 1773 - 1806 (32 years)
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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1772 | - 1772—1775: A depression lasts 30 months and into 1775.
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| 2 | 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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| 3 | 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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| 4 | 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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| 5 | 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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| 6 | 1780 | - 1780: Jefferson County, Kentucky is formed with land from Kentucky County, Virginia.
- 1780: Estimated colonial population – 2,780,400.
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| 7 | 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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| 8 | 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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| 9 | 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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| 10 | 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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| 11 | 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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| 12 | 1788 | - 21 Jun 1788: The United States Constitution is ratified.
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| 13 | 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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| 14 | 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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| 15 | 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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| 16 | 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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| 17 | 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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| 18 | 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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| 19 | 1797 | - 9 Oct 1797: Cocke County, Tennessee is formed with land from Jefferson County, Tennessee.
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| 20 | 1798 | - 26 Mar 1798: Schenectady is incorporated as a city in what is now Schenectady County, New York.
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| 21 | 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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| 22 | 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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| 23 | 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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| 24 | 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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| 25 | 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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| 26 | 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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| 27 | 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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