1792 in the United States
Encyclopedia
January–March
- February 20 – The Postal Service ActPostal Service ActThe Postal Service Act was a piece of United States federal legislation that established the United States Post Office Department. It was signed into law by President George Washington on February 20, 1792.- History :...
, establishing the United States Post Office DepartmentUnited States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
, is signed by President George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
. - March 20 – A new capital of North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and county seat of the newly formed Wake CountyWake County, North CarolinaWake County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 900,993 making it North Carolina's second most populated county...
is established after North Carolina State SenatorState SenatorA state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...
and surveyor William Christmas submits his design for the city. A few months later the capital is officially named RaleighRaleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
in honor of Sir Walter RaleighWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
.
April–June
- April 2 – The Coinage ActCoinage Act (1792)The Coinage Act or the Mint Act, passed by the United States Congress on April 2, 1792, established the United States Mint and regulated the coinage of the United States. The long title of the legislation is An act establishing a mint, and regulating the Coins of the United States...
is passed establishing the United States MintUnited States MintThe United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...
. - April 5 – United States PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
vetoVetoA veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
es a bill designed to apportion representatives among U.S. stateU.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s. This is the first time the presidential veto is used in the United States. - May 10 – Union Bank is founded in BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. In 1925 it merges with State Street Trust Company, now known as the State Street Corporation - May 11 – Robert Gray's Columbia River expedition: Captain Robert Gray becomes the first explorer to enter the Columbia RiverColumbia RiverThe Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
. - May 17 – The Buttonwood AgreementButtonwood AgreementThe Buttonwood Agreement, which took place on May 17, 1792, started the New York Stock & Exchange Board now called the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE. This agreement was signed by twenty-four stock brokers outside of 68 Wall Street New York under a buttonwood tree. The organization drafted its...
is signed, beginning the New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock ExchangeThe New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
. - June 1 – KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
becomes the 15th state of The United States of America
October–December
- October 12 – The first Columbus DayColumbus DayMany countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
celebration in the USA is held in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 300 years after his arrival in the New World. - October 13 – Foundation of Washington, DC: The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion, known as the White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
after 1818, is laid. - October 29 – Mount HoodMount HoodMount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon. It was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States...
(OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
) is named after the British naval officer Samuel HoodSamuel Hood, 1st Viscount HoodSamuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...
by Lt. William E. Broughton, who spots the mountain near the mouth of the Willamette RiverWillamette RiverThe Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
. - December 3 – George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
is re-elected President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Undated
- George Anschutz constructs the first blast furnaceBlast furnaceA blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. - Shiloh Meeting House, predecessor of Shiloh United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, is founded.
Births
- July 10 - George M. DallasGeorge M. DallasGeorge Mifflin Dallas was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 11th Vice President of the United States , serving under James K. Polk.-Family and early life:...
, 11th Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
. (d. 18641864 in the United States-Incumbents:* President: Abraham Lincoln * Vice President: Hannibal Hamlin * Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney , Salmon P. Chase...
)
Deaths
- July 18 - John Paul JonesJohn Paul JonesJohn Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to...
(b. 1747) - October 7 - George MasonGeorge MasonGeorge Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
(b. 1725)
Further reading
- Edward Thornton. The United States through English Spectacles in 1792-1794. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Jul., 1885), pp. 214–222.
- Narrative of John Heckewelder's Journey to the Wabash in 1792. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jul., 1888), pp. 165–184.
- Lists of Foreigners Who Arrived at Philadelphia, 1791-1792. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1900), pp. 187–194.
- Max Farrand. The First Hayburn Case, 1792. The American Historical Review, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Jan., 1908), pp. 281–285.
- F. W. Howay, T. C. Elliott. Voyages of the "Jenny" to Oregon, 1792-94. Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Sep., 1929), pp. 197–206.
- J. Neilson Barry. Broughton, up Columbia River, 1792. Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Dec., 1931), pp. 301–312.
- Lawrence Kinnaird. The Significance of William Augustus Bowles' Seizure of Panton's Apalachee Store in 1792. The Florida Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Jan., 1931), pp. 156–192.
- J. Neilson Barry. Columbia River Exploration, 1792. Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Mar., 1932), pp. 31–42.
- Harold Kirker. The New Theater, Philadelphia, 1791-1792. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Mar., 1963), pp. 36–37.
- Loren K. Ruff. Joseph Harper and Boston's Board Alley Theatre, 1792-1793. Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Mar., 1974), pp. 45–52.
- James P. Whittenburg. "The Common Farmer (Number 2)": Herman Husband's Plan for Peace between the United States and the Indians, 1792. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct., 1977), pp. 647–650.
- R. David Edmunds. "Nothing Has Been Effected": The Vincennes Treaty of 1792. Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 74, No. 1 (March 1978), pp. 23–35.
- Helen Hornbeck Tanner. The Glaize in 1792: A Composite Indian Community. Ethnohistory, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Winter, 1978), pp. 15–39.
- James P. Walsh. "Mechanics and Citizens": The Connecticut Artisan Protest of 1792. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 66–89.
- Michael L. Kennedy. A French Jacobin Club in Charleston, South Carolina, 1792-1795. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 91, No. 1 (Jan., 1990), pp. 4–22.
- Don Alexander Hawkins. The Landscape of the Federal City: A 1792 Walking Tour. Washington History, Vol. 3, No. 1, Special Bicentennial Issue: Washington D.C., 1791-1991 (Spring/Summer, 1991), pp. 10–33.
- David J. Cowen. The First Bank of the United States and the Securities Market Crash of 1792. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 60, No. 4 (Dec., 2000), pp. 1041–1060.
- Jim Mockford. Before Lewis and Clark, Lt. Broughton's River of Names: The Columbia River Exploration of 1792. Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 106, No. 4 (Winter, 2005), pp. 542–567.