The Brooklyn Excelsiors become the first black baseball team to tour the nation. The Excelsiors were known for their exceptional pitching.

Two African American men in Worcester, Massachusetts are allowed to serve on a jury, the first time in the state's history.

Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, or the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, is published. Craft and his wife were taken into protective custody by the Boston Vigilance Committee while on the Underground Railroad to freedom.

South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union in opposition to President Abraham Lincoln's election. This is one of many factors that will spark the Civil War.