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In Boston, Benjamin Franklin is born, the tenth son of a candle and soap maker. -
In South Carolina, 75 slaves with liberated weapons flee toward Florida under Spanish rule. The revolt is crushed by the South Carolina militia. -
In New York, fires occur in Lower Manhattan between March and April, including at the home of the governor. A sixteen-year-old Irish girl accused of theft testifies that poor whites and blacks are burning the city and plan to kill the white men, take the white women for themselves and elect a new king and governor. -
The state of Pennsylvania passes a law freeing children born of slaves. Those born prior to the Act are to remain enslaved for life. -
During the American Revolutionary War, a French fleet drives a British naval force from the Chesapeake Bay. The British general, Lord Cornwallis, is surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia. -
The United States signs the Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokees (November 28). It lays out boundaries of the land that are supposed to belong to the Cherokees. -
On November 21, North Carolina becomes the twelfth state to ratify the US Constitution. -
On May 29, Rhode Island becomes the last and thirteenth state to ratify the US Constitution.