Time Line

Winter 1786 – Shay’s Rebellion Begins

May to September 1787 – Constitutional Convention meets in Philadelphia

June 1788 – New Hampshire becomes the 9th state to ratify the Constitution

February 1789 – 1st Congress under the Constitution convenes in New York City, the nation’s first capital

April 1789 – George Washington is inaugurated as the 1st President of the United States

1790 – the U.S. capital moves to Philadelphia for 10 years while what will become Washington, D.C. is built

1793 – Eli Whitney invents the Cotton Gin which leads to the cotton boom in the South with the harvesting of short-staple cotton

March 1793 – George Washington inaugurated for 2nd term as the 1st President of the United States

May 1793 – George Washington issues a Neutrality Proclamation in an effort to stay out of the European war between France and Great Britain.

Summer to Fall 1794 – Whiskey Rebellion – ends when George Washington declares martial law and dispatches 15,000 militia to western Pennsylvania

Fall 1795 – Congress approves the Jay Treaty ending the possibility of war between the U.S. and Great Britain

March 1797 – John Adams inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States, with Thomas Jefferson as his Vice President

Fall 1797 – XYZ Affair – French demand bribes to discuss relations with the U.S.

1798 – Quasi-War between France and the U.S.—fought at sea

1798 – Alien and Sedition Acts are passed by Congress to put the U.S. on a war footing

1798 – Thomas Jefferson and James Madison write the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions condemning the Alien and Sedition Acts June 1800 – U.S. capital is moved to Washington,

1800 – U.S. and France sign a treaty ending the Quasi-War

February 1801 – U.S. Congress declares Thomas Jefferson the President of the United States after 36 ballots

March 1801 – Thomas Jefferson inaugurated as the 3rd President of the United States

1801 to 1805 – War against the Barbary Pirates

1803 – U.S. buys the Louisiana Purchase from France for $15 million, which doubles the size of the U.S.

1803 – Marbury v. Madison – first SCOTUS case where a federal law is declared unconstitutional

1804 to 1806 – Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase

July 11, 1804 – Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a duel

March 1805 – Thomas Jefferson inaugurated for 2nd term as the 3rd President of the United States

Summer 1807 – Congress passes the Embargo Act which prohibits any U.S. merchant ship from sailing to any foreign port

Summer 1807 – Robert Fulton’s steamboat begins sailing up and down the Hudson River from New York to Albany

March 1809 – James Madison was inaugurated as the 4th President of the United States

March 1811 – the War Hawks make their appearance in Congress and begin pushing President Madison to seize Canada and Florida

November 1811 – Battle of Tippecanoe – U.S. troops, led by Indiana’s territorial governor William Henry Harrison, defeat an Indian force at Prophetstown

June 1812 – the U.S. Congress declares war against Great Britain, principally over the issue of impressment

March 1813 – James Madison inaugurated for 2nd term as the 4th President of the United States

August 1814 – British forces invade Washington, D.C. and burn all federal buildings (except the Post Office) to the ground, including the White House and Capitol

September 1814 – British attempt to seize Baltimore, but are repulsed – this sparks the writing of the National Anthem by Francis Scott Key late

1814 – Hartford Convention – New England delegates discuss a series of Constitutional amendments which would prevent them from seceding from the Unioin

December 24, 1814 – Peace Treaty signed at Ghent, Belgium officially ending the War of 1812 between the United States the Great Britain

January 1815 – Battle of New Orleans – U.S. victory led by General Andrew Jackson over British invasion force

1816 – Congress approves a charter for the Second Bank of the United States March

1817 – James Monroe inaugurated as the 5th President of the United States

July 1818 – construction on Erie Canal begins in New York state

1819 – Adams-Otis Treaty between the U.S. and Spain settles the border between Spanish territory and the Louisiana Purchase, also Florida is sold to the U.S.

1819 – first major financial panic under the Constitution

1819 – SCOTUS in McCulloch v. Maryland rules that a state cannot tax a component of the federal government (Second Bank of the United States)

1820 – Missouri Compromise – begins the practice of admitting states in pairs (one free, one slave) to retain parity in the U.S. Senate – Missouri enters as slave, Maine as free

March 1821- James Monroe inaugurated for 2nd term as the 5th President of the United States February

1825 – Congress votes J.Q. Adams as President after no clear winner in the Electoral College – Andrew Jackson declares this a “Corrupt Bargain” between Henry Clay and J.Q. Adams

March 1825 – John Quincy Adams inaugurated as the 6th President of the United States summer

1825 – Erie Canal is finished and opens for use

March 1829 – Andrew Jackson inaugurated as the 7th President of the United States

1830 – Congress passes the Indian Removal Act which authorized the removal of all Indian tribes to west of the Mississippi to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)

1831 – Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Virginia

1832- South Carolina passes Ordinance of Nullification and threatens to leave the Union – President Jackson mobilizes to invade the state

1833 – President Jackson signs the Force Bill and a compromise tariff bill to end the crisis with South Carolina

March 1833 – Andrew Jackson inaugurated for 2nd term as the 7th President of the United States

March 1837 – Martin Van Buren was inaugurated as the 8th President of the United States

1837 – Major financial crisis leads to a 5-year depression

March 1841 – William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as the 9th President of the United States

April 1841 – Vice President John Tyler was sworn in as the 10th President of the United States after the death of President Harrison.

1844 – telegraph invented by F.B. Morse