1846

Events from the year **1846 in the United States**. Mexican-American War begins.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: James K. Polk (D-TN)
* Vice President: George M. Dallas (D-PA)
* Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (MD)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: John Wesley Davis (D-IN)
* Congress: 29th

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Joshua L. Martin (Independent)
* Governor of Arkansas: Thomas Stevenson Drew (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: Roger Sherman Baldwin (Whig) (until May 6), Isaac Toucey (Democratic) (starting May 6)
* Governor of Delaware:
	+ until March 2: Thomas Stockton (Whig)
	+ March 2-May 3: Joseph Maull (Whig)
	+ May 3-May 6: vacant
	+ starting May 6: William Temple (Whig)
* Governor of Florida: William Dunn Moseley (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: George W. Crawford (Whig)
* Governor of Illinois: Thomas Ford (Democratic) (until December 9), Augustus C. French (Democratic) (starting December 9)
* Governor of Indiana: James Whitcomb (Democratic)
* Governor of Iowa: James Clarke (political party unknown) (until December 28), Ansel Briggs (Democratic) (starting December 28)
* Governor of Kentucky: William Owsley (Whig)
* Governor of Louisiana: Alexandre Mouton (Democratic) (until February 12), Isaac Johnson (Democratic) (starting February 12)
* Governor of Maine: Hugh J. Anderson (Democratic)
* Governor of Maryland: Thomas Pratt (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: George N. Briggs (Democratic)
* Governor of Michigan: John S. Barry (Democratic) (until January 5), Alpheus Felch (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Mississippi: Albert G. Brown (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: John C. Edwards (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John Hardy Steele (Democratic) (until June 4), Anthony Colby (Whig) (starting June 4)
* Governor of New Jersey: Charles C. Stratton (Whig)
* Governor of New York: Silas Wright (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: William Alexander Graham (Whig)
* Governor of Ohio: Mordecai Bartley (Democratic) (until December 12), William Bebb (Whig) (starting December 12)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Francis R. Shunk (Democratic)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Charles Jackson (Know Nothing) (until May 6), Byron Diman (Law and Order) (starting May 6)
* Governor of South Carolina: William Aiken Jr. (Democratic) (until December 8), David Johnson (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Governor of Tennessee: Aaron V. Brown (Democratic)
* Governor of Texas: Anson Jones (political party unknown) (until February 19), James Pinckney Henderson (Democratic) (starting February 19)
* Governor of Vermont: William Slade (Whig) (until October 9), Horace Eaton (Whig) (starting October 9)
* Governor of Virginia: James McDowell (Democratic) (until January 1), William Smith (Democratic) (starting January 1)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Reuben Booth (Whig) (until May 6), Noyes Billings (Democratic) (starting May 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: John Moore (Democratic) (until December 9), Joseph Wells (Democratic) (starting December 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: vacant (until December 9), Paris C. Dunning (Democratic) (starting December 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Archibald Dixon (Whig)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Trasimond Landry (Whig) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: John Reed Jr. (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Origen D. Richardson (Whig) (until month and day unknown), William L. Greenly (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: James Young (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Addison Gardiner (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Byron Diman (political party unknown) (until May 6), Elisha Harris (Whig) (starting May 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: J. F. Ervin (Democratic) (until December 8), William Cain (Democratic) (starting December 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Albert Clinton Horton (Democratic) (starting February 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Horace Eaton (Whig) (until October 9), Leonard Sargeant (Whig) (starting October 9)

## Events

* January 4 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
* January 30 – The City of Milwaukee is incorporated in Wisconsin, merging Juneautown, Kilbourntown and Walker's Point following the Milwaukee Bridge War of 1845. Solomon Juneau is elected first mayor.
* February 11 – Many Mormons begin their migration west from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Great Salt Lake, led by Brigham Young.
* February 18 – In Austin, Texas, the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed.
* February 27 – The Liberty Bell is cracked while being rung for George Washington's birthday.
* April 25 – Mexican–American War: Open conflict begins Thorton Affair.
* April 26 – Mexican–American War: Open conflict begins over border disputes of Texas' boundaries.
* May 3 – Mexican–American War: Siege of Fort Texas begins.
* May 8 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Palo Alto: Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande at Palo Alto, Texas in the first major battle of the war.
* May 9
	+ Mexican–American War: Siege of Fort Texas ends.
	+ Mexican–American War: Battle of Resaca de la Palma.
* May 14 – Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.
* May 18 – Mexican–American War: Occupation of Matamoros.
* May 23 – The Associated Press is founded in New York City.
* June 14 – Mexican–American War: The California Republic declares independence from Mexico.
* June 15 – Bear Flag Revolt: American settlers in Sonoma, California start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
* June 16 – The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
* June 20 – The first officially recorded baseball game using modern rules developed by Alexander Cartwright is played in Hoboken, New Jersey.
* July 8 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Monterey: Acting on instructions from Washington, D.C., Commodore John Drake Sloat orders his troops to occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena thus beginning the United States annexation of California.
* July 9 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Yerba Buena.
* August 11 – Establishment of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
* August 15 – Mexican–American War: Capture of Santa Fe.
* September 21 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Monterrey begins: General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North are defeated by General Zachary Taylor's Army of Occupation, comprising U. S. Regulars, U. S. Volunteers and Texas Rangers. The battle ends after three days of fighting with 120 U. S. soldiers killed, 360 wounded, and 43 missing. The Mexicans suffer 367 killed and wounded.
* September 22 – Mexican–American War: Siege of Los Angeles begins.
* September 24 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Monterrey ends.
* September 26 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Chino begins.
* September 27 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Chino ends.
* September 30 – Mexican–American War: Siege of Los Angeles ends.
* October 8 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Dominguez Rancho begins.
* October 9 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Dominguez Rancho ends.
* October 24 – Mexican–American War: First Battle of Tabasco begins.
* October 26 – Mexican–American War: First Battle of Tabasco ends.
* November 14 – Mexican–American War: Occupation of Tampico, Tamaulipas.
* November 16
	+ Mexican–American War: Occupation of Saltillo, Coahuila.
	+ Mexican–American War: Battle of Natividad.
* November 30 – The Donner Party becomes snowbound.
* December 6 – Mexican–American War: Battle of San Pasqual begins.
* December 7 – Mexican–American War: Battle of San Pasqual ends.
* December 16 – Mexican–American War: Capture of Tucson.
* December 25 – Mexican–American War: Battle of El Brazito.
* December 29 – Iowa admitted becomes the 29th U.S. state.

## Memoriam

* January 5 – Alfred Thomas Agate, artist, painter, and miniaturist (aged 33; Washington, DC, USA)
* March 25 – William Lee D. Ewing, U.S. Senator from Illinois in 1834 (aged 50; Springfield, IL, USA)
* May 14 – Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton, poet (aged 86; Braintree, MA, USA)
* August 12 – John Caspar Wild, landscape painter and lithographer (aged 42; Davenport, IA Territory, USA)
* August 16 – Samuel Humphreys, naval architect (aged 67; Georgetown, DC, USA)
* September 2 – Daniel Rodney, merchant and politician (aged 81; Lewes, DE, USA)
* September 5 – James Alexander Jr., U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1837 to 1839 (aged 56; McNabb, IL, USA)
* September 14 – Jacques Dupré, Louisiana State Representative, State Senator and Governor (aged 73; Opelousas, LA, USA)
* September 15 – Samuel A. Foot, 28th Governor of Connecticut from 1834 to 1835, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1827 to 1833 (aged 65; Cheshire, CT, USA)
* October 2 – Benjamin Waterhouse, physician (aged 92; Cambridge, MA, USA)
* November 12 – William Findlay, 4th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1817 to 1820, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania from 1821 to 1827 (aged 78; Harrisburg, PA, USA)
* December 24 – Erastus Root, lawyer and politician (aged 73; New York City, NY, USA)
* December 29 – Alexander Barrow, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1841 to 1846 (aged 45; Baltimore, MD, USA)