1790
Jan 14
Alexander Hamilton presents his
first public credit statement to the U. S. Congress, advocating the payment of
U. S. debts at par value, and the Federal assumption of all state debts
incurred during the war.
Jan 30
Cornelius Van Schack Roosevelt,
future grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt, is born in New York City to sugar
refiner and banker Jacobus (James) Roosevelt and his wife Mary Helen Van
Schaack Roosevelt. Cornelius will be christened at the Reformed Dutch Church on
April 1
February
George and Martha Washington move
into the Macomb Mansion of architect John McComb, Sr. at 39 Broadway, on
Bowling Green.
Feb 1
The U. S. Supreme Court convenes
for the first time, in New York City, at the Royal Exchange.
Feb 3
New York authorizes the transfer
of New Jersey’s Sandy Hook lighthouse, built by New York, to the U. S.
government.
Feb 11
Congress receives its first
antislavery petitions.
** James
Madison addresses Congress on Hamilton's funding proposals.
Mar 1
Congress passes the Census Act,
calling for a census every ten years.
Mar 21
Thomas Jefferson arrives in New
York City and reports to President George Washington to be made Secretary of
State.
Mar 22
Thomas Jefferson is sworn in as
U. S. Secretary of State.
Apr 4
The U. S. Coast Guard is created,
under the Treasury Department, to suppress smuggling.
Apr 10
Congress enacts the Patent Act in
an attempt to rectify the expense and difficulty of the British patent process.
Apr 12
The House of Representatives
defeats the Assumption Act.
Apr 20
President Washington begins a
tour of Long Island, dining with a Mr. Barre of New Utrecht.
May
The New-York Magazine; or,
Literary Repository
publishes a drawing of Columbia College.
May 1
Jefferson is struck by a violent
headache and incapacitated for a month. ** Philadelphia printer William Bradford leaves
Westchester County to travel into New York City. Tomorrow he will describe the
“May-day” festivities he encounters there in a letter to his wife.
May 26
The Southwest Territory
(Tennessee) is given a Territorial government. Congress also accepts the last
of North Carolina's western lands. They are designated the Territory South of
the River Ohio.
May 31
Congress enacts its first
copyright law.
Jun 2
Jefferson moves to 57 Maiden
Lane.
Jun 7
American Revolution hero Colonel
Jeromus Remsen, who fought in the battle of Long Island, dies at the age of 54,
and is buried in the family plot in Middle Village, Queens , the first
interment there..
Jun 20
Congress, at the urging of
Hamilton, passes the Assumption Act, at the price of a compromise — the placing
of the capital in a southern location.
Jul 3
The Commissioners of the state’s
land office meet in New York City. Governor George Clinton presides. They
review surveys of 25 Military Townships and name them, then appoint Robert
Harpur and Lewis A. Scott to draw ballots. Over the next six days, lots of 500
to 600 acres are assigned at random to the veterans of the New York Continental
Line.
Jul 4
The Episcopal Middle Dutch Church
designed by Richard Upjohn, – used
by the British as part of a prison complex until their departure in 1783 - is
revived as a church.
Jul 10
Washington revisits the
Morris-Jumel Mansion.
Jul 12
Jefferson outlines a policy to be
followed if the Spain and Britain go to war over Nootka Sound.
Jul 13
Jefferson submits his Report on
Coinage, Weights, and Measures.
Jul 16
Congress votes in favor of the
Residence Bill, to make Philadelphia home of the national government for ten
years, while another site, to be selected by the President, is prepared.
Jul 23
Congress passes the
Non-Intercourse Act, promising the Iroquois will not be cheated out of their
land. All land transfers must be done under the U. S. auspices, with an agent
present.
Aug 1
The first U. S. census is
completed. New York City’s population is 33,000.
Aug 4
The Congressional Funding Act
establishes public credit, authorizes the Treasury to accept war bonds as debt
payment, and assumes all state debts to the Federal government. ** Congress authorizes the
construction and equipping of revenue cutter vessels.
Aug 7
The U. S. signs a treaty with
Creek Indian Alexander McGillivray at New York's Federal Hall, to preserve
peace with the Indians of the southwestern area of the states.
Aug 12
Congress recesses. Philadelphia
becomes the temporary capital of the U. S.
Aug 15
Washington and Jefferson leave
New York for Rhode Island.
Aug 24
The New York Daily Advertiser carries an item on engraver
William Rollinson’s depiction of U. S. President George Washington.
Sep 1
Jefferson leaves New York for
Monticello.
Oct 7
Francois Joseph Gossec’s opera Le
Tonnelier is
performed at New York’s City Tavern, with a ball following. It is the first
musical work performed in the city in a foreign tongue.
City
John McComb’s Government House is
built in lower Manhattan, as a residence for George Washington. The U. S.
Customs House sits on the site today. **
A U. S. Army garrison is stationed on Governor's Island. ** The second Trinity Church
is built, to replace the one destroyed by fire in 1776. ** Fort George, formerly Fort
Amsterdam, at the southern tip of Manhattan, is demolished. ** John Jacob Astor begins
shipping pelts to London’s Thomas Backhouse and Company. ** Astor and De Witt
Clinton join the Holland 8 Lodge
of the Masons. Other members include Clinton’s uncle Governor George Clinton
and merchant Robert R. Livingston. ** Captain Robert Richard Randall buys the Elliott
estate north of Greenwich Lane from “Baron” Poelnitz for £5,000, with the
intention of building a home for retired sailors on the property. ** Sarah Haswell Rowson's
novel Charlotte Temple; A Tale of Truth, is published. ** The city's seven wards are given
numerical designations.
** Lewis Morris
is authorized to build a toll drawbridge across the lower Harlem River. ** Congress charters the Bank
of the United States, with its main office here; the city's first bank. ** English painter William Winstanley arrives in
the city. ** New York’s population
surpasses that of Boston.
** Ann
Berton, wife of ship owner Peter Berton, dies. The couple are ancestors of
Canadian historian/author Pierre Berton. ** The Greenwood family purchases the property at
the future 20 Vesey Street, future site of the 1907 New York Post Building. ** The city buys seven acres
of land from the Herring family for use as a potter’s field and execution
ground. It will become part of Washington Square in the late 1820s. ** The post-colonial fence
surrounding Trinity Church – begun in 1788 – is completed.
Staten Island
Further additions are made to the
former home of Captain Thomas Stillwell. The house, on the future Richmond
Road, will later be known as the Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House.
© 2012 David Minor / Eagles
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