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1786 BCE
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts, mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787 -
End of the French and Indian War
ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain, and Spain, treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south -
Pontiac's Rebellion
loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes, primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region -
Proclamation of 1763
created an imaginary line along the Appalachian Mountains that prohibited European settlement beyond the crest of the mountains -
Paxton Boys attack Pennsylvania Indians
slaughtered 20 innocent and defenseless Susquehannock (Conestoga) Indians, John Penn issued proclamations ordering the local magistrates to arrest and try those men involved in the massacre -
Sugar Act
also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain -
Stamp Act
Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the Thirteen Colonies and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp -
Townshend Acts
series of British Acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 and relating to the British in North America, named after Charles Townshend -
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
treaty between Native Americans and Great Britain, signed in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, in present-day Rome, New York. -
Boston Massacre
street fight between a "patriot" mob, several colonists killed -
Somerset Decision
chattel slavery was unsupported by the common law in England and Wales -
Boston Tea Party
political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of British tea into the harbor. -
Tea Act
"would launch the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed no new taxes" -
Intolerable Acts
punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. Battles were fought Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge -
First Continental Congress
meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies who met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. -
Second Continental Congress
convention of delegates from the 13 colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after the American Revolutionary War had begun. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
first major battle of the American Revolution, fought in Charlestown -
Common Sense
pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. -
Declaration of Independence
at the Pennsylvania State House, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.formally declared on July 2, 1776, a date that John Adams believed would be “the most memorable in the history of America. -
Battle of Trenton
won two crucial battles of the American Revolution, Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. -
Battle of Saratoga
giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British, turning point of Revolutionary War -
Treaty of Alliance
with France, creating a military alliance between the United States and France against Britain -
Articles of Confederation
the original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789 -
Newburgh Conspiracy
plan by Continental Army officers to challenge the authority of the Confederation Congress -
Treaty of Paris (American Revolution)
signed in Paris, ended the American Revolutionary War, official peace treaty between the U.S and Britain -
Annapolis Convention
regional meeting at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786 that was an important rallying point in the movement toward a federal convention to address the inadequate Articles of Confederation. -
Constitutional Convention
gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution -
Northwest Ordinance
A law passed in 1787 to regulate the settlement of the Northwest Territory, which eventually was divided into several states of the Middle West. -
The Federalist Papers published
series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788. The essays were published anonymously, under the pen name "Publius," in various New York state newspapers of the time. -
Election (Inauguration) of George Washington
The first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States was held on Thursday, April 30, 1789 on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York -
Beginning of the French Revolution
revolution in France from 1789 to 1799. It led to the end of the monarchy, and to many wars. King Louis XVI was executed in 1793. The revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte took power in November 1799 -
Hamilton's First Report on Public Credit
Alexander Hamilton's First Report on the Public Credit, delivered to Congress on January 9, 1790, called for payment in full on all government debts as the foundation for establishing government credit. -
Washington DC chosen as the capital
A dramatic aerial view of the U.S. Capitol and its surroundings in modern-day Washington, D.C. Once the site for the new capital was selected in 1790, President Washington retained Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a French engineer and former officer in the Continental Army, to design and lay out the new capital city -
Whiskey Rebellion
tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington -
First Bank of the United States Charted
national bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791. It followed the Bank of North America, the nation's first de facto central bank. -
Hamilton's Report on Manufactures
Hamilton urged congress to promote manufacturing so that the United States could be "independent on foreign nations for military and other essential supplies -
Bill of Rights ratified
first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 battle over ratification of the U.S -
Citizen Genet Affair
incident precipitated by the military adventurism of Citizen Edmond-Charles Genêt, a minister to the United States dispatched by the revolutionary Girondist regime of the new French Republic, which at the time was at war with Great Britain and Spain -
Battle of Fallen Timbers
was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy, including support from the British led by Captain Alexander McKillop, against the United States for control of the Northwest Territory -
Jay's Treaty
was a 1795 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted war, resolved issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783 -
Treaty of Greenville
peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas -
Pinckney's Treaty
also commonly known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. -
Election of John Adams
The United States presidential election of 1796 was the third quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796 -
XYZ Affair
diplomatic incident between French and United States diplomats that resulted in a limited, undeclared war known as the Quasi-War. U.S -
Alien and Sedition Acts
passed by the Federalist Congress in 1798 and signed into law by President Adams -
Quasi-War with France
undeclared war fought almost entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800 -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
referred to as the "Revolution of 1800", Vice President Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party defeated incumbent President John Adams of the Federalist Party. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican rule -
Judiciary Act of 1800
reduced the size of the Supreme Court from six justices to five and eliminated the justices' circuit duties. To replace the justices on circuit, the act created sixteen judgeships for six judicial circuits -
Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington
The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1820, and hangs in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C
