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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1715 | - 1715: The Palatine Germans in the Schoharie Valley of New York are poor, speak little English and do not understand what is necessary to take clear title to their lands. Unlike the wealthier Dutch landholders, the Germans are tardy in seeking patents for the land they are occupying. They resist all attempts by the government in Albany to provide clear individual titles to their lands. Instead, they insist that Queen Anne’s promise of free land is sufficient by itself. They abuse government agents and are increasingly suspicious of Dutch landholders moving into the Schoharie Valley. The Germans believe that the Dutch landholders are either trying to take their lands or trying to isolate them. The Germans are growing increasingly more threatening and more violent.
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| 2 | 1720 | - 1720: Spotsylvania County, Virginia is formed with land from Essex County, King and Queen County and King William County, Virginia.
- 1720: Estimated colonial population – 466,200.
- 20 Nov 1720: Hanover County, Virginia is formed with land from New Kent County, Virginia.
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| 3 | 1722 | - 1722: Carteret County, North Carolina is formed with land from Craven Precinct of the Bath District.
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| 4 | 1727 | - 6 Mar 1727: Goochland County, Virginia is formed with land from Henrico County, Virginia.
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| 5 | 1728 | - 14 Oct 1728: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Chester County, Pennsylvania.
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| 6 | 1729 | - 1729: King George II purchases Carolina lands from a group of proprietors and designates North Carolina and South Carolina as royal colonies. King George II is age 45.
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| 7 | 1730 | - 1730: Estimated colonial population — 629,400.
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| 8 | 1732 | - 1732: Winchester, Spotsylvania County [later to be Orange County, then Frederick County], Virginia is established by Pennsylvania Quakers.
- 22 Feb 1732: George Washington is born in Bridges Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia. This area is located just inland from the Potomac River and is not far from the Potomac's entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
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| 9 | 1734 | - 20 Sep 1734: Orange County [later to be Frederick County], Virginia, is formed with land from Spotsylvania County.
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| 10 | 1738 | - 1738: Frederick County, Virginia is authorized to be established with land from Orange County, Virginia. [The government for Frederick County will not be formed until 1743.]
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| 11 | 1743 | - 13 Apr 1743: Thomas Jefferson is born at Shadwell in Goochland County [later to be Albemarle County], Virginia near what will be Monticello and what is now Charlottesville, Virginia.
- 11 Nov 1743: The government of Frederick County, Virginia is established. Frederick County's land is formed with land from Orange County, Virginia. [Frederick County was originally authorized on December 15, 1738.]
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| 12 | 1748 | - 23 Mar 1748: Cumberland County, Virginia is formed with land from Goochland County, Virginia.
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| 13 | 1749 | - 14 Oct 1749: York County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
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| 14 | 1750 | - 1750: Estimated colonial population — 1,170,800.
- 27 Jan 1750: Cumberland County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
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| 15 | 1753 | - 8 Jun 1753: Sussex County, New Jersey is formed with land from Morris County, New Jersey.
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| 16 | 1760 | - 1760: Estimated colonial population — 1,593,600.
- 25 Oct 1760: George III begins his 60-year reign as King of Great Britain and Ireland at age 22.
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| 17 | 1762 | - 1762—1765: A depression lasts 36 months and into 1765.
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| 18 | 1763 | - 1763: Innkeeper Richard McAllister lays out Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania in lowlands at the junction of busy trade roads. McAllister apparently names the town Hanover to please the many persons of German descent living in the area. [Hanover eventually hosts George and Martha Washington, as well as Benjamin Franklin.]
- Nov 1763: French fur trader Pierre de Laclede selects the site for a trading post on the west bank of the Mississippi River and south of the Missouri River. This site will become St. Louis in the Louisiana Territory. Construction of a village begins in 1764.
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| 19 | 1765 | - 22 Oct 1765: Schenectady is established as a borough in what is now Schenectady County, New York. Its charter provides for a Mayor, who is appointed by the Governor of New York.
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| 20 | 1768 | - 1768—1769: A depression lasts 12 months and into 1769.
- 14 Oct 1768: The Treaty of Hard Labour is signed by the British and the Cherokee Indians in Hard Labour, South Carolina. The Treaty opens what is now East Tennessee for settlement by North Carolinians and Virginians.
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| 21 | 1769 | - 1769: Actual settlement of Tennesee begins. Now, more than just hunters begin to enter the state.
- 1 May 1769: Daniel Boone leaves North Carolina for Kentucky at age 34.
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| 22 | 1770 | - 1770: Estimated colonial population — 2,148,100.
- 5 Mar 1770: British soldiers shoot colonists in the Massachusetts Colony. This incident becomes known as the "Boston Massacre."
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| 23 | 1771 | - 8 Mar 1771: Bedford County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
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| 24 | 1772 | - 1772—1775: A depression lasts 30 months and into 1775.
- Feb 1772: Berkeley County is established in Virginia. It is formed with land from Frederick County. On June 20, 1863, Berkeley County will become part of West Virginia when West Virginia becomes the 35th state.]
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| 25 | 1774 | - 10 Jul 1774: Virginia Governor Lord John Dunmore departs for the Ohio Valley with 1300 men in the Dunmore Expedition against the Shawnee Indians. Lord Dunmore is about age 42.
- 5 Aug 1774: Colonel George Washington is selected as a Virginia delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Washington is age 42. He spends the winter organizing militia companies in Virginia.
- 10 Oct 1774: Colonel Andrew Lewis and the Dunmore Expedition defeat Chief Cornstalk and the Shawnees at the Battle of Point Pleasant in what is now West Virginia.
- 19 Oct 1774: The Shawnees recognize Virginia's claims to the upper Ohio River Valley in the Treaty of Camp Charlotte.
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| 26 | 1775 | - 19 Apr 1775: The Revolutionary War begins at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.
- 15 Jun 1775: The Second Continental Congress unanimously elects George Washington as a General and as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army at age 43.
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| 27 | 1776 | - 4 Jul 1776: Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of American Independence is formally adopted by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Jefferson is age 33.
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| 28 | 1777 | - 1777: John Adams, future second President of the United States, visits York, York County, Pennsylvania with the Continental Congress. He writes: "The People are chiefly Germans, who have [church] Schools in their own Language, as well as Prayers, Psalms and Sermons so that Multitudes are born, grown up and die here, without learning the English."
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| 29 | 1780 | - 1780: Jefferson County, Kentucky is formed with land from Kentucky County, Virginia.
- 1780: Estimated colonial population – 2,780,400.
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| 30 | 1781 | - Sep 1781: The Spanish found El Pueblo Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Poricuncula. It is in what is now Los Angeles County, California.
- 19 Oct 1781: Major General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to General George Washington at Yorktown, York County, Virginia. [Yorktown is southeast of Williamsburg on the York River.] This surrender signals that America has finally won the Revolutionary War. Washington is age 49, and Cornwallis is age 42.
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| 31 | 1783 | - Mar 1783: The American government is currently known as the Confederation Congress. It is politically and economically weak. Veteran Army officers have been promised pensions for life, but it is increasingly obvious that revenue for the pensions will never be raised. It also becomes clear that a proposal for 5 years of benefits will be forgotten after a peace treaty with Great Britain is finally signed and the Army is disbanded. These developments infuriate the Army officers and precipitate a dangerous episode called the Newburgh Conspiracy. Army officers at Newburgh, Orange County, New York begin circulating petitions with veiled threats of action against the Congress if their pensions are not assured. A military coup is not out of the question. The dissident officers schedule a meeting on March 11 to coordinate strategies. General George Washington learns of the order and countermands it. He then calls a meeting of all officers on March 16.
- 16 Mar 1783: General George Washington, age 51, enters a large auditorium in Newburgh where about 500 officers are waiting for him. He walks slowly to the podium and reaches inside his jacket to pull out his prepared remarks. He then pauses and pulls out a new pair of spectacles from his waistcoat. He adjusts his glasses and says, "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind in the service of my country." Some of the officers begin to sob and many have tears in their eyes. The thoughts of a coup die at that moment, but Washington goes on to appeal to the "sacred honor" of his officers to express their "utmost horror" to any man who wishes to "deluge our rising Empire in Blood."
- 18 Apr 1783: What is now Greene County, Tennessee is formed with land from the Washington District of North Carolina. [In 1790, North Carolina will cede this area and what is now mostly Tennessee to the federal government. Congress will name the area the "Territory South of the River Ohio" (also known as the "Southwest Territory"). Tennessee will become the 16th state on June 1, 1796.]
- 3 Sep 1783: The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the American Revolutionary War with Great Britain. Formal ratification documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784.
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| 32 | 1784 | - 1784—1788: A depression lasts 44 months and into 1788.
- Aug 1784: Settlers in what is now East Tennessee, frustrated by lack of representation in the North Carolina legislature, form the independent State of Franklin. The new State will fail after 4 years.
- 9 Sep 1784: Franklin County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Cumberland County, Virginia.
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| 33 | 1785 | - 12 Mar 1785: Newberry County, South Carolina is formed as part of Ninety-Six District.
- 12 Mar 1785: Union County, South Carolina is formed as part of Ninety-Six District.
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| 34 | 1786 | - 1 Jan 1786: Primogeniture is abolished in Virginia. As a result, real property of an intestate decedent no longer passes only to the intestate decedent’s eldest son. Instead, real property is now divided among the intestate decedent’s wife and all of his children. [The personal property of an intestate decedent had always been divided among the intestate decedent’s wife and all of his children.]
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| 35 | 1788 | - 21 Jun 1788: The United States Constitution is ratified.
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| 36 | 1789 | - Jan 1789: Losantiville is established at the site of what is now Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.
- 4 Mar 1789: The United States Constitution takes effect.
- 30 Apr 1789: George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States at age 57.
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| 37 | 1790 | - 1790: Estimated United States population — 3,929,214.
- 2 Jan 1790: Hamilton County is established in Ohio. It is the second county created out of the Northwest Territory. Losantiville is renamed Cincinnati.
- 17 Apr 1790: Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania at age 84.
- 26 May 1790: North Carolina cedes what is now mostly the area of Tennessee to the federal government. Congress names the area the "Territory South of the River Ohio" [also known as the "Southwest Territory"].
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| 38 | 1791 | - 1 May 1791: Primogeniture is abolished in South Carolina. As a result, real property of an intestate decedent no longer passes only to the intestate decedent’s eldest son. Instead, real property is now divided among the intestate decedent’s wife and all of his children. [The personal property of an intestate decedent had always been divided among the intestate decedent’s wife and all of his children.]
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| 39 | 1792 | - 1 Jun 1792: Kentucky becomes the 15th state.
- 11 Jun 1792: What is now Jefferson County, Tennessee is formed with land from what is now Greene County and Hawkins County, Tennessee. [In 1792, this area is still part of the "Territory South of the River Ohio" [also known as the "Southwest Territory"].
- Nov 1792: Hardin County, Kentucky is formed with land from Nelson County, Kentucky.
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| 40 | 1795 | - 6 Apr 1795: Schoharie County, New York is formed with land from Albany County and Ostego County, New York.
- 13 Apr 1795: Lycoming County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
- 11 Jul 1795: Blount County, Tennessee is formed with land from what is now Knox County, Tennessee. [This area is still part of the "Territory South of the River Ohio" (also known as the "Southwest Territory"). Tennessee will become the 16th state on June 1, 1796.]
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| 41 | 1796 | - 1796—1798: A depression lasts 36 months and into 1798.
- 9 Apr 1796: Carter County, Tennessee is formed with land from the original Washington District of North Carolina. [This area is still part of the "Territory South of the River Ohio" (also known as the "Southwest Territory"). Tennessee will become the 16th state in 2 months.]
- 1 Jun 1796: Tennessee becomes the 16th state.
- 19 Dec 1796: Warren County, Kentucky is formed with land from Logan County, Kentucky.
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| 42 | 1797 | - 9 Oct 1797: Cocke County, Tennessee is formed with land from Jefferson County, Tennessee.
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| 43 | 1798 | - 26 Mar 1798: Schenectady is incorporated as a city in what is now Schenectady County, New York.
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| 44 | 1799 | - 1799: Williamson County, Tennessee is formed from Davidson County.
- 26 Oct 1799: Smith County, Tennessee is formed with land from Sumner County, Tennessee and Indian lands.
- 14 Dec 1799: George Washington dies at Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia at age 67.
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| 45 | 1800 | - 1800: Newberry County, South Carolina is formally established as a separate entity when Ninety-Six District is split into its component counties.
- 1800: United States population — 5,308,483.
- 17 Feb 1800: Thomas Jefferson is elected third President of the United States after 7 days of multiple ballots in the United States House of Representatives. Jefferson is age 57.
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| 46 | 1802 | - 1802: Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio is chartered as a village.
- 1802—1803: A depression lasts 24 months and into 1803.
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| 47 | 1803 | - 19 Feb 1803: Ohio becomes the 17th state.
- 20 Jun 1803: President Thomas Jefferson provides a written mission statement to Captain Meriwether Lewis for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He states, in part: "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it's [sic] course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce."
- 4 Jul 1803: President Thomas Jefferson provides a letter of credit to Captain Meriwether Lewis. He states, in part: "In the journey which you are about to undertake for the discovery of the course and source of the Missouri, and of the most convenient water communication from thence to the Pacific ocean, your party being small, it is to be expected that you will encounter considerable dangers from the Indian inhabitants. Should you escape those dangers and reach the Pacific ocean, you may find it imprudent to . . . return the same way, and be forced to seek a passage round by sea, in such vessels as you may find on the Western coast." The letter of credit is designed to guarantee compensation to third parties who might provide assistance to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- Sep 1803: Captain Meriwether Lewis stays in the village of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio on his way down the Ohio River to join Captain William Clark in Clarksville in Indiana Territory. [Cincinnati has a population of about 1,000.] Meriwether is age 29.
- 20 Oct 1803: The Senate approves the Louisiana Purchase, opening the potential for expanded American migration to the West.
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| 48 | 1804 | - 1804: St. Louis in what is now St. Louis County, Missouri has a population of about 1000. Most of its inhabitants are French-Canadians.
- 1 Jan 1804: Muskingum County, OH is formed from Washington and Fairfield Counties, OH.
- 21 May 1804: The Lewis and Clark Expedition begins as Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark proceed westward up the Missouri River from St. Charles in what is now St. Charles County, Missouri. [St. Charles is just north of St. Louis.] Meriwether is age 29, and William is age 33.
- 21 Dec 1804: The Lewis and Clark Expedition begins their 3-month winter stay with the Mandan Indians at Fort Mandan. Fort Mandan is near the Missouri River about 14 miles west of what is now Washburn, McLean County, North Dakota.
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| 49 | 1805 | - 13 Jun 1805: Captain Meriwether Lewis is the first white man to discover the Great Falls of the Missouri River. There are 5 spectacular falls in what will be Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana. [The flow of the falls is now controlled and greatly reduced to provide electric power to the area.]
- 12 Aug 1805: Captain Meriwether Lewis is the first white man to stand on the Lemhi Pass. The Lemhi Pass is on the Continental Divide separating what are now Beaverhead County, Montana and Lemhi County, Idaho. At this moment, the dream of finding a Northwest Passage [a mostly continuous waterway to the Pacific Ocean] comes to an end. The formidable Bitterroot Mountains block the way. As Captain Lewis takes his first step west from the Lemhi Pass, he leaves the limits of the Louisiana Purchase. He is no longer in the United States. Six days later, Captain Lewis becomes age 32.
- 9 Sep 1805—11 Sep 1805: The Lewis and Clark Expedition camps at Traveler’s Rest near what is now Lolo Creek in Lolo, Missoula County, Montana. [The camp is about 10 miles south of what is now Missoula, Missoula County, Montana. They are preparing for a near disastrous trip on what is now the Lolo Trail over the Bitterroot Mountains. The Lolo Trail crosses the Continental Divide separating Missoula County, Montana from Idaho County, Idaho.
- 16 Oct 1805: The Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches the confluence of the Snake River and the Columbia River in what is now Pasco, Franklin County, Washington.
- 7 Dec 1805: The Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches the mouth of the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean. Captain William Clark writes in his field notes, "Ocian in view! O! the joy." William is age 35.
- 14 Dec 1805: The Lewis and Clark Expedition winters inland near the Pacific Ocean at Fort Clatsop. Fort Clatsop is south of what is now Astoria, Clatsop County, Oregon.
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| 50 | 1806 | - 23 Sep 1806: The Lewis and Clark Expedition ends as the Corps of Discovery arrives in St. Louis in what is now Missouri. Meriwether Lewis is age 32, and William Clark is age 36.
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| 51 | 1807 | - 1807—1809: A depression lasts 27 months and into 1809.
- 3 Dec 1807: Rhea County, Tennessee is formed with land from Roane County, Tennessee.
- 3 Dec 1807: Bedford County, Tennessee is formed with land from Rutherford County, Tennessee and Indian lands.
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| 52 | 1808 | - 1808: Fort Madison is built in what is now Lee County, Iowa.
- 10 Feb 1808: Delaware County, Ohio is formed with land from Franklin County, Ohio.
- 13 Feb 1808: Stark County, Ohio is formed with land from Columbiana County and Muskingum County, Ohio.
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| 53 | 1809 | - 12 Feb 1809: Abraham Lincoln is born in near Hodgenville, Hardin County [later to be LaRue County], Kentucky.
- 7 Mar 1809: Schenectady County is established in New York. It is formed with land from Albany County. It is adjacent to, and northeast of, Schoharie County.
- 11 Oct 1809: Meriwether Lewis commits suicide at Grinder’s Inn on the Natchez Trace about 72 miles southwest of Nashville, Tennessee. [Lewis is buried at that site in what is now Hohenwald, Lewis County, Tennessee.] In 1806, 1 year after the completion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Lewis is appointed Governor of the Louisiana Territory with a base in St. Louis. His performance is lackluster and controversial. Additionally, he becomes deeply in debt and his mental condition deteriorates. [Lewis is apparently a manic depressive.] At the time of his death, he is on the way to Washington, D.C. to answer questions about his administration and to try to clear up his debts. Lewis dies at age 35.
- 14 Nov 1809: Lincoln County, Tennessee is formed with land from Bedford County, Tennessee.
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| 54 | 1810 | - 1810: United States population – 7,239,881.
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| 55 | 1813 | - 22 Mar 1813: Columbia County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Northumberland County and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
- 13 Sep 1813: Fort Madison in what is now Lee County, Iowa is set afire and destroyed by departing American troops during the War of 1812. The Fort had been subject to multiple Indian attacks in the previous several years and was no longer defensible.
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| 56 | 1814 | - Aug 1814: British troops capture and burn Washington, D. C. during the War of 1812.
- 13 Sep 1814—14 Sep 1814: Francis Scott Key composes The Star-Spangled Banner during the British bombardment of Baltimore, Maryland.
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| 57 | 1815 | - 1815—1821: A depression lasts almost 6 years and into 1821.
- 16 Feb 1815: The United States Senate ratifies the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812.
- 19 Dec 1815: White County, Illinois is formed with land from Gallatin County, Illinois.
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| 58 | 1816 | - 16 Jan 1816: Jackson County in the Indiana Territory is formed with land from Clark County, Jefferson County and Washington County in the Indiana Territory.
- 11 Dec 1816: Indiana becomes the 19th state.
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| 59 | 1817 | - 4 Jan 1817: Bond County, Illinois is formed with land from Madison County, Crawford County and Edwards County, Illinois.
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| 60 | 1818 | - 3 Dec 1818: Illinois becomes the 21st state.
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| 61 | 1819 | - 1819: Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio is incorporated as a city.
- 23 Oct 1819: The first segment of the Erie Canal opens in Oneida County, New York between Rome and Utica.
- 25 Oct 1819: Hamilton County, Tennessee is formed with land from Rhea County, Tennessee.
- 13 Nov 1819: McMinn County, Tennessee is formed with land ceded by the Cherokee Indians.
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| 62 | 1820 | - 1820: United States population — 9,638,453.
- 1 Feb 1820: Scott County, Indiana is formed with land from Clark County, Jackson County, Jefferson County, Jennings County and Washington County, Indiana.
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| 63 | 1821 | - 10 Aug 1821: Missouri becomes the 24th state.
- 3 Nov 1821: Calloway County, Kentucky is formed with land from Hickman County.
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