Timeline of Events Leading to the Revolutionary War | Eastern North Carolina Now

    March 15, 1783 - General Washington gathers his officers and talks them out of a rebellion against the authority of Congress, and in effect preserves the American democracy.

    April 11, 1783 - Congress officially declares an end to the Revolutionary War.

    April 26, 1783 - 7,000 Loyalists set sail from New York for Canada, bringing a total of 100,000 Loyalists who have now fled America.

    June 13, 1783 - The main part of the Continental Army disbands.

    June 24, 1783 - To avoid protests from angry and unpaid war veterans, Congress leaves Philadelphia and relocates to Princeton, New Jersey.

    July 8, 1783 - The Supreme Court of Massachusetts abolishes slavery in that state.

    September 3, 1783 - The Treaty of Paris is signed by the United States and Great Britain. Congress will ratify the treaty on January 14, 1784.

    October 7, 1783 - In Virginia, the House of Burgesses grants freedom to slaves who served in the Continental Army.

    November 2, 1783 - George Washington delivers his farewell address to his army. The next day, remaining troops are discharged.

    November 25, 1783 - Washington enters Manhattan as the last British troops leave.

    November 26, 1783 - Congress meets in Annapolis, Maryland.

    December 23, 1783 - Following a triumphant journey from New York to Annapolis, George Washington, victorious commander in chief of the American Revolutionary Army, appears before Congress and voluntarily resigns his commission, an event unprecedented in history.

    January 14, 1784 - The Treaty of Paris is ratified by Congress. The Revolutionary War officially ends.

    March 1, 1784 - A congressional committee led by Thomas Jefferson proposes to divide up sprawling western territories into states, to be considered equal with the original 13. Jefferson also proposes a ban on slavery everywhere in the U.S. after 1800. This proposal is narrowly defeated.

    August 30, 1784 - Beginning of the China Trade, as the American Ship Empress of China, sailing from New York, arrives at Canton, China. The ship will return with exotic goods, including silks and tea, spurring large numbers of American merchants to enter the trade.

    September 22, 1784 - Russians establish their first settlement in Alaska, on Kodiak Island.

    January 11, 1785 - Congress relocates to New York City, temporary capital of the U.S.

    February 24, 1785 - Although England refuses to send an ambassador to the U.S., John Adams is sent as the American ambassador to Britain. He will spend the next three years trying without success to settle problems regarding the existence of a string of British forts along the Canadian border, pre-war debts owed to British creditors, post-war American treatment of Loyalists, and the closing of the West Indian colonies to American trade.

    May 8, 1785 - Congress passes the Land Ordinance of 1785 which divides the northwest territories into townships, each set at 6 square miles, subdivided into 36 lots of 640 acres each, with each lot selling for no less than $640.

    January 16, 1786 - The Virginia legislature passes Jefferson's Ordinance of Religious Freedom guaranteeing that no man may be forced to attend or support any church or be discriminated against because of his religious preference. This will later serve as the model for the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

    Summer of 1786 - Americans suffer from post-war economic depression including a shortage of currency, high taxes, nagging creditors, farm foreclosures and bankruptcies.

    August 8, 1786 - Congress adopts a monetary system based on the Spanish dollar, with a gold piece valued at $10, silver pieces at $1, one-tenth of $1 also in silver, and copper pennies.

    August 22-25, 1786 - Angry representatives from 50 towns in Massachusetts meet to discuss money problems including the rising number of foreclosures, the high cost of lawsuits, heavy land and poll taxes, high salaries for state officials, and demands for new paper money as a means of credit.

    August 31, 1786 - In Massachusetts, to prevent debtors from being tried and put in prison, ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays, who is now a bankrupt farmer, leads an armed mob and prevents the Northampton Court from holding a session.

    September 20, 1786 - In New Hampshire, an armed mob marches on the state assembly and demands enactment of an issue of paper money.

    September 26, 1786 - Shays' rebels, fearing they might be charged with treason, confront 600 militiamen protecting the state Massachusetts Supreme Court session in Springfield and force the court to adjourn.

    October 16, 1786 - Congress establishes the United States mint.

    October 20, 1786 - Congress authorizes Secretary of War Henry Knox to raise a an army of 1,340 men over concerns of the safety of the federal arsenal at Springfield, Mass.

    December 26, 1786 - Shays assembles 1,200 men near Worcester, Mass. and heads toward Springfield. Massachusetts Governor, Bowdoin, then orders mobilization of a 4,400-man force.

    January 26, 1787 - Shays' rebels attack the federal arsenal at Springfield but are unsuccessful. Revolutionary War hero, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, then arrives with reinforcements from Boston to pursue the rebels.

    February 4, 1787 - Gen. Lincoln's troops attack Shays' rebels at Petersham, Massachusetts, and capture 150 rebels. Shays flees north to Vermont.

    February 21, 1787 - Amid calls for a stronger central government, due in part to Shays' Rebellion, Congress endorses a resolution calling for a constitutional convention to be held in Philadelphia, beginning in May.

    May 25, 1787 - With 29 delegates from nine states present, the constitutional convention begins in the state house (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. A total of 73 delegates have been chosen by the states (excluding Rhode Island) although only 55 will actually attend. There are 21 veterans of the Revolutionary War and 8 signers of the Declaration of Independence. The delegates are farmers, merchants, lawyers and bankers, with an average age of 42, and include the brilliant 36-year-old James Madison, the central figure at the convention, and 81-year-old Ben Franklin. Thomas Jefferson, serving abroad as ambassador to France, does not attend. The delegates' first vote is to keep the proceedings absolutely secret. George Washington is then nominated as president of the constitutional convention.

    June 19, 1787 - Rather than revise the Articles of Confederation, delegates at the constitutional convention vote to create an entirely new form of national government separated into three branches - the legislative, executive and judicial - thus dispersing power with checks and balances, and competing factions, as a measure of protection against tyranny by a controlling majority.

    July 13, 1787 - Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance which establishes formal procedures for transforming territories into states. It provides for the eventual establishment of three to five states in the area north of the Ohio River, to be considered equal with the original 13. The Ordinance includes a Bill of Rights that guarantees freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest.

    July 16, 1787 - At the constitutional convention, Roger Sherman proposes a compromise which allows for representation in the House of Representatives based on each state's population and equal representation for all of the states in the Senate. The numerous black slaves in the South are to be counted at only three-fifths of their total number. A rough draft of the constitution is then drawn up.

    August 6-10, 1787 - Items in the draft constitution are debated including the length of terms for the president and legislators, the power of Congress to regulate commerce, and a proposed 20-year ban on any Congressional action concerning slavery.

    September 17, 1787 - Thirty-nine delegates vote to approve and then sign the final draft of the new Constitution. The Legislative Branch will consist of two houses. The upper house (Senate) to be composed of nominees selected by state assemblies for six-year terms, the lower house (House of Representatives) to be elected every two years by popular vote. The Executive Branch is to be headed by a chief executive (President) elected every four years by presidential electors from the states. The President is granted sweeping powers including: veto power over Congress which can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each house; commander in chief of the armies; power to make treaties with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate; power to appoint judges, diplomats and other officers with the consent of the Senate; power to recommend legislation and responsibility for execution of the laws. The President is required to report each year to the legislative branch on the state of the nation. The legislative branch has the power to remove the President from office. The House can impeach the President for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors with actual removal from office occurring by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The Judicial Branch consists of a Supreme Court headed by a chief justice. The court has the implied power to review laws that conflict with the Constitution.

    September 19, 1787 - For the first time the proposed Constitution is made public as printed copies of the text are distributed. A storm of controversy soon arises as most people had only expected a revision of the Articles of Confederation, not a new central government with similarities to the British system they had just overthrown.

    September 28, 1787 - Congress votes to send the Constitution to the state legislatures for ratification, needing the approval of nine states.

    October 27, 1787 - The Federalists, who advocate a strong central government and approval of the new Constitution, begin publishing essays in favor of ratification. Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, the total number of articles will eventually reach 85 and be compiled and published as the Federalist Papers.

    December 7, 1787 - Delaware is the first of the nine states needed to ratify the Constitution. To be followed by: Pennsylvania (Dec. 12) New Jersey (Dec. 18) Georgia (Jan. 2, 1788) Connecticut (Jan. 9) Massachusetts (Feb. 7) Maryland (April 28) South Carolina (May 23) and New Hampshire (June 21).

    February 6, 1788 - Anti-Federalists in Massachusetts, led by Sam Adams and John Hancock, favor a more decentralized system of government and give their support to ratification of the Constitution only after a compromise is reached that amendments will be included which guarantee civil liberties.

    February 27, 1788 - In Massachusetts, following an incident in which free blacks were kidnapped and transported to the island of Martinique, the Massachusetts legislature declares the slavery trade illegal and provides for monetary damages to victims of kidnappings.

    March 24, 1788 - In Rhode Island, the Constitution is rejected by a popular referendum. The state, fearful of consolidated federal power, had refused to send a delegation to the constitutional convention in Philadelphia and had subsequently rejected a state convention to consider ratification.

    June 2, 1788 - In Virginia, anti-Federalist forces, led by Patrick Henry and George Mason, oppose ratification of the Constitution. They are joined by Richard Henry Lee who calls for a bill of rights and a lower house set up on a more democratic basis.

    June 25, 1788 - In Virginia, the Federalists, led by James Madison, finally prevail as ratification of the Constitution (with a proposed bill of rights and 20 other changes) is endorsed by a close vote of 89 to 75.

    July 2, 1788 - A formal announcement is made by the president of Congress that the Constitution of the United States is now in effect, having been ratified by the required nine states.

    July 8, 1788 - A committee in the old Congress (still under the Articles of Confederation) is established to prepare for an orderly transfer of power, including procedures for electing representatives to the first Congress under the new Constitution and procedures for choosing the electors of the first president.

    July 26, 1788 - The state of New York votes 30 to 27 to endorse ratification while also recommending a Bill of Rights be included.

    September 13, 1788 - New York City is chosen by Congress to be the temporary seat of the new U.S. government.

    October-December 1788 - Commodity prices stabilize, spurring economic recovery and a gradual return to pre-war levels of prosperity.

    November 1, 1788 - The old Congress, operating under the Articles of Confederation, adjourns. The U.S. is temporarily without a central government.

    November 21, 1788 - North Carolina votes to adopt the Constitution by a vote of 194 to 77.

    December 23, 1788 - Maryland proposes giving a 10-square-mile area along the Potomac River for the establishment of a federal town to be the new seat of the U.S. government.

    January 7, 1789 - Presidential electors are chosen in the 11 ratifying states, except New York.

    January 23, 1789 - Georgetown University, the first Catholic college in the U.S., is founded by Father John Carroll.

    February 4, 1789 - Ballots are cast in the first presidential election, to be counted on April 6.

    March 4, 1789 - The first Congress convenes in New York City, but is unable to achieve a quorum, since most members are still traveling there.