| 1790 |
|
The United States conducts its first
census and finds that 3,929,214 people live in the young
nation. |
|
|
The Columbia becomes the first American ship to sail
around the world, a journey of 42,000 miles that took 2 1/2 years.
|
|
 |
Philadelphia becomes the nation's
capitol. |
| 1791 |
|
Vermont becomes the first new state to join the original
thirteen United States. |
|
|
The Bill of Rights becomes
part of the United States Constitution, guaranteeing Americans the right
of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and
freedom of religion. |
| 1792 |
|
Robert Thomas begins publishing The Farmer's Almanac, a
publication containing information about New England life along with
valuable data on the weather, agriculture and other practical
matters. |
| 1793 |
|
Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act,
making it a crime to hide a fugitive from enslavement or interfere with
his or her arrest. |
|
 |
Yellow fever epidemic kills more than 4,000 people in
Philadelphia. |
|
|
Eli Whitney invents his cotton gin, a
machine for quickly separating the seeds from newly-picked cotton. Cotton
quickly becomes a major American export. |
| 1794 |
|
The first major turnpike in America is completed between
Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. |
|
 |
Angry farmers in western Pennsylvania
oppose a government tax on liquor during an uprising known as the Whiskey
Rebellion. |
|
|
After more than a hundred years, white-powdered hair
goes out of fashion for men. |
| 1795 |
|
Thomas Pickney negotiates a treaty with
Spain that opens navigation on the Mississippi River to
Americans. |
| 1796 |
|
Gilbert Stuart completes his famous portrait of George
Washington. |
|
 |
Americans get their first look at an
elephant when Jacob Crowninshield of Massachusetts exhibits the animal for
profit. |
| 1797 |
 |
John Chapman, known as "Johnny Appleseed," begins
planting apple seeds along the Ohio Valley. |
| 1798 |
|
Eli Whitney develops the idea of mass
production. The following year he wins a government contract to
manufacture firearms with virtually identical parts. |
| 1799 |
|
Pennsylvania farmers stage a revolt against a
federal tax on their property. |
|
 |
Less than three years after his
retirement from the Presidency, George Washington dies at the age of 67 at
his Mount Vernon, Virginia plantation. He is mourned by millions of
Americans. |
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