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Annapolis Convention
A conference of the state delegates in Maryland that issued the call for all states to send representation to Philadelphia to consider fundamental changes to the Articles of Confederation. -
Constitutional Convention
55 men from 12 states (Rhode Island sent no representation) met to discuss how to change the AOC. James Madison put forward the Virginia Plan, which presented representation by population. Fearing for the smaller states, the New Jersey plan was presented that guaranteed that the legislature would include smaller states by having equal representation for each state. The Great Compromise kept the ideals of both plans: bicameral legislature. -
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'The Federalist' published
A brilliant collection of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in which they rebuked Monstesquieu's assumption about small republics. They all believed that Rhode Island was a perfect example of how a small state could not hold onto their own land. -
Constitution Ratified
Supporters of the Constitution were known as Federalists and people who did not were called Anti-Federalists. In November of 1787, a ratification convention was called to complete the document these men had worked so hard on. In early 1788, the final states to ratify the Constitution met and signed the document. The promise of a Bill of Rights helped state governments get on board with the idea of a Constitution. -
First Federal Election
After creating a temporary capital in New York, the first presidential election took place. The ever famous George Washington won the election and was sworn in on April 30, 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall. -
Judiciary Act
The first session of Congress in 1789 yielded one of the most important pieces of legislature in American history. It created the Supreme Court and all of the guidelines it abides by, the number of justices, term limits, and other ideas. It also helped create the system of lower courts, most of which followed the same rules as the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and helped with the important decision of Chisholm v Georgia (1793). -
French Revolution Begins
After the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, the French entered their own struggle for independence. Inspired by the success of the American Revolution and the blossoming new country, French peasant stormed the Bastille prison outside Paris to show that they were done with the monarchy. American government officials knew that we could not afford to go to war with France and aid them in their struggle, but when Citizen Genet came to America and asked for aid, the government became divided -
Agreement for site of nations capital
After surveying the area and the land for years, it was finally decided that the capital, later named Washington D.C., would be placed in between Virginia and Maryland on the Potomac River. It was placed between the two states so as to not given any particular state too much power over any of the others. -
Indian Intercourse Act
The first law to regulate trade between Indians and the American states. Although many governmental officials still wanted to try and "civilize" the Indians. This would later cause issues for both sides of the deal. -
Bill of Rights ratified
After Virginia gave in in 1791, the Bill of Rights was officially ratified in September of 1789. 12 amendments went to Congress for approval and only 10 were completely approved. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are the Bill of Rights. -
Hamiltons 'Report on Manufactures'
Hamilton's thorough report looked at the economic principles of Britain and France; he then compared the practices and principles to the American system. This report would later be incorporated into Henry Clay's "American System" program and the Whig party. -
Citizen Genet Affair
Genet was the French Ambassador to the United States. Immediately upon his arrival in Charleston, SC he began to make plans on how to attack the British by using American force. After a long and difficult time in America, the Jacobins took over in France. A warrant was put out for his arrest and he faced death if he returned home. So Genet married an American and became a U.S. citizen. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a 1794 uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government. Following years of aggression with tax collectors, the region finally exploded in a confrontation that resulted in President Washington sending in troops to quell what some feared could become a full-blown revolution. The Whiskey Rebellion is considered one of the first major tests of the authority of the newly formed U.S. government. -
Pickneys treaty negotiated with Spain
Pinckney’s Treaty, also called Treaty of San Lorenzo, an agreement between Spain and the United States, fixing the southern boundary of the United States at 31° N latitude and establishing commercial arrangements favorable to the United States. U.S. citizens were accorded free navigation of the Mississippi River through Spanish territory. The treaty was negotiated by Thomas Pinckney for the United States and Manuel de Godoy for Spain. -
Treaty of Greenville
Treaty of Greenville, also called Treaty of Fort Greenville, (August 3, 1795), settlement that concluded hostilities between the United States and an Indian confederation headed by Miami chief Little Turtle by which the Indians ceded most of the future state of Ohio and significant portions of what would become the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. -
Washingtons farewell address
George Washington decided that he was definitely going to step down from being president at the end of his term. During his announcement of this decision, he thought he should give some advice about politics based on what had been happening in his administration over the previous few years. -
John Adams becomes president
dams took office in March 1797, and his presidency was quickly taken up with foreign affairs. Britain and France were at war, which directly affected American trade. During his tenure, Washington had managed to maintain neutrality, but tensions had escalated by the time Adams became president. -
XYZ affair and 'Quasi War' with France
The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797-1798, early in the presidency of John Adams, involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France that led to the Quasi-War. The name derives from the substitution of the letters X, Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Jean Conrad Hottinguer (X), Pierre Bellamy (Y), and Lucien Hauteval (Z) in documents released by the Adams administration. -
Convention of 1800
CONVENTION OF 1800 tacitly detached the United States from its alliance with France at the price of American claims for damages resulting from French actions against U.S. commerce since the beginnings of the French revolutionary wars. The convention ended a naval war between the two countries that had developed from France's resentment over John Jay's Treaty (1794) with England. -
Jefferson elected as President
Marks a transition between political parties (Adams and Washington were Federalists and Jefferson was a Republican). His inauguration happened in March of 1801 and was done to little pomp and circumstance, only a military procession. In 1804 Jefferson was reelected.