1793 in the United States
Encyclopedia
January–March
- January 9 – Jean-Pierre BlanchardJean-Pierre BlanchardJean-Pierre Blanchard , aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard, was a French inventor, most remembered as a pioneer in aviation and ballooning....
becomes the first to fly in a gas balloonGas balloonA gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charlière for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles. Today, familiar gas balloons include large blimps and small rubber party balloons...
in the United States. - February 12 – The Fugitive Slave ActFugitive Slave Act of 1793The Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed the right of a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave...
is passed by Congress as the first federal law dealing with runaway slavesFugitive slave lawsThe fugitive slave laws were laws passed by the United States Congress in 1793 and 1850 to provide for the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another state or territory.-Pre-colonial and Colonial eras:...
under the U.S. Constitution. - February 25 – 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...
holds the first CabinetCabinet (government)A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
meeting as 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....
. - February 27 – The Giles resolutions are introduced to the United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, asking the House to condemn Alexander HamiltonAlexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
's handling of loans. - March 1 – John LangdonJohn LangdonJohn Langdon was a politician from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and one of the first two United States senators from that state. Langdon was an early supporter of the Revolutionary War and later served in the Continental Congress...
becomes President Pro Tempore of the United States SenatePresident pro tempore of the United States SenateThe President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
until March 3. - March 4 – 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 sworn in as 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....
in Philadelphia, for his second term.
July–September
- July 9 – The Constitution of the State of VermontConstitution of VermontThe Constitution of the State of Vermont is the fundamental body of law of the U.S. State of Vermont. It was adopted in 1793 following Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791 and is largely based upon the 1777 Constitution of Vermont which was ratified at Windsor in the Old Constitution House. At...
is adopted. - September 18 – 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...
lays the cornerstoneCornerstoneThe cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
for the United States CapitolUnited States CapitolThe United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
.
October–December
- October 12 – The cornerstone of Old EastOld EastOld East is a dormitory building located at the north part of campus in University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When it was built in 1793, it became the first state university building in the United States...
, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid in Chapel Hill, North CarolinaChapel Hill, North CarolinaChapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, on the campus of the University of North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
(the 12th of October is now celebrated at the University as University Day). - October 28 – Eli WhitneyEli WhitneyEli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South...
applies for a patent for his cotton ginCotton ginA cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
(the patent is granted the following March). - December 9 – New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah WebsterNoah WebsterNoah Webster was an American educator, lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author...
.
Undated
- In Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
more than 4,000 die from yellow feverYellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. - The first year of regular production begins for 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...
.
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).
- Earl L. Bradsher. A Model American Library of 1793. Sewanee Review, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct., 1916), pp. 458-475.
- The Democratic Societies of 1793 and 1794 in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The William and Mary Quarterly, Second Series, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Oct., 1922), pp. 239-243.
- 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.
- F. W. Howay. The Resolution on the Oregon Coast, 1793-94. Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Sep., 1933), pp. 207-215.
- Lewis Leary. Phaeton in Philadelphia: Jean Pierre Blanchard and the First Balloon Ascension in America, 1793. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Jan., 1943), pp. 49-60.
- Elsie Murray. French Refugees of 1793 in Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 87, No. 5, Papers on Archaeology, Ecology, Ethnology, History, Paleontology, Physics, and Physiology (May 5, 1944), pp. 387-393.
- Philip Marsh. James Monroe as "Agricola" in the Genet Controversy, 1793. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 62, No. 4 (Oct., 1954), pp. 472-476.
- Wayne's Western Campaign: The Wayne-Knox Correspondence, 1793-1794. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Jul., 1954), pp. 298-341.
- Lowell H. Harrison. A Virginian Moves to Kentucky, 1793. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Apr., 1958), pp. 201-213.
- Dwight L. Smith, Mrs. Frank Roberts. William Wells and the Indian Council of 1793. Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 56, No. 3 (September 1960), pp. 217-226.
- James R. Beasley. Emerging Republicanism and the Standing Order: The Appropriation Act Controversy in Connecticut, 1793 to 1795. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct., 1972), pp. 587-610.
- 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.
- Don R. Gerlach. Black Arson in Albany, New York: November 1793. Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Mar., 1977), pp. 301-312.
- John Hammond Moore. Theophilus Harris's Thoughts on Emigrating to America in 1793. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Oct., 1979), pp. 602-614.
- William A. Hunter. John Badollet's "Journal of the Time I Spent in Stony Creeck Glades," 1793-1794. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 104, No. 2 (Apr., 1980), pp. 162-199.
- 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.
- David P. Currie. The Constitution in Congress: The Third Congress, 1793-1795. The University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Winter, 1996), pp. 1-48.
- Mark A. Smith. Andrew Brown's "Earnest Endeavor": The "Federal Gazette'"s Role in Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 120, No. 4 (Oct., 1996), pp. 321-342.
- Albrecht Koschnik. The Democratic Societies of Philadelphia and the Limits of the American Public Sphere, circa 1793-1795. William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jul., 2001), pp. 615-636.
- Tatiana Van Riemsdijk. His Slaves or Hers? Customary Claims, a Planter Marriage, and a Community Verdict in Lancaster County, 1793. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 113, No. 1 (2005), pp. 46-79.