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On the night of December 16, 1773, dozens of disguised men, some as Indigenous Americans, boarded the three East India Company ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. These battles marked the beginning of armed conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen American colonies. -
The Declaration of Independence was primarily signed on August 2, 1776, by 56 members of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. While the document was adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776, the formal signing of the engrossed parchment took place later. -
The Continental Army's winter encampment at Valley Forge lasted from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. This six-month period marked a challenging time for the soldiers, with harsh winter conditions, lack of supplies, and disease impacting the troops. -
George Washington's death in December 1799, at the age of 67, was a significant event for the United States, despite his retirement from public life. While his passing was not unexpected given his age and the sudden onset of a throat infection, it was a period of national mourning that helped solidify a sense of national unity. -
The Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1, 1781. The Continental Congress had adopted the Articles on November 15, 1777, but ratification by all thirteen states was required for it to take effect. Maryland was the last state to ratify the document, finally approving it on March 1, 1781 -
The Battle of Yorktown proved to be the decisive engagement of the American Revolution. The British surrender forecast the end of British rule in the colonies and the birth of a new nation—the United States of America. -
The United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to approve it. This fulfilled the requirement in Article VII of the Constitution that at least nine out of the thirteen states needed to ratify it for it to take effect. -
On April 30, 1789, George Washington delivered his first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress, assembled in Federal Hall in the nation's new capital, New York City -
George Washington's Farewell Address was published on September 17, 1796. It appeared in a newspaper article, announcing his decision not to seek a third term as President, according to the Office of the Historian. -
Because each state could choose its own day to elect its electors in 1800, before Election Day on December 3, when electors "meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves" in accordance with the Constitution -
Madison, legal case in which, on February 24, 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court first declared an act of Congress unconstitutional, thus establishing the doctrine of judicial review