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Constitution of the United States signed.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, -
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Democracy and Dissent: The Violence of Party Politics
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Departments of War, State, and the Treasury, and as secretaties created
Congess created the Departments of War, State, and the Treasury, and as secretaries, Washington nominated Henry Knox, Thomas Jerfferson, and Alexander Hamilton. -
George Washington inaugurated
Washington was escorted to Federal Hall on Wall Street and into the Senate Chamber. Washington, Vice President John Adams, the Senators and Representatives stepped out of the chamber onto a balcony overlooking the street filled with a cheering crowd. As there were as yet no Supreme Court Justices, the Oath of Office was administered by Chancellor Robert R. Livingstone - New York's highest ranking judge. After taking the oath, Washington and the others returned to the Senate Chamber where the new -
Louis XVI of France calls meeting of the Estates General
He did this because he was forced to.
France was bankrupt and the Royal family had been severely threatened. This was an emergency situation and the Estates general were representatives of all classes who were asked for their view and vote on the current state of France. -
Congress approves Hamilton's plan for funding and assumption
Hamilton embarked on an ambitious plan of economic nationalism. He intended the plan to solve the economic problems that had plagued the United States since the American Revolution and to provide the means to defend the new republic. Beginning in January 1790 with the "Report on the Public Credit," he advanced his plan in a series of reports to Congress. His plan contained seven central elements -
Bank of the United States is chartered
The First Bank was a bank chartered by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791. The charter was for 20 years. The Bank was created to handle the financial needs and requirements of the central government of the newly formed United States, which had previously been thirteen individual states with their own banks, currencies, financial institutions, and policies. -
Hamilton's Report on Manufactures is rejected by Congress
is the third report, and magnum opus, of American Founding Father and 1st U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. It was presented to Congress on December 5, 1791 and recommended economic policies to stimulate the new republic's economy and ensure the independence won with the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1783. -
Frances revolutionary government announces a "war of all people against all kings'
The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights. -
Jefferson resigns as secretary of state
After a visit home to Monticello, Jefferson returns to Philadelphia, where one of the worst yellow fever epidemics of the century is raging. Jefferson resigns his position as secretary of state, effective December 31. -
General Anthony Wayne defeats Indians at battle of Fallen Timbers
Thirty-three of Wayne's men were killed and 100 were wounded. The victorious Americans claimed to have found 30-40 enemy dead on the field. According to Alexander McKee of the British Indian Department, the Indian confederacy had 19 men killed -
Hamilton resigns as secretary of the treasury
Under personal financial pressure, his office paying only $3500 a year, Hamilton resigned in 1795 and joined the New York bar. He kept in close contact with President Washington, however, and continued to give financial advice to his successor, Oliver Wolcott. -
Jay's Treaty divides the nation
The Jay Treaty was hotly contested by the Jeffersonians in the United States, but it was ratified by a 2/3 majority of the Senate of the United States. Jay's Treaty became a central issue of contention —leading to the formation of the "First Party System" in the United States. Jay's Treaty was signed in November 1794, and was officially ratified by both countries and proclaimed to be in effect in February 29, 1795 -
John Adams elected president
was an American statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States (1797–1801). A New England Yankee, he was deeply read and represented Enlightenment values promoting republicanism. A conservative Federalist, he was one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States -
XYZ Affair poisons U.S. relations with France
a diplomatic event that strained relations between France and the United States, and led to an undeclared naval war called the Quasi-War. It took place from March of 1798 to 1800 -
Quasi-War with France
an undeclared war fought entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800 -
Congress passes the Alien and Sedition Acts
Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the United States from alien citizens of enemy powers and to prevent seditious attacks from weakening the government. -
Provisional army is formed
In anticipation of a war with France, the Congress of the United States, by Act of 28 May 1798, authorized the raising of a provisional army and empowered the President to appoint a "Commander of the Army" who, "being commissioned as lieutenant-general, might be authorized to command the arms of the United States." -
George Washington dies
George Washington finished his second term as the first President of the United States in 1797. Weary of the political infighting surrounding the presidency, he longed for the peace of retirement to his beloved Mount Vernon. Unfortunately, his solitude lasted less than three years as he died on December 14, 1799 at age 67 -
Convention of Mortefontaine is signed with France, ending Quasi-War
was a meeting between the United States of America and FranceFranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea,...
to settle the hostilities that had erupted during the Quasi-WarQuasi-WarThe Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought almost entirely -
house of Representatives elects Thomas Jefferson as president
Thomas Jefferson had served as Washington's secretary of state, and ran a close second to John Adams in the election of 1796. As a critic of the Adams presidency, Jefferson was an obvious candidate on the Democratic-Republican ticket that would oppose the Federalists.
