September 9, 1850 - California became the 31st state of the union, without ever even having been a territory; had only been a part of the United States for less than two years. Mexico had reluctantly ceded California and much of its northern territory to the United States in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,. When the Mexican diplomats signed the treaty, they pictured California as a region of sleepy mission towns with a tiny population of about 7,300-not a devastating loss to the Mexican empire. Most newly acquired regions of the U.S. went through long periods as territories before they had the 60,000 inhabitants needed to achieve statehood, and prior to the Gold Rush, emigration to California had been so slow that it would have been decades before the population reached that number. But with gold fever reaching epidemic proportions around the world, more than 60,000 people from around the globe came to California in 1849 alone. Faced with such rapid growth, as well as a thorny congressional debate over the question of slavery in the new territories, Congress allowed California to jump straight to full statehood without ever passing through the formal territorial stage. After a rancorous debate between the slave-state and free-soil advocates, Congress finally accepted California as a free-labor state under the Compromise of 1850, beginning the state's long reign as the most powerful economic and political force in the far West.

September 9, 1850 - Territories of New Mexico and Utah created.

September 18, 1850 - Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, required the return of escaped slaves to their owners. It was the second fugitive slave law passed by Congress.

June 2, 1851 - Maine became the first state to enact a law prohibiting alcohol.

September 11. 1851 - In Christiana, Pennsylvania, a group of African Americans and white abolitionists skirmish with a Maryland posse intent on capturing four fugitive slaves hidden in the town. The violence came one year after the second fugitive slave law was passed by Congress, requiring the return of all escaped slaves to their owners in the South. One member of the posse, landowner Edward Gorsuch, was killed and two others wounded during the fight. In the aftermath of the so-called Christiana Riot, 37 African Americans and one white man were arrested and charged with treason under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law. Most were acquitted.

December 24, 1851- A devastating fire at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, destroys about two-thirds of its 55,000 volumes, including most of Thomas Jefferson's personal library, sold to the institution in 1815. After the Civil War, the collection was greatly expanded, and by the 20th century the Library of Congress had become the de facto national library of the United States and one of the largest in the world. Today, the collection, housed in three enormous buildings in Washington, contains more than 17 million books, as well as millions of maps, manuscripts, photographs, films, audio and video recordings, prints, and drawings.

November 2, 1852 - Franklin Pierce elected as president of U.S.

Compiled by John E. Crawford; foreword by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (2002). Millard Fillmore: A Bibliography. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 328 p.). Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874 --Bibliography; United States--Politics and government--1845-1861--Bibliography.

Michael F. Holt (1983). The Political Crisis of the 1850s. (New York, NY: Norton, 330 p. [orig. pub. 1978]). Slavery--United States--History; Compromise of 1850; United States--Politics and government--1845-1861.

George Pendle (2007). The Remarkable Millard Fillmore: The Unbelievable Life of a Forgotten President. (New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 272 p.). Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874; Presidents--United States--Biography. Humorous quasi-biography of the tragically overlooked 13th President that promises to "meticulously extrapolate the most outrageous

conclusions from the most basic and inconclusive of facts." Contents: I, Fillmore -- Fillmore, man of law -- Fillmore the explorer -- Fillmore’s progress -- Fillmore amongst the natives -- Fillmore the kingmaker -- Fillmore goes west -- Fillmore restored -- President Fillmore! -- Fillmore abroad -- Fillmore agonistes -- Fillmore errant -- Fillmore unbound.

Robert J. Rayback (1959). Millard Fillmore; Biography of a President. (Buffalo, NY: H. Stewart (for Buffalo Historical Society), 470 p.). Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874; Whig Party (N.Y.); United States -- Politics and government -- 1849-1861; Presidents -- United States -- Biography.