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New Orleans is founded
French colonists under the governor of the French colony of Louisiana, Jean-Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienvile, with the French Mississippi Company found the City of New Orleans -
Freedom of the Press became recognized
Freedom of the Press became recognized in New York after the trial of John Peter Zenger, who had been accused of libeling the British Government in his Weekly Journal. Zenger was acquitted on that date. -
1st battle of King George's War
First battle of King George's War begins with raid by New French against the British port of Canso. Four year conflict against northern British colonies takes heavy toll after battles in Maine, at Fort Massachusetts, and in Saratoga, New York. -
Benjamin Franklin invents lighting rod
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod after earlier in the year proving that lightning was electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. -
Sugar Act is established
The Sugar Act places a duty on various commodities, including lumber, food, molasses, and rum in the British colonies. -
Boston Massacre occurs
The Boston Massacre occurs when British troops fire into a Boston mob, who were demonstrating against British troops at the customs commission. -
Boston Tea Party occurs
Bostonians led by Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams discussed the new British tax on tea and subsequently boarded three ships in the nearby harbor, tossing the 342 chests of tea overboard. The Boston Tea Party caused Parliament to close the port of Boston and pushed the American colonies one step closer to war. -
American revolution begins
During armed resistance, 8 Minutemen were killed at Lexington and the British took 273 casualties on their return from Concord, starting the American Revolution. This was a culmination of the months prior, as colonists began to gather arms and powder if fighting the British became necessary. -
America gains it's independence
The Declaration of Independence, from the pen of Thomas Jefferson and his committee, is approved in the Second Continental Congress of the United States of America, held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. -
Last battle of American Revolution
British forces under Lord Cornwall surrender to Washington’s American forces and their French allies at Yorktown, Virginia, making this the last major military battle on American soil of the American Revolution. -
Constitution is adopted
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention adopt the Constitution. -
Whiskey Rebellion occurs
The Whiskey Rebellion occurs when western Pennsylvania farmers in the Monongahela Valley, upset over the liquor tax passed in 1791, are suppressed by 15,000 militia sent by Alexander Hamilton to establish the authority of the federal government to uphold its laws.