1830- He worked as a local office clerk

1848- He became an editor for a local news paper

1855- His first edition published, no respectable poet would read it

1865- 13th amendment approved in January ratified in December abolished slavery in the United States

1865- Mississippi enacts Black Code- These laws subject former slaves to a variety restrictions on their freedom; they forbid blacks to testify against whites; they established vagrancy and apprenticeship laws;blacks cannot serve on juries, bear arms, or hold large meetings.

1865-Abrham Lincoln assassinated

1870- Leaves of Grass translated in French

1873- suffered with a stroke that left him paralyzed

1888- Another stroke and this time it made immobilized completely

1892- he died