Events from the year 1831 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

* President: Andrew Jackson ( D- Tennessee) * Vice President:

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...

( D- South Carolina) * Chief Justice:

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

( Virginia) * Speaker of the House of Representatives: Andrew Stevenson ( D- Virginia) * Congress:

21st 21 (twenty-one) is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22. The current century is the 21st century AD, under the Gregorian calendar. In mathematics 21 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7, and a defici ...

(until March 4), 22nd (starting March 4)

Events

January–March

* January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing ''

The Liberator Liberator or The Liberators or ''variation'', may refer to: Literature * ''Liberators'' (novel), a 2009 novel by James Wesley Rawles * ''The Liberators'' (Suvorov book), a 1981 book by Victor Suvorov * ''The Liberators'' (comic book), a Britis ...

'', an antislavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * March 18 – Cherokee Nation v. Georgia: An injunction requested by the Cherokee nation, claiming that Georgia's state legislature had created laws which, "go directly to annihilate the Cherokees as a political society", is denied.

April–June

* April 18 – The University of Alabama is founded. * April 21 – New York University is founded in New York City.

July–September

* August 7 – American Baptist minister William Miller preaches his first sermon on the Second Advent of Christ in Dresden, New York, launching the Advent Movement in the United States. *August 21 – Outbreak of Nat Turner's

slave rebellion A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedo ...

in Southampton County, Virginia. Approximately 55 whites are stabbed, shot and clubbed to death.

October–December

*October 30 – In Southampton County, Virginia, escaped slave Nat Turner is captured and arrested for leading the bloodiest slave revolt in United States history. *November 5 – Slave leader Nat Turner is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in Virginia for inciting a violent

slave uprising A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedo ...

. *November 11 – In

Jerusalem, Virginia Courtland is an incorporated town in Southampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,295 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Southampton County. History Originally named "Jerusalem" by the first colonists to settle in ...

, Nat Turner is hanged.

Undated

* Alexis de Tocqueville visits the United States. * Founding of: ** Wesleyan University in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

. ** Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio (as "The Athenaeum").

Births

* January 2 –

Justin Winsor Justin Winsor (January 2, 1831October 22, 1897) was an American writer, librarian, and historian. His historical work had strong bibliographical and cartographical elements. He was an authority on the early history of North America and was elec ...

, historian and librarian (died

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

) * January 14 –

William D. Washburn William Drew "W.D." Washburn, Sr. (January 14, 1831 – July 29, 1912) was an American politician. He served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate as a Republican from Minnesota. Three of his seven b ...

, U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 1889 to 1895 and businessman (died

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

) * January 15 –

Ozora P. Stearns Ozora Pierson Stearns (January 15, 1831June 2, 1896) was an American politician and attorney. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a US Senator from the state of Minnesota. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served as mayor of R ...

, U.S. Senator from Minnesota in 1871 (died

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

) * January 26 – Mary Mapes Dodge, children's writer (died

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

) * February 23 –

Elizabeth Litchfield Cunnyngham Elizabeth Litchfield Cunnyngham (February 23, 1831 – June 27, 1911) was an American missionary and church worker of the long nineteenth century. For 30 years, she served as president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Ep ...

, missionary and church worker (died

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

) * March 3 – George Pullman, inventor and industrialist (died

) * March 6 – Philip Sheridan, general (died

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

) * March 12 – Clement Studebaker, automobile pioneer (died

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

) * March 14 –

Edward A. Perry Edward Aylesworth Perry (March 15, 1831October 15, 1889) was a general under Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War and the 14th Governor of Florida. Early life He was a descendant of Arthur Perry, one of the earliest settlers of New Engl ...

, Governor of Florida (died 1889) * March 20 –

Solomon L. Spink Solomon Lewis Spink (March 20, 1831 – September 22, 1881) was an American lawyer who served as a delegate for the Dakota Territory in the United States House of Representatives. Solomon was born in Whitehall, Washington County, New York, and w ...

, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (died

1881 Events January–March * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The C ...

) * May 16 –

Daniel Manning Daniel Manning (May 16, 1831 – December 24, 1887) was an American journalist, banker, and politician. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service as the 37th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1885 to 1887 under President Grove ...

, businessman, journalist and politician, Secretary of the Treasury (died

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

) * June 1 or 29 ''{exact date unknown)'' – John Bell Hood,

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

general (died

1879 Events January–March * January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. * January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. * Janu ...

) * July 5 –

Cordelia A. Greene Cordelia A. Greene (July 5, 1831 – January 28, 1905) was a 19th-century American physician, Benefactor (law), benefactor, and Women's suffrage in the United States, suffragist from Upstate New York. She was the founder and director of the Castil ...

, physician, reformer, benefactor (died

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

) * July 8 –

John Pemberton John Stith Pemberton (July 8, 1831 – August 16, 1888) was an American pharmacist and Confederate States Army veteran who is best known as the inventor of Coca-Cola. In May 1886, he developed an early version of a beverage that would later bec ...

, inventor of Coca-Cola (died

) * July 21 –

Martha Maxwell Martha Ann Maxwell (née Dartt 21 July 1831 – 31 May 1881) was an American naturalist, artist and taxidermist. She helped found modern taxidermy. Maxwell's pioneering diorama displays are said to have influenced major figures in taxidermy h ...

, naturalist and artist (died 1881) * August 26 –

Lucy Hayes Lucy Ware Hayes (née Webb; August 28, 1831 – June 25, 1889) was the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes and served as first lady of the United States from 1877 to 1881. Hayes was the first First Lady to have a college degree. She was als ...

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

as wife of Rutherford B. Hayes (died 1889) * September 3 –

States Rights Gist States Rights Gist (September 3, 1831 – November 30, 1864) was a lawyer, a militia general in South Carolina, and a Confederate Army brigadier general who served during the American Civil War. A relative of several prominent South Carolinian ...

, lawyer, militia general in South Carolina and Confederate Army brigadier general (died

1864 Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " ...

) * September 10 – William A. Peffer, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1891 to 1897 (died 1912) * September 20 –

Kate Harrington Kate Harrington (December 8, 1902 – November 23, 1978) was an American television and movie actress. Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Harrington studied dramatics at the Bush Conservatory in Chicago. Three years later she was given her firs ...

, poet, teacher and writer (died

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

) * September 29 – John Schofield, general (died

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

) * October 15 – Helen Hunt Jackson, poet, writer and activist (died

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

) * October 16 – Lucy Stanton, abolitionist (died

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

) * October 28 –

Charles Colcock Jones, Jr. Charles Colcock Jones Jr. (October 28, 1831 – July 19, 1893) was a politician, attorney and author from Georgia, United States. He was the mayor of Savannah, Georgia, immediately prior to Sherman's March to the Sea. Life and career Jones was b ...

, Georgia politician, attorney, historian and folklorist (died

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

) * October 29 – Othniel Charles Marsh, paleontologist (died

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

) * October 31 – Romualdo Pacheco, Governor of California (died 1899) * November 19 – James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States from March to September 1881 (died

) * November 21 – John Franklin Miller, U.S. Senator from California from 1881 to 1886 (died

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

) * November 22 –

Thomas J. Latham Judge Thomas Jefferson Latham (November 22, 1831 – July 24, 1911) was an American lawyer and businessman. Growing up in rural Weakley County, Tennessee, in the Antebellum South, he became a lawyer and remained neutral during the American Civi ...

, lawyer and businessman (died

) * December 19 – Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian alii (died

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...

)

Deaths

* March 26 – Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1794 (born

1760 Events January–March * January 9 – Battle of Barari Ghat: Afghan forces defeat the Marathas. * January 22 – Seven Years' War – Battle of Wandiwash, India: British general Sir Eyre Coote is victorious over the Fr ...

) * April 4 – Isaiah Thomas, publisher (born

1749 Events January–March * January 3 ** Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont. ** The first issue of ''Berlingske'', Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, ...

) * May 11 –

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

, poet (born

1750 Various sources, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, use the year 1750 as a baseline year for the end of the pre-industrial era. Events January–March * January 13 – The Treaty of Madrid between Spain ...

) * May 24 – **

James Peale James Peale (1749 – May 24, 1831) was an American Painting, painter, best known for his miniature and still life paintings, and a younger brother of noted painter Charles Willson Peale. Early life Peale was born in Chestertown, Maryland, ...

, miniaturist and still-life painter (born 1749) ** Benjamin Carr, composer, singer, teacher, and music publisher (born

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

) * May 27 –

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and ...

, explorer, hunter, trapper and fur trader (born

1799 Events January–June * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...

) * July 4 – James Monroe, fifth President of the United States from 1817 to 1825 (born

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) * November 11 – Nat Turner, leader of slave rebellion (born

1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

) * December 8 – James Hoban, architect of the White House (born

1755 Events January–March * January 23 (O. S. January 12, Tatiana Day, nowadays celebrated on January 25) – Moscow University is established. * February 13 – The kingdom of Mataram on Java is divided in two, creating the ...

in Ireland)

References

External links

* {{Year in North America, 1831 1830s in the United States United States United States Years of the 19th century in the United States