A Chronology of History Events Which Influenced and Shaped the United States To locate a person or event, enter keyword(s) in the FIND option of the Edit Menu.
1700 - 1799: Coming of age.
DATE	EVENT
1701	William Penn issues Charter of Privileges, for Pennsylvania.
1701	King William on the "French Question:" Address to Parliament.
1701	Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, establishes new trading post; calls it "Ponchartrain" on de Troit.
1701	Elihu Yale donates 800 Pounds to the third college in the colonies
1701	Charter of Delaware granted October 28.
1702	East Jersey and West Jersey unite to form royal province of New Jersey.
1702	Queen Anne begins reign; dies 1714. Annapolis is named for her.
1704	Robert Beverley comments on Bacon's Rebellion.
1704	John Locke dies. English philosopher, teacher, physician and scholar.
1704	First organ built in the colonies, in Philadelphia.
1705	Money and Trade Considered; A Proposal for Supplying the Nation with Money.
1707	Scotland and England join to become Great Britain.
1708	Damaris Cudworth Masham dies, daughter of Ralph Cudworth and friend of John Locke, she was herself a philosopher as well as an early feminist.
1709	First Copyright Act, in Britain.
1709	Berkeley writes An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision.
1710	Berkeley publishes A Treatise concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge.
1711	War with Tuscarora Indians in Carolinas, they head north.
1712	North Carolina gets own governor, separates from South Carolina.
1712	Jean Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher, natural rights theorist and literary figure; dies 1778.
1713	Treaty of Utrecht; French Acadians (Cajuns) driven from Nova Scotia to Louisiana.
1713	Common Law of England. The History of the Common Law of England by Matthew Hale.
1713	Queen Anne's War ends. Began in 1702.
1713	Berkeley publishes Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, a more popular version of the philosophy of the Principles
1714	Shawnee establish themselves in western Ohio, driven there from Maryland.
1715	North Carolina Biennial Act passed in meeting at New River.
1715	Tuscarora Indians join League of Five Nations, making it Six Nations.
1716	Gottfreid Wilhelm Leibniz dies. German philosopher, courtier, diplomat, lawyer, and librarian.
1716	First theater in the colonies is at Williamsburg.
1717	Mother Goose appears in print, in Boston.
1718	New Orleans founded by Le Page du Pratz, for Bienville.
1720	First settlements in Vermont.
1721	Montesquieu, French philosopher, jurist, and opponent of slavery. Publishes his Persian Letters.
1721	Dr. Zabdiel Boylston imports smallpox vaccine, in Boston.
1723	Benjamin Franklin leaves Boston for Philadelphia.
1727	First British fort on Great Lakes is Fort Oswego, NY.
1728	Vitus J. Bering, a Dane, explores strait which now bears his name.
1728	First American steel made in Hartford, CT.
1729	Jonathan Swift proposes extreme measures to make poor children useful in Ireland.
1732	Charter of Georgia granted June 9.
1732	Benjamin Franklin begins to publish Poor Richard's Almanac.
1732	Hat Act forbade manufacture in colonies of hats made with local fur.
1732	First stagecoach route connects Burlington to Perth Amboy, NJ
1733	Sugar Act, aka Molasses Act, a revenue enhancement scheme for Britain.
1733	John Kay invents fly shuttle. First improvement in looms since 13th century.
1733	Georgia becomes 13th colony; founded by James Oglethorpe.
1733	Henry St. John Bolingbroke: Letters of 1733-34 "Dissertation Upon Parties."
1734	The Trial of John Peter Zenger in landmark freedom of the press case.
1735	The Defense of John Peter Zenger in landmark freedom of the press case.
1735	Henry St. John Bolingbroke: "Letters on the Study and Use of History."
1736	Franklin begins Fire Department in Philadelphia.
1737	North Carolina Biennial Act: The king responds after 22 years.
1738	The Great Awakening in full swing reshaping religious policies everywhere.
1738	British traders begin working shores of Lake Erie, compete with French.
1738	Henry St. John Bolingbroke: "The Idea of a Patroit King," Dec. 1, 1738.
1740	English Parliament allows naturalization of colonists after 7 years.
1740	Invention of the Franklin stove, his most famous invention.
1740	Philadelphia is largest city in America. Population 13,000.
1740	War of Jenkin's Ear is fought in Cartagena (present-day Colombia.)
1741	Vitus Bering claims Alaska for his (now) homeland Russia.
1742	The first performance of Handel's Messiah oratorio in Dublin on April 13.
1743	American Philosophical Society founded by Benjamin Franklin.
1743	King George's War begins. France joins war effort against England.
1746	College of New Jersey founded; now called Princeton University.
1747	New York State Bar Association is first on this continent.
1748	Montesquieu, publishes The Spirit of the Laws which influenced the writing of many constitutions including the United States.
1748	Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep appears in New England Primer.
1748	Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle ends King George's War.
1749	England recognizes slavery and plantation system in the south.
1749	George Washington becomes land surveyor at age 17, for an Ohio company.
1749	Halifax, Nova Scotia founded.
1749	Catherine Trotter Cockburne dies, playwright and defender of Locke.
Revolution: 1750 - 1799
1750	Johan Sebastian Bach dies: German composer, chief representative of the German late Baroque period whose many works include The Well Tempered Clavier, The Art of the Fuge.
1750	Cumberland Gap discovered, named by Thomas Walker. Westward movement begins.
1750	Galissoniere publishes memoir on the French Colonies in North America.
1750	First American coal mine opens in Virginia.
1750	Iron Act encourages colonial pig iron, forbids colonial steel tools.
1751	Liberty Bell ordered from England. 50th anniversary Charter of Privs.
1752	Benjamin Franklin "flies a kite." A shocking experience! Invents lightning rod.
1752	First general hospital opens in Philadelphia.
1752	George Rogers Clark is born Nov. 19 in Albemarle County, Virginia.
1753	George Washington explores western PA; delivers ultimatum to French.
1753	Of Party Divisions; William Livingston -- in the Independent Reflector.
1754	Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union remarks on Iroquoian League.
1754	French and Indian War begins; ends formally in 1763 in Treaty of Paris.
1754	King's College, now Columbia University, founded.
1754	Major Washington loses battle of Fort Necessity.
1755	Baron de Montesquieu dies. French philosopher, jurist, influenced constitution.
1755	General Edward Braddock's defeat at Pittsburgh; Washington makes Lt. Colonel.
1757	Franklin goes to London on 17 year mission for the colonies.
1757	Domenico Scarlatti dies, Italian composer of operas and religious works, and one of the most important figures in the development of classical harmony.
1759	George Washington weds Martha Custis, honeymoons at "The White House."
1759	General James Wolfe vs. Gen. Marquis de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham; both die.
1760	Final subjugation of Canada by England leads to Dominion of Canada in 1767.
1760	George III becomes King of England. Colonial population 1.6 million
1761	Governor Glen of Louisiana gives a report on the role of the Indians along the Mississippi.
1761	Writs of Assistance case tried in Boston.
1762	Benjamin Franklin re-designs the harmonica, makes it a musical instrument.
1762	Spain acquires Louisiana from France.
1763	Pontiac begins siege of Detroit, now a British fort; incites other wars.
1763	French and Indian War ends with Treaty of Paris signed Sept 3, which establishes borders of United States.
1763	Road to Independence, a chronology of events of the next 13 years.
1763	Patrick Henry delivers his famous "Parsons" speech.
1763	Vigilantes known as Paxton Boys massacre peaceful Conestoga village.
1764	Mozart writes his first symphony, at age eight.
1764	Saint Louis founded.
1764	Sugar and Molasses Act modified to produce revenue, in concert with Revenue Act.
1764	Revenue Act. Taxation without representation introduced in Boston
1764	Committee of Correspondence formed in Boston
1765	The Stamp Act: "An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies."
1765	Stamp Act response of the colonial Congress meeting in Albany, NY.
1765	Quartering Act requires housing British troops in private homes.
1766	William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, rises in parliament to denounce the Stamp Act. It is soon repealed but replaced with the Declaratory Act.
1766	Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon draw the line at MD & PA border.
1767	Dominion of Canada formed from the union of British North American colonies.
1767	Townshend Duties create Customs Office.
1768	British troops begin occupation of Boston.
1769	Daniel Boone crosses Appalachians, keeps heading west into Kentucky.
1769	Virginia Non-importation Resolution: In protest of taxation by England.
1769	Pontiac murdered by another Indian, near St. Louis.
1769	Napoleon Bonaparte is born, August 15, on the island of Corsica.
1770	Francisco de Ortega names discovery on west coast for his patron saint.
1770	Boston Massacre. As reported in the Boston Gazette and Country Journal.
1770	Englishman Capt. James Cook becomes first European to explore Australia.
1770	Townshend Acts repealed, except for that on tea.
1771	Battle of Alamance: the "Regulators" are defeated in North Carolina.
1772	Samuel Adams at Boston Town Hall Meeting publishes list of rights.
1772	John Sevier organizes independent republic of Watauga in Tennessee.
1773	Tea Act enacted by Parliament.
1773	Boston Tea Party. 342 chests of tea go into the drink December 16.
1774	John Hancock speaks to the people of Boston about the "Boston Massacre" of 1770.
1774	Quartering Act of 1774: Forcing colonist to provide quarters for British troops.
1774	Intolerable Acts includes the Coercive Acts.
1774	Englishman Capt. James Cook visits Easter Island and the Marquesas.
1774	British close the port of Boston in retaliation for tea party.
1774	The Suffolk Resolves in Massachusetts expresses bitterness toward England and demands action from colonial congress.
1774	Virginia Conventions begin. Lead to First Continental Congress.
1774	Prayer in Congress. The first prayer in congress. By Jacob Duche.
1774	First Continental Congress convenes, in Philadelphia, Sept 5.
1774	Galloway of PA presents a Plan for a Union for Great Britain and the colonies.
1774	Declaration and Rights, resolves of First Continental Congress Oct 14.
1774	Report to the colonies: Livingston of NJ on actions of First Continental Congress.
1774	The Olive Branch Petition to the king from John Adams as a peaceful solution to grievances; Oct 26.
1774	The Quebec Act nullifies all colonial rights west of Ohio River.
1774	A Plea For Religious Freedom before the Massachusetts Legislature.
1775	Of the 3,500 physicians in the colonies, only 400 are MD by degree.
1775	Patrick Henry declares "Give me liberty or give me death!" March 23.
1775	American Revolution begins with battles at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
1775	Paul Revere's account of his "midnight ride."
1775	Second Continental Congress convenes, in Philadelphia, May 10.
1775	Fort Ticonderoga taken by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain militia, May 10.
1775	Charlotte Town Resolves, adopted at meeting of May 31.
1775	Washington accepts promotion to general & commander-in-chief June 16.
1775	Battle of Bunker Hill. Lt. Waller's account. General Sir John Burgoyne brags to Lord Stanley over outcome of battle fought on nearby Breed's Hill on June 17.
1775	Declaration on Taking Up of Arms issued by Continental Congress, July 6.
1775	Objections to Taxation by Great Britain's parliament: Soame Jenyns.
1775	Postal system created. Benjamin Franklin is first Director.
1775	King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion: August 22nd.
1775	Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, declares Martial Law, November 7th.
1775	Great Bridge: Virginians defeat British, December.
1776	Moore's Creek Bridge: North Carolinians defeat British, February.
1776	Thomas Paine publishes "Common Sense."
1776	David Hume dies, Scottish philosopher, historian and economist. Inspired Alexander Hamilton's concepts of economics.
1776	South Carolina Constitution adopted March 26.
1776	Virginia Declaration of Rights on June 12; written by George Mason.
1776	Virginia State Constitution adopted June 29, will be model for all states.
1776	New Jersey Constitution adopted July 2.
1776	Road to Independence, a chronology of events leading to the Declaration of Independence, July 4, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, with John Adams. The signers and their fates.
1776	New Hampshire Constitution adopted July 5.
1776	Second Continental Congress, on September 9, makes the term "United States" official, replacing "United Colonies."
1776	Nathan Hale regrets having "but one life to lose", September 22.
1776	Patrick Henry elected governor of new Commonwealth of Virginia.
1776	Washington at Trenton: Captures 916 Hessian (German) prisoners.
1777	New York Constitution adopted April 20.
1777	Shawnee Indian chief Cornstalk, and others killed. Leads to years of warfare in Ohio.
1777	Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, is made a major-general in the American Continental Army; July 31.
1777	Battle of Bennington Vermont. The Green Mountain Boys doing what came naturally.
1777	General Gates defeats General Burgoyne (Hessian account) at Saratoga, NY. Burgoyne writes a note to his nieces describing his feelings.
1777	General Washington has close call at Brandywine: Captain Ferguson's account.
1777	Congress adopts the American flag with thirteen stars and stripes.
1777	Battle of Oriskany; Rome, New York, the site of Fort Stanwix.
1777	Washington's Continental Army winters at Valley Forge. Dr. Waldo's account.
1778	Francois-Marie Voltaire dies, French philosopher, popularized Newtonian physics, critic of Leibniz.
1778	Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher and writer, dies.
1778	France declares war on England, becomes ally of America.
1778	Englishman Capt. James Cook explores west coast of North America and Sandwich Islands, then murdered in Hawaii.
1779	British surrender to George Rogers Clark, Feb 25, at Vincennes, Indiana.
1779	John Paul Jones, in Bon Homme Richard, defeats Pearson, in Serapis.
1780	Death of John Logan, Cayuga Indian Chief. Who will mourn for Logan?
1780	Benedict Arnold attempts to sell West Point to the British.
1780	King George III laments the loss of America.
1781	Articles of Confederation go into effect; were drafted in 1777.
1781	Los Angeles founded by Spanish settlers, Sept. 4.
1781	Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton; notice of his surrender to Washington. Surrender letters between Gen. Washington and Gen. Cornwallis of October 17-18.
1782	Ninety-six Moravian Christian Indians massacred at Gnaddenhutton, OH.
1783	Declarations for Suspension of Arms and Cessation of Hostilities, January 20. Agreement signed by John Adams and Ben Franklin for the United States.
1783	First daily newspaper is Pennsylvania Evening Post.
1783	The Paris Peace Treaty officially ending the War of Revolution signed September 3.
1784	Benjamin Franklin invents bifocals.
1785	Land Ordinance of 1785 for disposing of lands ceded by states to the federal government.
1785	Treaty With the Cherokee Articles concluded at Hopewell, on the Keowee.
1786	Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts forcibly closes court systems.
1786	Annapolis Convention concludes September 14, suggests Philadelphia convention.
1787	Shay's Rebellion: Gens. Shepard's and Lincoln's letters to Gov. Bowdoin of Massachusetts.
1787	Northwest Ordinance adopted July 13 by Continental Congress.
1787	Constitutional Convention opens May 25; concludes business Sept 17.
1787	Delegates of the Continental Congress witness demonstration (August 22nd) of inventor John Fitch's steamboat on the Delaware River.
1787	United States Constitution framed, sent to Congress Sept. 17; then to states.
1787	Federalist Papers begin publication in newspapers.
1788	New Hampshire is 9th state to ratify Constitution. United States is now a nation.
1788	First settlement in Ohio named Marietta, for Marie Antoinette.
1789	Mackenzie reaches Arctic Ocean via Mackenzie River in West Canada.
1789	George Washington takes oath on April 30 as 1st President with John Adams as first VP. Washington's 1st Inaugural Speech.
1789	Proposed Amendments to the new Constitution. James Madison rises in congress to reluctantly suggests changes.
1789	Patrick Henry leads fight for ratification of Bill of Rights.
1789	French Revolution begins. Bastille falls July 14, releasing the seven prisoners inside. Declaration of Rights Aug 26th.
1789	Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first U.S. secretary of the Treasury, Sept. 11.
1789	Thanksgiving Proclamation signed by first President George Washington.
1789	Mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty; survivors establish Pitcairn Island colony.
1790	The Benjamin Franklin Reading Room. Died April 17.
1790	First national census finds 3,929,214 persons eligible to be counted.
1790	John Jay is Chief Justice as Supreme Court meets for the first time.
1790	Equality of the Sexes; Judith Sargent Murray - pen name, Constantia.
1791	Federal capital to be established in swamp lands on the Potomac.
1791	Vermont becomes 14th state: The first admitted after the original 13 formed the United States.
1791	First ten Amendments are Bill of Rights go into effect.
1791	Mozart dies while writing Requiem (Mass for the Dead). It was not finished.
1791	Northwest Territory Governor Arthur St. Clair soundly defeated by Indians near Ft. Wayne.
1792	Congress names the Dollar as our unit of currency; proposer: Jefferson.
1792	Post Office established by Congress as a separate entity.
1792	Thomas Paine publishes Rights of Man in England.
1792	New York Stock Exchange organized.
1792	Political parties formed; Republicans (which became Democrats) & the Federalists.
1793	George Washington takes oath on March 4 for second term with John Adams as Vice President. Washington's 2nd Inaugural Speech.
1793	Cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney.
1793	The Louvre opens to public. First major public art museum in Europe.
1793	General "Mad Anthony" Wayne begins campaign against Indians in SW Ohio.
1793	Fugitive Slave Law amended requiring that they be returned to their owners.
1793	John Hancock dies October 8, but not his magnificent signature.
1793	French Revolution continues as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are beheaded.
1793	Neutrality Act, President declares U. S. position on war between England and France.
1793	Mackenzie reaches Pacific via Fraser River in western Canada.
1794	Battle of Fallen Timbers, near Toledo, OH. General Wayne v. Indians.
1794	Patrick Henry retires to his Red Hill estate near Appomattox, Virginia.
1794	Jay Treaty requires withdrawal of British troops from U.S.A.
1794	Whiskey Rebellion over excise tax in western Pennsylvania.
1795	11th Amendment specifies some limits of Federal Judicial power.
1795	Pinckney's Treaty with Spain opens navigation on Mississippi River.
1795	Treaty of Greenville, OH opens up much of Ohio to settlement by whites.
1795	Washington poses for Stuart's portrait, which is now on our dollar bill.
1796	Patrick Henry elected to sixth term as governor but refuses office.
1796	U. S. agrees to blackmail from Algiers to stop piracy. Tripoli, November 4.
1796	Paine writes letter to Washington, explaining that he (Paine) really won America's independence and that Washington is an incompetent, a glory hound, and a crook.
1796	Washington retires, but not because of Thomas Paine. Gives Farewell Address.
1796	John Adams President, Tom Jefferson Vice President, 71-68 vote margin.
1796	E Pluribus Unum: "Out of Many, One"; added to American coins.
1797	John Adams takes oath on March 4 as 2nd President with Thomas Jefferson as Vice President. John Adams Inaugural Address.
1797	XYZ Affair, so named after three anonymous French trouble makers.
1797	Napoleon Bonaparte wins war and gains Austria for France.
1797	U.S.S. Constitution is launched and christened by Captain James Sever.
1797	Death of Mary Wollstonecraft, critic of Rousseau, defender of women's rights.
1798	Alien and Sedition Acts. Soon repealed. [John Adams must've been asleep at the switch.]
1798	Department of the Navy established -- Navy already 4 years old.
1798	Washington comes out of retirement to be Commander In Chief of Army. Insist that Alexander Hamilton is named 2nd in command.
1798	Napoleon wins Battle of the Pyramids but loses war with British navy.
1799	The Kentucky Resolution written by Jefferson, declares the alien and sedition laws unconstitutional, and he was right!
1799	French Revolution ends. Napoleon becomes ruler of France.
1799	Patrick Henry dies June 6.
1799	George Washington dies of quinsy at Mt. Vernon December 14.

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