– Tubman discovers that her mother should have been set free in 1830 as part of the terms of an old will. She hires a lawyer to investigate, sparking a ten-year lawsuit amongst the heirs named in the will. These legal documents detail the history of the Ross family.
Also this year:
– On July 26, the American colony Liberia becomes an independent nation.
– In December, Douglass starts his abolitionist newspaper The North Star in Rochester, New York, which runs until 1851.
