January 14 – U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Alexander Hamilton submits his proposed plan for payment of American debts, starting with $12,000,000 to pay the foreign debts of the confederation, followed by $40 million for domestic debts, and $21.5 million for the war debts of the states. The plan is narrowly approved 14-12 in the Senate, and 34-28 in the House.[2]
January 15 – Fletcher Christian & 8 mutineers aboard the Bounty land on
Pitcairn.
Olowalu Massacre: American Captain
Simon Metcalfe opens fire with cannon towards villagers in canoes, killing about one hundred Hawaiians, and wounding many others.[3]
March 4 – France is divided into 83
départements, which cut across the former
provinces, in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land.
March 6 – The New York legislature consents to the
admission to the Union of a new state,
Vermont, formed within the boundaries of New York, contingent upon the successful conclusion of negotiations concerning disputed real-estate claims, and the boundary between the two states.
May 13 –
Battle of Reval:
Gustav III of Sweden sends the battlefleet to eliminate the Russian squadron wintering at Reval (
Estonia), but is defeated; 8 Russians, 130 Swedes are killed, up to 520 captured, 1 ship is burnt, another captured.
May 26 – Congress passes an act to govern the creation of states from the "Southwest Territory", from which Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi will be formed.[2]
June 9 – Royal assent is given to establishment of the port of
Milford Haven in Wales.
June 20 –
Compromise of 1790: Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison, and
Alexander Hamilton come to an agreement: Madison agrees to not be "strenuous" in opposition for the assumption of state debts by the federal government; Hamilton agrees to support the capital site being above the Potomac.
June 23 – The alleged London Monster is arrested in London; he later receives 40 years for 10 assaults.
July 9 –
Russo-Swedish War –
Second Battle of Svensksund: In a massive
Baltic Sea battle of 300 ships, the
Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian galley fleet: 304 Swedes are killed, 3,500 Russians killed and 6,000 captured, 51 Russian galleys and other rowing craft are sunk and 22 are taken.
July 10 — The U.S. House of Representatives votes, 32–29 to approve creating the District of Columbia from portions of Maryland and Virginia for the eventual seat of government and national capital.[2]
July 12 –
French Revolution: The
Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed. This completes the destruction of the monastic orders, legislating out of existence all regular and secular chapters for either sex, abbacies and priorships.
July 16 – U.S. President George Washington signs the
Residence Act into law, establishing a site along the
Potomac River as the
District of Columbia and the future site of the
capital of the United States. The move comes after the bill is narrowly approved on July 1 by the Senate, 14 to 12, and on July 9 by the House, 32 to 29.[5] At the same time, plans are made to move the national capital from New York to Philadelphia until the Potomac River site can be completed.
October 7 – Commissioners appointed by the New York legislature announce the successful conclusion of negotiations between New York and
Vermont, concerning disputed real-estate claims, and the consent of New York's legislature to the
admission to the Union of the state of Vermont as the 14th State (which was formed within what New York claimed as its territory, under an
Order in Council, that
King George III issued on
July 20,
1764).
October 10 – At least 3,000 people die in Algeria when an
earthquake and tsunami strikes the city of
Oran. The city is destroyed and Spanish forces eventually flee in 1792.[6]
October–December –
Vincent Ogé leads a rebellion of freed blacks in
Saint-Domingue. The rebellion is suppressed and Ogé executed.
November 24 – France's Constituent Assembly passes a law requiring all Roman Catholic priests to swear an oath of acceptance of the new French Constitution.[7]
December 6 – The United States Congress opens its first session in the new temporary U.S. capital in
Philadelphia.[11]
December 10 – The
Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars begin in New South Wales, Australia, as a result of deterioration in relations and increasing colonization.
February 8 – The
Bank of the United States, based in Philadelphia, is incorporated by the federal government with a 20-year charter and started with $10,000,000 capital.[12]
An ordinance is written barring the game of baseball within 80 yards of the Meeting House in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the first known reference to the game of
baseball in North America.[17]
November 20 In Vienna (Austria), the Austrian composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes bedridden on his deathbed as a result of a serious illness that would end his life in fifteen days.
December 4 – The first issue of The Observer, the world's first Sunday newspaper, is published in London.
Parliament House, Dublin catches fire during a legislative session. "Although in imminent danger of the roof falling in," it is noted later, "the House did not adjourn until a proper motion had been put and carried in the affirmative."[26]
March 20 – A new capital of
North Carolina, and seat of the newly formed
Wake County, is established after North Carolina
State senator and surveyor William Christmas submits his design for the city. A few months later, the capital is officially named
Raleigh, in honor of Sir
Walter Raleigh.
April 5 – United States President
George Washingtonvetoes a bill designed to apportion representatives among
U.S. states. This is the first time the presidential veto is used in the United States.
February – In
Manchester, Vermont, the wife of a captain falls ill, probably with tuberculosis. Some locals believe that the cause of her illness is that a demon vampire is sucking her blood. As a cure, Timothy Mead burns the heart of a deceased person in front of a crowd of a few hundred people.[35]
February 22 – French expedition to Sardinia: A small French and Corsican force briefly occupies the small Sardinian island of
La Maddalena, then withdraws to Corsica. 23-year-old lieutenant
Napoleon Buonaparte is second-in-command.
July 20 – Scottish explorer
Alexander Mackenzie's 1792–1793 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean reaches its goal at
Bella Coola, British Columbia, making him the first known person to complete a transcontinental crossing of northern North America.
July 29 –
John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.
The
Louvre in Paris opens to the public as an art museum.
August 23 –
French Revolution: The following universal
conscription decree is enacted in France: "The young men shall go to battle and the married men shall forge arms. The women shall make tents and clothes and shall serve in the hospitals; children shall tear rags into lint. The old men will be guided to the public places of the cities to kindle the courage of the young warriors and to preach the unity of the Republic and the hatred of kings."
September 18 – The cornerstone to the future
United States Capitol is dedicated by U.S. President Washington at the site of the new Federal City on the Potomac River.[37]
September 20 – British troops from Jamaica land on the island of
Saint-Domingue to join the
Haitian Revolution in opposition to the French Republic and its newly-freed slaves; on 22 September the main French naval base on the island surrenders peacefully to the Royal Navy.[41][42]
January 1 – The
Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in
Aarhus (Denmark).
January 13 – The
U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United States flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes, in recognition of the recent admission of
Vermont and
Kentucky as the 14th and 15th states.[44] A subsequent act restores the number of stripes to 13, but provides for additional stars upon the admission of each additional state.
March 22 – Congress prohibits American ships from supplying slaves to any nation other than the United States, setting a penalty of forfeiture of the ship and a $2,000 fine.[45]
The United States Government authorizes the building of the first six
United States Navy vessels; in
1797 the first three frigates,
United States,
Constellation and
Constitution will go into service (not to be confused with October 13, 1775, which is observed as the Navy's Birthday).[48]
The U.S. Senate passes a rule ending its policy of closing all of its sessions to the public.[45]
May 21 – the
French Revolutionary Government decides that the
Terror would be centralised, with almost all the
tribunals in the provinces closed and all the trials held in Paris.[49]
May 28–
June 1 – The
Glorious First of June (Battle of Ushant): The British win a crushing tactical victory over the French fleet, but the merchant convoy escorted by the French fleet arrives safely in France.
October 4 – In the first and only instance of an incumbent United States president leading men into battle,
George Washington arrives at
Carlisle, Pennsylvania to guide the U.S. Army's suppression of the
Whiskey Rebellion.[56] The rebels soon disperse and the insurrection collapses by the end of the month.
November 19 – The United States and Great Britain sign the
Jay Treaty (coming into effect in 1796), which attempts to clear up some issues left over from the
American Revolutionary War[58] and secures a decade of peaceful trade between the two nations.[45] Britain agrees to evacuate border forts in the
Northwest Territory (roughly the area north of the
Ohio River and east of the
Mississippi) and thereby end British support for the Indians.
September 5 – The United States signs a treaty with the
Dey of Algiers, ruled by Baba Hassan, pledging the payment of $23,000 a year tribute to prevent piracy against American ships.[65]
October 20 – The United States signs a treaty with Spain, opening commerce along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, and establishing boundaries between U.S. territory and Spanish Florida.[65]
March 20 – The U.S. House of Representatives demands that the U.S. State Department supply it with documents relating to the negotiation of the Jay Treaty; President Washington declines the request, citing that only the U.S. Senate has jurisdiction over treaties.[69]
March 26 – Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at
Nice to take command of the
Army of Italy (37,000 men and 60 guns), which is scattered in detachments as far as
Genoa.[70]
March 30 –
Carl Gauss obtains conditions for the constructibility by ruler and compass of regular polygons, and is able to announce that the regular 17-gon is constructible by ruler and compasses.
April 27 –
Case of the Lyons Mail: During the night, five highwaymen attack the mail between Paris and
Lyon, kill the postmen and steal the funds sent to the armies in Italy.
April 28 – In an impassioned speech, U.S. Representative
Fisher Ames of Massachusetts persuades his fellow members of the House to support the Jay Treaty. [69]
May 6 – Napoleon Bonaparte forms an advanced guard (3,500 infantry and 1,500 cavalry) under General
Claude Dallemagne. He sends this force along the south bank of the
Po River, to cross it with boats at
Piacenza.[72]
September 15 –
Siege of Mantua: Napoleon Bonaparte fights a pitched battle at
La Favorita on the east side of the Mincio River. The Austrians withdraw into the fortress of
Mantua, which is crowded with nearly 30,000 men. Within six weeks, 4,000 die from wounds or sickness.[76]
September 17 – U.S. President
George Washington issues his Farewell Address, which warns against partisan politics and foreign entanglements. In addition, he sets a precedent by declining to run for a third term. [69]
October –
Jane Austen begins writing her first draft of Pride and Prejudice, under the title First Impressions (the book will not be published until
1813).
French forces (9,500 men) under Masséna attack the Austrian army at
Fontaniva. After a desperate assault he is outnumbered, and forced to retreat to Verona.
Battle of Caldiero: French forces are defeated by the Austrians at
Caldiero, and pushed back to Verona. This marks Napoleon's first defeat, losing nearly 2,000 men and 2 guns.[77]
November 17 –
Battle of Arcole: French forces under General Napoleon defeat the Austrians at
Arcole. After a bold
maneuver, he outflanks the Austrian army (24,000 men) under Freiherr
József Alvinczi, and cuts off its line of retreat. Alvinczi is forced to take up a defensive position behind the
Brenta River.[77]
The Spanish government lifts the restrictions against neutrals trading with the colonies, thus acknowledging Spain's inability to supply the colonies with needed goods and markets.
January 7 – The parliament of the
Cisalpine Republic adopts the Italian green-white-red tricolour as their official flag (this is considered the birth of the
flag of Italy).
February 12 – "
Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" is first performed, with the music composed in January by
Joseph Haydn, which also becomes the tune to the
Deutschlandlied, the German national anthem (Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, later Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit).
February 26 –
Bank Restriction Act removes the requirement for the
Bank of England (the national bank of Great Britain) to convert banknotes into gold - Restriction period lasts until 1821. The Bank of England issues the first
one-pound and two-pound notes (pound notes discontinued
March 11,
1988).
Battle of San Juan: Sir
Ralph Abercromby unsuccessfully invades
San Juan, Puerto Rico in what will be one of the largest British attacks on Spanish territories in the western hemisphere, and one of the worst defeats of the British Royal Navy for years to come.
Veronese Easter: Citizens of
Verona, Italy, began an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.
July 9 – U.S. Senator
William Blount becomes the first federal legislator to be expelled from office, as his fellow Senators vote 25 to 1 to block him from his seat during an investigation against him on charges of criminal conspiracy.[80]
September 5 – France's new government decrees that citizens who left the country without authorization are subject to the death penalty if they return.[87]
October 18 – The
XYZ Affair inflames tensions between France and the United States when American negotiators
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney,
John Marshall, and
Elbridge Gerry meet with French government representatives
Jean-Conrad Hottinguer, Pierre Bellamy and Lucien Hauteval and are told that a treaty between France and the U.S. will require payment of a bribe to France's Foreign Minister
Charles Talleyrand and a large loan of American cash to France. Pinckney tells people later that his response was "No, no, not a sixpence!"; Hottinguer, Bellamy and Hauteval are referred to, respectively, as "X", "Y" and "Z" in U.S. government reports on the failed negotiations.[89]
October 22 –
André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first parachute descent, at Parc Monceau, Paris; he uses a silk parachute to descend approximately 3,000 feet (910 m) from a hot air balloon.
November –
1797 Rugby School rebellion: The students at
Rugby School in England rebel against the headmaster, Henry Ingles, after he decrees that the damage to a tradesman's windows should be paid for by the students.[90]
February 15 – U.S. Representative
Roger Griswold (Fed-CT) beats Congressman
Matthew Lyon (Dem-Rep-VT) with a cane after the House declines to censure Lyon earlier spitting in Griswold's face; the House declines to discipline either man.[93]
March – the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 begins when the Irish
Militia arrest the leadership of the
Society of United Irishmen,[94] a group unique amongst
Irish republican and
nationalist movements in that it unifies Catholics and Protestants (Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and others) around republican ideals. This month,
Lord Castlereagh is appointed Acting
Chief Secretary for Ireland and on
March 30martial law is proclaimed here. The first battles in the rebellion are fought on
May 24 and it continues through September, but the rebels receive much less than the expected support from France, which sends only 1,100 men.
April 7 – The
Mississippi Territory is organized by the United States, from territory ceded by
Georgia and
South Carolina; later it is twice expanded, to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain (which acquired territory in trade with Great Britain).[93]
May 9 –
Napoleon sets off for
Toulon, sailing aboard Vice-Admiral
Brueys's flagship
L'Orient; his
squadron is part of a larger fleet of over 300 vessels, carrying almost 37,000 troops.[97]
June 18 – The first of the four
Alien and Sedition Acts, the
Naturalization Act of 1798, is signed into law by U.S. President Adams, requiring immigrants to wait 14 years rather than five years to become naturalized citizens of the United States. On June 25, another law is signed authorizing the imprisonment and deportation of any non-citizens deemed to be dangerous.[93]
October 2 – The
Cherokee nation signs a
treaty with the United States allowing free passage through Cherokee lands in Tennessee through the
Cumberland Gap through the Appalachian Mountains from Virginia into Kentucky.[93]
December 5 –
Peasants War in the Southern Netherlands: The revolt is crushed in
Hasselt; during the uprising it is estimated that 5,000 to 10,000 people have been killed.
April 28 – Two French diplomats to the
Second Congress of Rastatt are killed and another badly injured by Austrian cavalry, as they tried to leave the town. An inquiry was held, which blamed French emigres.
May 21 – The
Siege of Acre ends after two months;
Napoleon's attempt to widen his Middle Eastern campaign into Syria is frustrated by Ottoman forces, and he withdraws to Egypt.
August 29 –
Pope Pius VI, at the time the longest reigning Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, dies as a
prisoner of war in the citadel of the French city of
Valence, after 24½ years of rule.
September 10 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland -
Battle of Krabbendam: the Russo-British expedition force defends its initial gains from attacks by Franco-Dutch forces.[102]
October 2 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland –
Battle of Alkmaar: the Russo-British expedition force wins a small tactical victory over the Franco-Dutch forces.
October 6 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland –
Battle of Castricum: Franco-Dutch forces defeat the Russo-British expedition force.[105]
Conrad John Reed, 12, finds what he describes as a "heavy yellow rock" along Little Meadow Creek in
Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and makes it a doorstop in his home. Conrad's father John Reed learns that the rock is actually gold in 1802, initiating the first gold rush in the United States.
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