American Founding Era, 1774–1800 Notable Events
1774
July 18: Fairfax Resolves.
July 30: Thomas Jefferson writes A Summary View of the Rights of British America at age 31, establishing reputation as a political writer.
September 5: First Continental Congress established.
September 9: Suffolk Resolves.
October 14: Declaration and Resolves of First Continental Congress.
October 20: Articles of Association.
October 26: First Continental Congress disbanded.
1775
March 23: Patrick Henry delivers “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech in Richmond, Virginia.
April 18: Paul Revere rides on horseback through Boston, warns residents that the British are coming.
April 19: First battles of Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord.
May 10: Second Continental Congress formed.
May 10: Fort Ticonderoga captured from British; Americans’ first offensive victory in Revolutionary War is credited to Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.
June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill, British victory but at great cost: 1,054 British casualties and approximately 450 colonial casualties.
June 19: Continental Army formed; George Washington commissioned as Commander in Chief.
1776
January: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published; within three months, 100,000 copies circulated in the colonies.
May/June: Virginia Declaration of Rights debated and ratified.
July 1: Articles of Confederation debated.
July 2: Independence declared.
July 4: Declaration of Independence adopted unanimously by Second Continental Congress.
December 3: Benjamin Franklin arrives in France, where he serves as a diplomat for the next nine years and his home near Paris becomes the center of U.S. diplomacy in Europe.
December 26: Battle of Trenton after Washington crosses the Delaware River; American victory boosts colonial morale after series of defeats earlier that year.
1777
January 3: Battle of Princeton, culmination of Washington’s 10-day campaign to defeat the British in New Jersey.
September 19–October 7: Battle of Saratoga, turning point in Revolutionary War.
November 15: Articles of Confederation adopted by Continental Congress but not yet ratified by states.
December: Valley Forge, where Continental Army suffers severe privation.
December 16: Virginia becomes first state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
1778
February: Connecticut becomes fifth state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
February 5: South Carolina becomes second state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
February 6: Treaty of Alliance signed between France and U.S. during Revolutionary War.
February 6: New York becomes third state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
February 16: Rhode Island becomes fourth state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
February 26: Georgia becomes sixth state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
March 4: New Hampshire becomes seventh state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
March 5: Pennsylvania becomes eighth state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
March 10: Massachusetts becomes ninth state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
April 26: North Carolina becomes 10th state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
November 20: New Jersey becomes 11th state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
1779
February 1: Delaware becomes 12th state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
July 16: Battle of Stony Point.
September 29: John Jay appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain.
1780
February 11–May 12: Siege of Charleston, major British victory at Charlestown, South Carolina.
September: Benedict Arnold commits treason against U.S.
1781
February 2: Maryland becomes 13th and final state to ratify Articles of Confederation.
March 1: Second Continental Congress disbanded.
March 1: Articles of Confederation go into effect.
May 26: Bank of North America chartered; first U.S. central bank.
June 3–4: Jack Jouett rides to Charlottesville, warns Thomas Jefferson and Virginia General Assembly of approaching British Army.
September 28–October 19: Siege of Yorktown, last major battle of Revolutionary War.
1782
June 20: Great Seal of the United States officially adopted by Congress with motto E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”).
September 6: Death of Thomas Jefferson’s wife Martha at age 33.
December 5: King George III declares end to hostilities and recognizes American independence.
1783
June: Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783.
June 8: Washington’s Circular Letter to the states.
September 3: Treaty of Paris signed between Britain and America, ending Revolutionary War.
December 23: Washington resigns from Continental Army.
1784
April 23: Land Ordinance of 1784, dividing new land west of Appalachia into territories with option to become states.
June 3: First American Regiment established in peacetime army.
June 26: Spain closes lower half of Mississippi to Americans.
1785
May 20: Land Ordinance of 1785, establishing settlement laws for the West.
1786
1787
May 25: Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia begins.
June 11: Three-Fifths Compromise introduced.
July 13: Northwest Ordinance.
July 16: Connecticut Compromise adopted.
September 17: Three-Fifths Compromise adopted.
September 17: Constitutional Convention adjourns sine die.
September 17: Elizabeth Willing Powel asks Benjamin Franklin as he’s leaving Independence Hall, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin credited with saying, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
October 5: Anti-Federalist essays; first essay published.
October 22: Sarah and John Jay host a dinner party at their home in New York City five days before publication of the first Federalist paper. Guests include Alexander Hamilton and James Madison who, together with Jay, perhaps found time for a private conversation about their pending joint project as “Publius.”
October 27: Federalist papers; first essay published.
December 7: Delaware is first state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
December 12: Pennsylvania becomes second state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
December 18: New Jersey becomes third state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
1788
January 2: Georgia becomes fourth state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
January 8: Connecticut becomes fifth state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
February 6: Massachusetts becomes sixth state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
April 28: Maryland becomes seventh state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
May 23: South Carolina becomes eighth state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
June 21: New Hampshire becomes ninth state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
June 26: Virginia becomes 10th state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
July 26: New York becomes 11th state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
1789
February 4: First presidential election held.
March 4: 1st United States Congress begins; official start of new U.S. government under the Constitution.
April 6: House and Senate certify presidential and vice-presidential elections of George Washington and John Adams.
April 21: John Adams inaugurated as first U.S. Vice President.
April 30: George Washington inaugurated as first U.S. President.
August 7: U.S. Department of War established.
September 2: U. S. Department of the Treasury established.
September 24: Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing judicial branch.
November 21: North Carolina becomes 12th state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
1790
January 8: George Washington delivers First Annual Message to Congress.
January 9: Alexander Hamilton issues First Report on Public Credit.
February 2: First Supreme Court session.
June 20: Compromise of 1790; Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson hosts dinner party for Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and de facto House of Representatives leader James Madison during which a bargain is made to locate the national capital on the Potomac River.
May 29: Rhode Island becomes 13th and final state to ratify U.S. Constitution.
July 16: Residence Act signed into law, creating D.C. as nation’s capital.
August 2: First U.S. Census taken, counting 3.9 million Americans.
1791
March 1: Whiskey Rebellion begins following Congress’s passage of whiskey tax.
March 4: Vermont admitted to the Union as the 14th state.
October 31: National Gazette established.
December 5: Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures presented to Congress.
December 12: First Bank of the United States opens for business.
December 15: Bill of Rights ratified.
1792
February 20: U.S. Post Office Department established.
June 1: Kentucky admitted to the Union as the 15th state.
1793
1793: Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin.
February 12: Fugitive Slave Act signed into law.
April 22: Proclamation of Neutrality, proclaiming American neutrality in war between France on one side and Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and the United Netherlands on the other.
1793–1794: Citizen Genêt Affair.
1794
October 24: Whiskey Rebellion ends as federal troops suppress rebellion.
November 19: Jay Treaty signed, resolving lingering issues from Paris treaty between U.S. and Britain.
1795
August 3: Treaty of Greenville between U.S. and indigenous nations.
October 27: Pinckney’s Treaty signed; land treaty between Spain and U.S.
1796
June 1: Tennessee admitted to the Union as the 16th state.
August 2: Pinckney’s Treaty proclaimed.
September 19: George Washington’s Farewell Address.
1797
March 4: Inauguration of John Adams as second President of United States.
1797–1798: XYZ affair, political episode between France and U.S.
1798
June/July: Alien and Sedition Acts
November 16/December 24: Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in opposition to Alien and Sedition Acts.
1799
December 14: Death of George Washington.
1800
August 4: Second U.S. Census, counting 5.3 million Americans.
September 30: Treaty of Mortefontaine / Convention of 1800 ending quasi-war between France and United States; not proclaimed until December 1801.
October 31–December 3: Revolution of 1800 (election of Thomas Jefferson to presidency in February 1801).
