Events from the year 1797 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
*
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
:
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
(no political party-
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
) (until March 4),
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
(
F-
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
) (starting March 4)
*
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
:
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
(
F-
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
) (until March 4),
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
(
DR-
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
) (starting March 4)
*
Chief Justice:
Oliver Ellsworth
Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, jurist, politician, and diplomat. Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution, United States senator from Connecticut ...
(
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
)
*
Speaker of the House of Representatives:
Jonathan Dayton
Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760October 9, 1824) was an American Founding Father and politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. He was the youngest person to sign the Constitution of the United States and a member of the United States Hou ...
(
F-
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
)
*
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
:
4th (until March 4),
5th
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
(starting March 4)
Events
![ThomasJeffersonStateRoomPortrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/ThomasJeffersonStateRoomPortrait.jpg)
* January 3 – The
Treaty of Tripoli
The Treaty of Tripoli (''Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary'') was signed in 1796. It was the first treaty between the United States and Tripoli (now Libya) to secur ...
(a peace treaty between the United States and
Tripoli) is signed at
Algiers (see also
1796 in the United States
Events from the year 1796 in the United States.
Incumbents Federal government of the United States, Federal Government
* President of the United States, President: George Washington (no political party-Virginia)
* Vice President of the Unit ...
).
* February 22 – The
last invasion of Britain
The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, on 22–24 February 1797, is the most recent landing on British soil by a hostile foreign force ...
: An American colonel named
William Tate leads French forces in a landing near
Fishguard
Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two p ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
.
* March 4 –
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
is
sworn in as the second
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
, and
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
is sworn in as the second
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
.
* April 17 – Sir
Ralph Abercromby
Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...
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 English navy for years to come.
* May 10 – The first ship of the United States Navy, the frigate , is commissioned.
* October 21 – In
Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States.
History
...
, the 44-gun
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
frigate is launched to fight
Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli.
Undated
* The
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 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 subst ...
inflames tensions between France and the United States.
Ongoing
*
Panic of 1796–1797
The Panic of 1796–1797 was a series of downturns in credit markets in both Great Britain and the newly established United States in 1796 that led to broader commercial downturns. In the United States, problems first emerged when a land speculati ...
(1796–1797)
*
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 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 subst ...
(1797-1798)
Births
* January 1
**
Robert Crittenden
Robert Crittenden (January 1, 1797 – December 18, 1834) was an American lawyer who served as the first secretary of the Arkansas Territory from 1819 to 1829. He also served as the acting governor of Arkansas Territory from July to December 18 ...
, attorney and politician (d.
1834
Events
January–March
* January – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is chartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.
* January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states.
* January 3 ...
)
**
William Greene, lieutenant governor of the state of Rhode Island (d.
1883
Events
January–March
* January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States.
* January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people.
* Ja ...
)
* January 2 –
Eliakim Littell, editor (d.
1870
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England.
** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed.
* January 3 – Construction of the ...
)
* January 4 –
John Hampden Pleasants, journalist and businessman (d.
1846
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom.
* January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon between ...
)
* January 5 –
Timothy Gilbert Timothy Gilbert (January 5, 1797 – July 19, 1865) was an American piano manufacturer, abolitionist and religious organizer in Boston, Massachusetts. His brother Lemuel Gilbert (February 10, 1804 – February 27, 1864) was also a piano manufac ...
, piano manufacturer (d.
1865)
* January 6 –
James Kingsley, attorney and mayor of Ann Arbor (1855–1856) (d.
1878
Events January–March
* January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire.
* January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
* January 17 – Bat ...
)
* January 8 –
David Barker Jr., politician, member of the United States House of Representatives (d.
1834
Events
January–March
* January – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is chartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.
* January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states.
* January 3 ...
)
* January 10
**
Hazen Aldrich
Hazen Aldrich (January 10, 1797 – 1873) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. After the death of Joseph Smith, Aldrich went on to lead a small denomination of Latter Day Saints known as the '' Brewsterites''.
Biography
Aldric ...
, early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement (d.
1873
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar.
** The California Penal Code goes into effect.
* January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defe ...
)
**
Eugenio Kincaid
Eugenio Kincaid (10 January 1797 – 3 April 1883) was an American Baptist missionary who labored for two periods in Burma (now known as Myanmar). In the first period, he served twelve years. In the second period, he served for another fifteen yea ...
, Baptist missionary to Burma (d.
1883
Events
January–March
* January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States.
* January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people.
* Ja ...
)
* January 12 –
George Evans, politician from Maine (d.
1867
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...
)
* January 16 –
Richard Barnes Mason
Richard Barnes Mason (January 16, 1797July 25, 1850) was an American military officer who was a career officer in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is on ...
, career officer in the United States Army, governor of California (d.
1850
Events
January–June
* April
** Pope Pius IX returns from exile to Rome.
** Stephen Foster's parlor ballad "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway" is published in the United States.
* April 4 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a city ...
)
* January 28 –
Obadiah Bush, prospector and businessman (d.
1851)
* January 30
**
John Fairfield, politician from Maine (d.
1847
Events
January–March
* January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government.
* January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California.
* January 16 – John C. Frémont ...
)
**
Edwin Vose Sumner
Edwin Vose Sumner (January 30, 1797March 21, 1863) was a career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American Civil War. His nicknames "Bull" or "Bul ...
, career United States Army officer who became a Union Army general during the American Civil War (d.
1863
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaim ...
)
* February 5 –
F. W. P. Greenwood, Unitarian minister of King's Chapel in Boston (d.
1843)
* February 7 –
François Chouteau, pioneer fur trader (d.
1838)
* February 11 –
John Allen Wakefield, historian and politician (d.
1873
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar.
** The California Penal Code goes into effect.
* January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defe ...
)
* February 18 –
Elias Florence, member of the United States House of Representatives (d.
1880
Events
January–March
* January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia.
* January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy.
* February ...
)
**
John Davis Pierce, Congregationalist minister (d.
1882
Events
January–March
* January 2
** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates.
** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in t ...
)
* February 28
**
John Henderson, United States Senator from Mississippi from 1839 till 1845 (died
1857)
**
George Keats
George Keats (28 February 1797 – 24 December 1841) was a British-American businessman and civic leader in Louisville, Kentucky, as it emerged from a frontier entrepôt into a mercantile centre of the old northwest. He was also the younger broth ...
, businessman and civic leader in Louisville, Kentucky (d.
1841
Events
January–March
* January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and Qishan of the Qing dynasty, agree to the Convention of Chuenpi.
* January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the i ...
)
* February 14 –
John Capron
John Willard Capron (February 14, 1797, at Uxbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts – December 25, 1878, at Uxbridge) was an American military officer in the infantry, state legislator, and textile manufacturer. Famous for being a military unif ...
, infantry officer (died
1878
Events January–March
* January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire.
* January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
* January 17 – Bat ...
)
* March 2 –
Stephen Olin, educator and minister (died
1851)
* March 4
**
Jasper Ewing Brady, Whig member of the United States House of Representatives (died
1871)
**
Charles Jackson, 18th Governor of Rhode Island (1845-1846) (died
1876
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
* February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...
)
* March 18 –
James Wilson II
James Wilson II (March 18, 1797 – May 29, 1881) was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire, son of James Wilson (1766–1839).
Life
Born in Peterborough, New Hampshire, James Wilson II attended New Ipswich Academy and the academies at ...
, United States Representative from New Hampshire (died
1881
Events
January–March
* January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans.
* January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The ...
)
* March 21 –
William K. Clowney, United States Representative from South Carolina (died
1851)
* March 22 –
Pierre Bossier, Louisiana soldier and state senator (d.
1844)
* May 24 –
James Morehead, United States Senator from Kentucky from 1841 to 1847. (died
1854
Events
January–March
* January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''.
* January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born.
* January 9 – The ...
)
* June 13 –
Richard Ely Selden, American politician and author (died
1868
Events
January–March
* January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries.
* January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...
)
* June 14
**
John Beard, politician (d.
1876
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin.
** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol.
* February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...
)
**
Calvin Pollard, New York City architect (d.
1850
Events
January–June
* April
** Pope Pius IX returns from exile to Rome.
** Stephen Foster's parlor ballad "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway" is published in the United States.
* April 4 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a city ...
)
* June 21
**
William Jessup
William Jessup (June 21, 1797 – September 11, 1868) was a Pennsylvania judge and father of the missionary Henry Harris Jessup. A member of the Republican party, he is best known for being the chairman of the platform committee that crafted ...
, Pennsylvania judge and father of the missionary Henry Harris Jessup (d.
1868
Events
January–March
* January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries.
* January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...
)
**
Benson Leavitt, Boston businessman (d.
1869
Events
January–March
* January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan.
* January 5 – Scotland's oldest professional Soccer, football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded.
* January 20 & ...
)
* June 27 –
Andrew W. Loomis
Andrew Williams Loomis (June 27, 1797 – August 24, 1873) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Ohio during the year 1837.
Biography
Born in Lebanon, Connecticut, Loomis earned his law degree from Union Colleg ...
, United States Representative from Ohio (died
1873
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar.
** The California Penal Code goes into effect.
* January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defe ...
)
Deaths
* November 26 –
Andrew Adams, signatory of the
Articles of Confederation (born
1736)
See also
*
Timeline of United States history (1790–1819)
This section of the Timeline of United States history concerns events from 1790 to 1819.
1790s
Presidency of George Washington
*1790 – Rhode Island ratifies the United States Constitution, Constitution and becomes 13th state
*1791 – The ...
Further reading
*
* Notes of Travel of William Henry, John Heckewelder, John Rothrock, and Christian Clewell, to Gnadenhuetten on the Muskingum, in the Early Summer of 1797. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 10, No. 2 (July, 1886), pp. 125–157
*
* Herman R. Friis, Ralph E. Ehrenberg. Nicholas King and His Wharfing Plans of the City of Washington, 1797. Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 66/68, The 46th separately bound book (1966/1968), pp. 34–46.
* William K. Bottorff, Roy C. Flannagan, Frances Baylor Hill. The Diary of Frances Baylor Hill of "Hillsborough" King and Queen County Virginia (1797). Early American Literature Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 3, (Winter, 1967), pp. 3–53.
* David J. Brandenburg, Millicent H. Brandenburg. The Duc De La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt's Visit to the Federal City in 1797: A New Translation. Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 49, The 49th separately bound book (1973/1974), pp. 35–60.
*
* Lee W. Formwalt. An English Immigrant Views American Society: Benjamin Henry Latrobe's Virginia Years, 1796-1798. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 85, No. 4 (October, 1977), pp. 387–410.
* John L. Brittain and Henry Middleton Rutledge. Henry Middleton Rutledge to His Father, November 1, 1797. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 83, No. 3 (July, 1982), pp. 235–240.
* Arthur Scherr. "Vox Populi" versus the Patriot President: Benjamin Franklin Bache's Philadelphia Aurora and John Adams (1797). Pennsylvania History, Vol. 62, No.4 (Fall 1995), pp. 503–531.
*
External links
*
{{Year in North America, 1797
1790s in the United States
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Years of the 18th century in the United States