1817 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....
: James MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
(Democratic-Republican) (until March 4), James MonroeJames MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
(Democratic-Republican) (starting March 4) - 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...
: vacant (until March 4), Daniel D. TompkinsDaniel D. TompkinsDaniel D. Tompkins was an entrepreneur, jurist, Congressman, the fourth Governor of New York , and the sixth Vice President of the United States .-Name:...
(Democratic-Republican) (starting March 4) - 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...
: Henry ClayHenry ClayHenry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
(Dem.-Rep.-Kentucky) - 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....
: 14th14th United States Congress- Senate :* President: Vacant* President pro tempore: John Gaillard of South Carolina, first elected December 4, 1815- House of Representatives :* Speaker: Henry Clay of Kentucky-Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...
(until March 4), 15th15th United States Congress-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Daniel D. Tompkins * President pro tempore:** John Gaillard , elected March 4, 1817** James Barbour , elected February 15, 1819- House of Representatives :*Speaker: Henry Clay -Members:...
(starting March 4)
January–March
- March 3 – President James MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
vetoes John C. CalhounJohn C. CalhounJohn Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
's Bonus BillBonus Bill of 1817The Bonus Bill of 1817 was proposed legislation introduced by John C. Calhoun to provide a federal highway linking the East and South to the West using the earnings bonus from the Second Bank of the United States. Opponents feared that providing the means for settlers to travel would drain their...
. - March 3 – U.S. Congress passes law to split the Mississippi TerritoryMississippi TerritoryThe Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Mississippi....
, after Mississippi drafts a constitution, creating the Alabama TerritoryAlabama TerritoryThe Territory of Alabama was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 15, 1817, until December 14, 1819, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alabama.-History:...
effective in August. - March 4 – James MonroeJames MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
succeedsJames Monroe 1817 presidential inaugurationThe first inauguration of James Monroe as the fifth President of the United States was held on Tuesday, March 4, 1817, in front of the Old Brick Capitol, where the Supreme Court building now stands. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of James Monroe as President...
James MadisonJames MadisonJames Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
as President of the United States of America.
April–June
- April 15 – The first American school for the deaf opens in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, ConnecticutHartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
. - April 29 – The Rush–Bagot Treaty, between the U.S. and the United Kingdom, is signed.
- May – The General ConventionGeneral Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of AmericaThe General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
of the Episcopal Church founds the General Theological SeminaryGeneral Theological SeminaryThe General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States and is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York....
while meeting in 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...
.
July–September
- July 4 – At Rome, New YorkRome, New YorkRome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...
, construction on the Erie CanalErie CanalThe Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
begins. - July 12 – Benjamin RussellBenjamin Russell (journalist)Benjamin Russell was an American journalist, born in Boston.-Early life:Benjamin Russell was born on 13 September 1761, son of John Russell, a stonemason...
, in his Columbian CentinelColumbian CentinelThe Columbian Centinel was a Boston, Massachusetts, newspaper established by Benjamin Russell. It continued its predecessor, the Massachusetts Centinel and the Republican Journal, which Russell and partner William Warden had first issued on March 24, 1784...
newspaper, coins the phrase "Era of Good FeelingsEra of Good FeelingsThe Era of Good Feelings was a period in United States political history in which partisan bitterness abated. It lasted approximately from 1815 to 1825, during the administration of U.S...
", which is later used to describe American politics from 1817 to 1825. - August 15 – By act of the U.S. Congress (March 3), the Alabama TerritoryAlabama TerritoryThe Territory of Alabama was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 15, 1817, until December 14, 1819, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alabama.-History:...
is created by splitting the Mississippi TerritoryMississippi TerritoryThe Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Mississippi....
in half, on the day the Mississippi constitution is drafted, four months before MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
becomes a U.S. state.
October–December
- November 20 – The first Seminole War begins in FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. - December 10 – MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
is admitted as the 20th 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...
, formerly the Mississippi TerritoryMississippi TerritoryThe Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Mississippi....
.
Further reading
- Brookline in 1817. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. 19, [Vol. 39 of continuous numbering] (1905)
- James C. Jewett. The United States Congress of 1817 and Some of its Celebrities. The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Oct., 1908), pp. 139-144
- Marine Hospitals of New England in 1817. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 50, (Oct., 1916 - Jun., 1917),
- John E. Iglehart. The Coming of the English to Indiana in 1817 and Their Hoosier Neighbors. Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1919), pp. 89-178
- Lucius C. Embree. Morris Birkbeck's Estimate of the People of Princeton in 1817. Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 21, No. 4 (1925), pp. 289-299
- Watt Stewart. The South American Commission, 1817-1818. The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Feb., 1929), pp. 31-59
- John Perry Pritchett. Selkirk's Return from Assiniboia Via The United States to the Canadas, 1817-1818. The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Dec., 1945), pp. 399-418
- Lucius Gaston Moffatt, Joseph Médard Carrière. A Frenchman Visits Charleston, 1817. The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 49, No. 3 (Jul., 1948), pp. 131-154
- Sidney Walter Martin. Ebenezer Kellogg's Visit to Charleston, 1817. The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Jan., 1948), pp. 1-14
- F. Gerald Ham. The Prophet and the Mummyjums: Isaac Bullard and the Vermont Pilgrims of 1817. The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Summer, 1973), pp. 290-299
- Patricia Tyson Stroud. The Founding of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1812 and Its Journal in 1817. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 147, (1997), pp. 227-236