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1848 - The Year of the Seneca Falls Convention
Living in the year 1848 was much different than living in the year 1998: the United States of America was geographically a different country, American culture was very different, and the issues and events of the day were very different from today. James Polk was President and Zachary Taylor would be elected to the Presidency in the fall elections.
Land west of the Mississippi was "the west" and the Pacific coast was "the far west." New states were regularly being created out of the land between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi. America had just signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican War. With peace and the announcement that gold was discovered in California, America returned to its spirit of buoyant optimism.
Transportation and communication were slow and cumbersome: waterways still dominated transportation. It is no accident that the women's rights movement took hold in upstate NY - Seneca Falls was on the Erie Canal line, the interstate highway of the day. A few railroad lines had been laid in the east, but the first railroad lines west of the Mississippi were not laid until 1852. Communications were by words spoken in person or written on paper, the first telegraph patent would not be issued for more than 25 years.
