istoryworld
Events relating to north america
French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon crosses the Atlantic to sculpt a statue of George Washington from the life at Mount Vernon
US author Philip Freneau publishes his first collection of poems, dating back to 1771
Daniel Shays is the most prominent figure in a violent protest movement by farmers against the government of Massachusetts
The Continental Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance, a plan for the establishment of new states north and west of the Ohio river
Delegates meeting in Philadelphia agree a final draft for a US consitution, to be submitted to the states for ratification
The Federalist Papers, in support of the Constitution and mainly written by Alexander Hamilton, begin appearing in New York
The constitution of the United States is ratified by the states, but it is immediately agreed that amendments will be desirable
George Washington, unanimously elected first president of the United States, is inaugurated on Wall Street in New York
Alexander Hamilton becomes secretary of the treasury in the administration of George Washington, whose federalist views he shares
The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, a slave captured as a child in Africa, becomes a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic
Alexander Mackenzie explores by canoe from central Canada through the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean
US painter and author William Dunlap has great success with his comedy The Father; or, American Shandyism
A second great revivalist movement sweeps northeast America, inspired by the earlier example of Jonathan Edwards
The Potomac is chosen as the navigable river on which the new US capital city will be sited
The USA becomes the first nation to establish a regular census as a systematic check on the size of the population
Under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton the First Bank of the United States is established in Philadelphia
The Canadian Constitution Act divides Quebec into Upper Canada (today's Ontario) and Lower Canada (today's Quebec)
An Indian raid on an American military camp beside the Maumee river leaves more than 600 US soldiers dead
Naval officer George Vancouver sails from Britain on the voyage which will bring him to the northwest coast of America
The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified by the states
George Washington is unanimously elected for a second term as president of the USA
Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific coast of Canada, becoming the first known person to cross the north American continent
The first political parties, Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's Republicans, emerge in the USA
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, enormously speeding up the process of separating cotton fibres from the seeds
George Washington lays the cornerstone for the Congress building on Capitol Hill
