1802 in the United States
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- 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....
: Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
(Democratic-Republican) - Vice PresidentVice 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...
: Aaron BurrAaron BurrAaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
(Democratic-Republican) - Chief JusticeChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
: John MarshallJohn MarshallJohn Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches... - Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
: Nathaniel MaconNathaniel MaconNathaniel Macon was a spokesman for the Old Republican faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that wanted to strictly limit the United States federal government. Macon was born near Warrenton, North Carolina, and attended the College of New Jersey and served briefly in the American...
(Dem.-Rep.-North Carolina) - CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
: 7th7th United States Congress- House of Representatives :-Senate:* President: Aaron Burr * President pro tempore:** Abraham Baldwin , first elected December 7, 1801** Stephen R. Bradley , first elected December 14, 1802-House of Representatives:...
Events
- March 16 – Congress authorizes the establishment of the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military AcademyThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point, New YorkWest Point, New YorkWest Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
. - April 19 – The Judiciary Act of 1802Judiciary Act of 1802The United States Judiciary Act of 1802 was a Federal statute, enacted on April 29, 1802, to reorganize the federal court system. It restored some elements of the Judiciary Act of 1801, which had been adopted by the Federalist majority in the previous Congress, but was repealed by the...
is enacted, reorganizing the federal court systemUnited States federal courtsThe United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
. - April 30 – The Enabling Act of 1802Enabling Act of 1802The Enabling Act of 1802 was passed on April 30, 1802 by the Seventh Congress of the United States. This act authorized the residents of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territory to form the state of Ohio and join the U.S. on an equal footing with the other states...
authorizes the creation of OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
from the Northwest TerritoryNorthwest TerritoryThe Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
and sets a precedent for the creation of future states from the western territories. - June 1 – William ThorntonWilliam ThorntonDr. William Thornton was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol, an authentic polymath...
is appointed the first superintendent of the United States Patent Office. - July 4 – At West PointWest Point, New YorkWest Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
, 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...
the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military AcademyThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
opens. - October 2 – First Barbary WarFirst Barbary WarThe First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States...
: Fighting ends between SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and TripoliTripoliTripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
. The United States also negotiates peace, but war continues over the size of compensation. - October 12 – Joseph Gardner SwiftJoseph Gardner SwiftJoseph Gardner Swift, the first graduate of the United States Military Academy, was born on 31 December 1783 on Nantucket Island, the son of Foster Swift and his wife, Deborah...
becomes the first graduate of the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military AcademyThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
.
Undated
- U.S. House of Representatives elections: 142 representatives are elected, 36 more than the 7th Congress7th United States Congress- House of Representatives :-Senate:* President: Aaron Burr * President pro tempore:** Abraham Baldwin , first elected December 7, 1801** Stephen R. Bradley , first elected December 14, 1802-House of Representatives:...
, following reapportionment from the 1800 United States Census.
Further reading
- A Register of Marriages and Deaths, 1802. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1900), pp. 207-211
- W. L. McAtee. Journal of Benjamin Smith Barton on a Visit to Virginia, 1802. Castanea, Vol. 3, No. 7/8 (Nov. - Dec., 1938), pp. 85-117
- Elizabeth G. McPherson. The Southern States and the Reporting of Senate Debates, 1789-1802. The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 12, No. 2 (May, 1946), pp. 223-246
- Bennard B. Perlman. Baltimore Mansion, 1801-03. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Mar., 1955), pp. 26-28
- C. Richard Arena. Philadelphia-Mississippi Valley trade and deposit closure of 1802. Pennsylvania History, Vol. 30, No. 1 (January, 1963), pp. 28-45
- Sidney Forman. Why the United States Military Academy was Established in 1802. Military Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring, 1965), pp. 16-28
- Elizabeth Gaspar Brown, Augustus B. Woodward, J. H. Kearney. A Jeffersonian's Recommendations for A Lawyer's Education: 1802. The American Journal of Legal History, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr., 1969), pp. 139-144
- Jerry W. Knudson. The Jeffersonian Assault on the Federalist Judiciary, 1802-1805; Political Forces and Press Reaction. The American Journal of Legal History, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 55-75
- Howard A. Ohline. Georgetown, South Carolina: Racial Anxieties and Militant Behavior, 1802. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Jul., 1972), pp. 130-140
- Theodore J. Crackel. Jefferson, Politics, and the Army: An Examination of the Military Peace Establishment Act of 1802. Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1982), pp. 21-38
- John W. Wagner. New York City Concert Life, 1801-5. American Music, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer, 1984), pp. 53-69