texas</a> and <a href="/en/California" title="California" class="wl">California</a>; <a href="/en/Treaty_of_Waitangi" title="Treaty of Waitangi" class="wl">Treaty of Waitangi</a> in 1840 resulted with the establishment of <a href="/en/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand" class="wl">New Zealand</a> as a <a href="/en/British_New_Zealand" title="British New Zealand" class="mw-redirect wl">British colony</a>, symbolizing Britain's rising power and expansion to new reaches, particularly in the <a href="/en/New_World" title="New World" class="wl">New World</a>, where demand for imperial power and trade control increases; The <a href="/en/Great_auk" title="Great auk" class="wl">great auk</a> goes extinct, as it falls victim to overhunting; <a href="/en/First_Opium_War" title="First Opium War" class="wl">First Opium War</a> catalyzed Europe's imperial encroachment and control over Chinese ports, as the war resulted with <a href="/en/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong" class="wl">Hong Kong</a>'s succession to <a href="/en/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom" class="wl">Britain</a> via the <a href="/en/Treaty_of_Nanking" title="Treaty of Nanking" class="wl">Treaty of Nanking</a>; The <a href="/en/Oregon_Trail" title="Oregon Trail" class="wl">Oregon Trail</a> opens up to the world, prompting a <a href="/en/American_frontier" title="American frontier" class="wl">wave of migration to the American west</a> and later on, a <a href="/en/California_Gold_Rush" title="California Gold Rush" class="wl">gold rush in California</a> that persisted through the 1850s; The <a href="/en/Saxophone" title="Saxophone" class="wl">saxophone</a> was patented and released to the public, forging way for future music genres such as <a href="/en/Jazz" title="Jazz" class="wl">jazz</a>, <a href="/en/Swing_music" title="Swing music" class="wl">swing</a>, and <a href="/en/Blues" title="Blues" class="wl">blues</a>; First edition of <a href="/en/The_Communist_Manifesto" title="The Communist Manifesto" class="wl">the Communist Manifesto</a> was published by <a href="/en/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx" class="wl">Karl Marx</a> in February 1848. This publication would go on to create a revolutionary shift in political ideologies and thought in the 20th century, influencing entire states such as <a href="/en/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" class="wl">Soviet Union</a>, <a href="/en/China" title="China" class="wl">China</a>, and <a href="/en/Cuba" title="Cuba" class="wl">Cuba</a>; the <a href="/en/Revolutions_of_1848" title="Revolutions of 1848" class="wl">Revolutions of 1848</a> ravages European politics, and causes multiple socio-cultural changes, particularly in <a href="/en/Classical_music" title="Classical music" class="wl">classical music</a>, arts, and politics.</figcaption></figure>
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<a href="/en/List_of_decades,_centuries,_and_millennia" title="List of decades, centuries, and millennia" class="wl">Millennium</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<a href="/en/2nd_millennium" title="2nd millennium" class="wl">2nd<span>&nbsp;</span>millennium</a></td>
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<a href="/en/List_of_decades,_centuries,_and_millennia" title="List of decades, centuries, and millennia" class="wl">Centuries</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<ul><li><a href="/en/18th_century" title="18th century" class="wl">18th<span>&nbsp;</span>century</a></li>
<li><b><a href="/en/19th_century" title="19th century" class="wl">19th<span>&nbsp;</span>century</a></b></li>
<li><a href="/en/20th_century" title="20th century" class="wl">20th<span>&nbsp;</span>century</a></li></ul></td>
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<a href="/en/List_of_decades,_centuries,_and_millennia" title="List of decades, centuries, and millennia" class="wl">Decades</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<ul><li><a href="/en/1820s" title="1820s" class="wl">1820s</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/1830s" title="1830s" class="wl">1830s</a></li>
<li><b><a href="/en/1840s" title="1840s" class="wl">1840s</a></b></li>
<li><a href="/en/1850s" title="1850s" class="wl">1850s</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/1860s" title="1860s" class="wl">1860s</a></li></ul></td>
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<a href="/en/List_of_years" title="List of years" class="wl">Years</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">
<ul><li><a href="/en/AD_1840" title="AD 1840" class="mw-redirect wl">1840</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1841" title="AD 1841" class="mw-redirect wl">1841</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1842" title="AD 1842" class="mw-redirect wl">1842</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1843" title="AD 1843" class="mw-redirect wl">1843</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1844" title="AD 1844" class="mw-redirect wl">1844</a></li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="/en/AD_1845" title="AD 1845" class="mw-redirect wl">1845</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1846" title="AD 1846" class="mw-redirect wl">1846</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1847" title="AD 1847" class="mw-redirect wl">1847</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1848" title="AD 1848" class="mw-redirect wl">1848</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/AD_1849" title="AD 1849" class="mw-redirect wl">1849</a></li></ul></td>
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<ul><li><a href="/en/Category:1840s_births" title="Category:1840s births" class="wl">Births</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Category:1840s_deaths" title="Category:1840s deaths" class="wl">Deaths</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Category:1840s_by_country" title="Category:1840s by country" class="wl">By country</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Category:1840s" title="Category:1840s" class="wl">By topic</a></li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="/en/Category:1840s_establishments" title="Category:1840s establishments" class="wl">Establishments</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Category:1840s_disestablishments" title="Category:1840s disestablishments" class="wl">Disestablishments</a></li></ul></td>
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<p>The decade was noted in <a href="/en/Europe" title="Europe" class="wl">Europe</a> for featuring the largely unsuccessful <a href="/en/Revolutions_of_1848" title="Revolutions of 1848" class="wl">Revolutions of 1848</a>, also known as the <i>Springtime of Nations</i>. Throughout the continent, <a href="/en/Bourgeois" title="Bourgeois" class="mw-redirect wl">bourgeois</a> <a href="/en/Classical_liberalism" title="Classical liberalism" class="wl">liberals</a> and <a href="/en/Working_class" title="Working class" class="wl">working-class</a> radicals engaged in a series of revolts in favor of <a href="/en/Social_reform" title="Social reform" class="mw-redirect wl">social reform</a>. In the <a href="/en/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom" class="wl">United Kingdom</a>, this notably manifested itself through the <a href="/en/Chartism" title="Chartism" class="wl">Chartist</a> movement, which sought <a href="/en/Universal_suffrage" title="Universal suffrage" class="wl">universal suffrage</a> and <a href="/en/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom" class="wl">parliamentary</a> reform. In <a href="/en/France" title="France" class="wl">France</a>, the <a href="/en/French_Revolution_of_1848" title="French Revolution of 1848" class="wl">February Revolution</a> led to the overthrow of the <a href="/en/House_of_Orléans" title="House of Orléans" class="wl">Orléans</a> dynasty by <a href="/en/Napoleon_III" title="Napoleon III" class="wl">Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte</a>. In 1848, the publication of the <a href="/en/The_Communist_Manifesto" title="The Communist Manifesto" class="wl">Communist Manifesto</a> by <a href="/en/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx" class="wl">Karl Marx</a> would help lay the groundwork for the global <a href="/en/Socialism" title="Socialism" class="wl">socialist</a> movement.</p>

<p>The <a href="/en/Mexican–American_War" title="Mexican–American War" class="wl">Mexican–American War</a> led to the redrawing of national boundaries in North America. In the <a href="/en/United_States" title="United States" class="wl">United States</a>, mass <a href="/en/American_frontier" title="American frontier" class="wl">migration to the new West Coast</a> occurred following the annexation of <a href="/en/California_Republic" title="California Republic" class="wl">California</a> from <a href="/en/Mexico" title="Mexico" class="wl">Mexico</a>, with a <a href="/en/California_Gold_Rush" title="California Gold Rush" class="wl">Gold Rush</a> beginning at the end of the decade. On its northern border, the United States settled the <a href="/en/Oregon_boundary_dispute" title="Oregon boundary dispute" class="wl">Oregon boundary dispute</a> with the United Kingdom in 1846, thereby solving a domestic political crisis in the former nation.</p>



The 1840s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1840, and ended on December 31, 1849. The decade was noted in Europe for featuring the largely unsuccessful Revolutions of 1848, also known as the Springtime of Nations. Throughout the continent, bourgeois liberals and working-class radicals engaged in a series of revolts in favor of social reform. In the United Kingdom, this notably manifested itself through the Chartist movement, which sought universal suffrage and parliamentary reform. In France, the February Revolution led to the overthrow of the Orléans dynasty by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1848, the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx would help lay the groundwork for the global socialist movement. The Mexican–American War led to the redrawing of national boundaries in North America. In the United States, mass migration to the new West Coast occurred following the annexation of California from Mexico, with a Gold Rush beginning at the end of the decade. On its northern border, the United States settled the Oregon boundary dispute with the United Kingdom in 1846, thereby solving a domestic political crisis in the former nation. 