Congress adopts a second petition to the King... .July 8, 1775 Congress organizes a systematic superintendence of Indian affairs..July 12, 1775 Benjamin Franklin, first postmastergeneral, establishes posts from Falmouth, Me., to Savannah, Ga.......July 26, 1775 Congress adopts an "Address to the People of Ireland "........July 28, 1775 Resolved by Congress, "That Michael Hillegas and George Clymer, Esqs., be joint treasurers of the United Colonies" July 29, 1775 Peyton Randolph died at Philadelphia Oct. 22, 1775 Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense Jan. 8, 1776 General Thomas died of small-pox at Chambly.... .June 2, 1776 Committee appointed by Congress to draw up a Declaration of Independence June 11, 1776 Engrossed declaration signed by fiftyfour delegates.... ...Aug. 2, 1776 First society of Shakers in the United Colonies reach New York, 1774, and settle at Watervliet, N. Y...... September, 1776 Second Continental Congress (Philadelphia) adjourns; 582 days' session Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, chosen president of Congress to succeed Hancock, resigned on account of ill-health Nov. 1, 1777 Gen. John Cadwallader seriously wounds General Conway in a duel... Feb. 5, 1778 Congress prescribes an oath for officers of the army. .February, 1778 Count Pulaski raises a legion in Maryland .....1778 Sixth Continental Congress adjourns, 272 days' session.... .June 27, 1778 Seventh Continental Congress meets at Philadelphia...... July 2, 1778 [Henry Laurens, president.] Francis Hopkinson elected treasurer of loans by Congress..... .July 27, 1778 Territory northwest of the Ohio, occu pied for Virginia by Major Clarke, is constituted a county of Virginia by the Assembly, and named Illinois..October, 1778 Congress advises the several States to take measures for the suppressing of "theatrical entertainments, horse-racing, gaming, and such other diversions as are productive of idleness, dissipation, and general depravity of principles and manners Oct. 12, 1778 Articles of Confederation signed by Thomas McKean, of Delaware, Feb. 12, and by John Dickinson, of Delaware May 5, 1779 Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut, chosen president of Congress. Sept. 28, 1779 Legislature of New York empowers its delegates to cede to Congress a portion of its western territory for the common benefit...... .. Feb. 19, 1780 Bank of Pennsylvania, the first in the United States, chartered and located at Philadelphia. ....March 1, 1780 "Dark Day" in New England May 19, 1780 Congress advises States to surrender their territorial claims to Western land for the general benefit...... Sept. 6, 1780 newspaper in America, issued at Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin Bache..1784 Fiscal affairs of the United States placed in the hands of three commission 1784 Congress sends the ministers to France and Spain a statement of the claims of the United States to lands as far as the Mississippi River..... .Oct. 17, 1780 Robert Morris appointed superintendent ers appointed to succeed Robert Morris of finances by Congress...... Feb. 20, 1781 Delegates from Maryland sign the Articles of Confederation....March 1, 1781 Thomas McKean, of Delaware, elected president of the Continental Congress July 10, 1781 John Hanson, of Maryland, chosen president of Continental Congress...Nov. 5, 1781 Lafayette sails for France from Boston in the Alliance.... ....Dec. 22, 1781 Congress adopts a great seal for the United States.. .June 20, 1782 Elias Boudinot, of New Je sey, chosen president of the Continental Congress Nov. 4, 1782 Constitution for the Society of the Cincinnati formed at the army quarters on the Hudson River.......... May 13, 1783 Washington writes on the situation to each of the State governors..June 8, 1783 Seventh Continental Congress adjourns; session, 1,816 days........June 21, 1783 [The longest session ever held in the United States.] John Jay appointed secretary of foreign affairs in place of Livingston, resigned March, 1784 General Assembly of North Carolina cedes her western lands to the United States on condition of acceptance within two years, April, 1784, but repeals the act Oct. 22, 1784 Eighth Continental Congress meets at [Elias Boudinot, president.] Thomas Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, chosen president of the Continental Congress Nov. 3, 1783 Ninth Continental Congress meets at [Thomas Mifflin, president.] Washington makes a tour of the western country to ascertain by what means it could be most effectually bound to the Union... ...1784 Tenth Continental Congress meets at Nov. 30, 1784 Tenth Continental Congress adjourns; fifty-four days' session....Dec. 24, 1784 Eleventh Continental Congress meets at New York... ..Jan. 11, 1785 [Richard H. Lee, president.] Gen. Henry Knox appointed Secretary of War with added duties of Secretary of Navy..... . March 8, 1785 Franklin, minister to France, obtains leave to return; Jefferson is appointed March 10, 1785 Dispute between the United States and Spain on navigation of the Mississippi River and the boundaries of the Floridas 1785 Massachusetts cedes to the United States her claims to lands west of the Niagara River, in accordance with an act of legislature of Nov. 13, 1784 April 19, 1785 John Adams appointed minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, Feb. 24, and received at the Court of George III. June 1, 1785 Treaty of amity and commerce concluded between the King of Prussia and the United States, and signed by Thomas Jefferson at Paris, July 28, Benjamin Franklin at Passy, July 9, and J. Adams at London.. .Aug. 5, 1785 Franklin returns to Philadelphia from France, after an absence of nine years, landing... ..Sept. 13, 1785 State of Frankland formed from western lands of North Carolina.. November, 1785 Eleventh Continental Congress adjourns; 298 days' session....Nov. 4, 1785 Twelfth Continental Congress meets at New York..... . Nov. 7, 1785 John Hancock, of Massachusetts, chosen president of the Continental Congress Nov. 23, 1785 [Did not serve owing to illness.] James Rumsey succeeds in propelling a boat by steam and machinery on the Potomac.... ...March, 1786 First spinning-jenny in the United States put in operation by Daniel Jackson, of Providence, R. I....... ...1786 Nathaniel Gorham chosen president of the Continental Congress....June 6, 1786 Gen. Nathanael Greene dies at Mulberry Grove, Ga.. . . . . ....June 19, 1786 Ordinance establishing the coinage passed..... ...August, 1786 Delegates from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, at Annapolis, Md., consider the condition of the nation, and request all the States to send delegates to a convention at Philadelphia in May following.. Sept. 11, 1786 Connecticut makes a qualified cession to the United States of all territory south of 41° N. lat., and west of a line 120 miles west of Pennsylvania...... Sept. 14, 1786 Shays's Rebellion in Massachusetts 1786 Ordinance establishing a United States mint passed by Congress....Oct. 16, 1786 Twelfth Continental Congress adjourns; 362 days' session.... .Nov. 3, 1786 Thirteenth Continental Congress meets at New York... .Nov. 6, 1786 Arthur St. Clair, of Pennsylvania, chosen president of Congress.. Feb. 2, 1787 Congress advises the States to send delegates to a convention in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, to meet May 14.............. Feb. 21, 1787 Congress by ordinance provides government for the territory northwest of the Ohio (now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin).......July 13, 1787 Treaty between the United States and Morocco ratified...........July 18, 1787 South Carolina cedes to the United States her claims to a strip 12 miles wide west of a line from the head of the Tugaloo River to the North Carolina border... ...Aug. 9, 1787 Delegates to the convention sign the Constitution... ..... Sept. 17, 1787 Thirteenth Continental Congress adjourns; 359 days' session....Oct. 30, 1787 Fourteenth Continental Congress meets at New York... .Nov. 5, 1787 Spanish intrigues in Kentucky....1788 Cyrus Griffin, of Virginia, chosen president of Continental Congress.Jan. 22, 1788 Method for putting the new government into operation reported by the committee adopted by Congress... .Sept. 13, 1788 Fourteenth and last Continental Congress adjourns; 353 days' session.. Oct. 21, 1788 Electors in the several States vote for President and Vice-President February, 1789 UNDER THE CONSTITUTION FIRST ADMINISTRATION-FEDERAL. March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1793. SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, New York City, 1789, and Philadelphia from Dec. 6, 1790. George Washington, Virginia, President. John Adams, Massachusetts, Vice-President. Speaker of the House, F. A. Muhlenberg. Electoral vote counted. George Washington, of Virginia, receives the entire electoral vote, 69, and is chosen President; and John Adams, of Massachusetts, receives 34 votes and becomes Vice-President..... . April 6, 1789 President takes the oath of office, New York.... . April 30, 1789 .July 4, 1789 First Congress, first session, meets, New York.... April 6, 1789 First tariff bill passes.. |