The World in 1861 the year Russia freed its serfs and America split in two

Most people in the world still worked someone else's land. In Russia about 23 million serfs belonged to an estate rather than to themselves, and needed permission to move, marry or take other work. The emancipation reform made them legally free, though they owed payments for their fields for decades afterwards. In the American South nearly four million people were enslaved, with no legal freedom at all. Village life ran on the harvest, and a bad one meant real hunger.

The year in 8 events

The United States Army had about 16,000 soldiers in January, fewer than a single big battle would soon involve. By December both sides had hundreds of thousands of men under arms.

• 📜Mar 3 Tsar Alexander II signs the decree that ends serfdom in Russia.
• 👑Mar 17 Victor Emmanuel II is proclaimed king of Italy, uniting most of the peninsula under one crown.
• 💥Apr 12 Guns open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour. The American Civil War begins.
• ⚔️Jul 21 Confederate troops win the first large battle of the war at Bull Run in Virginia.
• 📡Oct 24 The first telegraph line across the United States is finished. The Pony Express shuts down within days.
• 🤝Oct 31 Britain, France and Spain agree to send troops to Mexico over unpaid debts.
• 🏇Nov 7 The first Melbourne Cup is run in Australia.
• 🕯️Dec 14 Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, dies at Windsor. She wears mourning black for the rest of her life.

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