1786 to 1787

1786

jan 16 - 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.
sum - Americans suffer from post-war economic depression including a shortage of currency, high taxes, nagging creditors, farm foreclosures and bankruptcies.
aug 08 - 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.
aug 22-25 - 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.
aug 31 - |MASSACHUSETTS| , Ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays leads an armed mob and prevents the Northampton Court from holding a session to prevent debtors from being tried and put in prison.
sep 20 - |NEW HAMPSHIRE| An armed mob marches on the state assembly and demands enactment of an issue of paper money.
sep 26 - Shays' rebels confront militiamen protecting the state Massachusetts Supreme Court session in Springfield and force the court to adjourn.
oct 16 - Congress establishes the United States mint.
oct 20 - Congress authorizes Secretary of War Henry Knox to raise a an army of 1340 men over concerns of the safety of the federal arsenal at Springfield, Mass.
dec 26 - Shays assembles 1200 men near Worcester, Mass. and heads toward Springfield. Massachusetts Governor, Bowdoin, then orders mobilization of a 4400 man force.
x - The British government announces it's plans to make Australia a penal colony.

1787

jan 26 - Shays' rebels unsuccessfully attack the federal arsenal at Springfield. Revolutionary War hero Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, then arrives with reinforcements from Boston to pursue the rebels.
feb 04 - Gen. Lincoln's troops capture 150 Shay's rebels. Shays flees north to Vermont.
feb 21 - Amid calls for a stronger central government Congress endorses a resolution calling for a constitutional convention to be held in May in Philadelphia.
may 25 - The constitutional convention begins in the state house (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. 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. George Washington + is nominated as president of the convention.
jun 19 - Delegates at the constitutional convention vote to create an entirely new form of national government separated into three branches.
jul 13 - Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance which establishes formal procedures for transforming territories into states.
jul 16 - 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. A rough draft of the constitution is then drawn up.
sep 17 - Thirty nine delegates vote to approve and then sign the final draft of the new Constitution.
sep 19 - 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.
sep 28 - Congress votes to send the Constitution to the state legislatures for ratification, needing the approval of nine states.
oct 27 - 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 *.
dec 07 - Delaware is the first of the nine states needed to ratify the Constitution.
x - |Russia ?+| War with Ottoman Empire ends with Treaty of Jassy; Ottomans recognize the annexation of Crimea that took place in 1783 by Russia.
x - French physicist Jacques Charles discovers "Charles Law" describing the relationship between the volume and temperature of a gas.