-
Boston Newsletter Founded.
The Boston Newsletter was the first recurring newsletter in the colonies. It began as a letter to several Englishmen living in the colonies, who were sent the letter by John Campbell as a way to keep them updated on the events in Britain. -
House Of Burgesses Passes Slave Code.
In 1705 the House of Burgesses passed its first comprehensive slave code. Slave owners could not be convicted of murder for killing a slave; conversely, any black Virginian who struck a white colonist would be severely whipped. Virginia planters used the law to maximize the profitability of their slaves and closely regulate every aspect of their daily lives. -
Province of Carolina split into South and North
From 1708 to 1710, due to disquiet over attempts to establish the Anglican church in the province, the people of Carolina were unable to agree on a slate of elected officials; consequently, there was no recognized and legal government for more than two years. This circumstance, combined with the inability of the Lords Proprietors to act decisively, led to separate governments being formed for North and South Carolina in 1712. Both colonies would later be established as Crown Colonies in 1729. -
Period: to
The First Great Awakening
The First Great Awakening was a series of Christian revivals that swept across the thirteen colonies, beginning in the 1730s, and having petered out by the 1760s. The revival movement permanently affected Protestantism as adherents strove to renew individual piety and religious devotion. -
Georgia Founded
The British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12, 1733. The colony was administered by the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America under a charter issued by (and named for) King George II. -
Stono Rebellion
The Stono Rebellion was comprised of about eighty slaves, who set out for Spanish Florida under a banner that read “Liberty!,” burning plantations and killing at least twenty white settlers as they marched. The local militia defeated the rebels in battle, captured and executed many of the slaves, and sold others to the sugar plantations of the West Indies. Though the rebellion was ultimately unsuccessful, it was a violent reminder that slaves would fight for freedom. -
Currency Act of 1751
Paper money tended to lose value quicker than coins and was often counterfeited. These problems, as well as British merchants’ reluctance to accept depreciated paper notes, caused the Board of Trade to restrict the uses of paper money in the Currency Act of 1751. Additionally, another Currency act would be passed in 1763. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, with 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia. Delegates included famous fathers of America such as Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Samuel Adams. -
Period: to
The Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies (allied with France) which declared independence as the United States of America. The war was mainly over idealogical differences, although it also was effected by Britain's tightfisted control over the colonies, which led to resentment and a want for freedom. -
Articles of Confederation Ratified
The Continental Congress ratified the Articles of Confederation in 1781. The articles allowed each state one vote in the Continental Congress. But the articles are perhaps most notable for what they did not allow. Congress was given no power to levy or collect taxes, regulate foreign or interstate commerce, or establish a federal judiciary. These shortcomings rendered the postwar Congress weak and largely ineffectual. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation, and fix the weak government in many ways, specifically by allowing it to levy taxes. Te Constitutional Convention would propose a government unlike any other, combining elements from ancient republics and English political tradition, and making democratic innovations—all while trying to maintain a delicate balance between national and state sovereignty. In the end, it would produce the Constitution as we know it. -
George Washington Elected.
George Washington is elected peacefully, cementing the Constitutions power, and pleasing the people, who loved him. -
Bank of the United States Chartered
In 1791, Congress approved a twenty-year charter for the Bank of the United States. The bank’s stocks, together with federal bonds, created over $70 million in new financial instruments. These spurred the formation of securities markets, which allowed the federal government to borrow more money and underwrote the rapid spread of state-charted banks and other private business corporations in the 1790s. -
John Adams Elected
John Adams was elected on March 4th of 1797. Having been George Washington's Vice President, he was not only the first vice president of America, but also the Second President.