1000: The Woodland Era. Native Americans live in small villages, garden, hunt with the bow and arrow, fish and gather wild berries and nuts for food.
1050: The Mississippian Era. Native Americans live in mound-building cultures, an example of which flourished at Angel Mounds near Evansville, and at Cahokia near present-day St. Louis on the Mississippi. Local Woodland Indians adopt some of the Mississippian ways, but maintain their own culture.
1215: Following a revolt by the English nobility against his rule, King John put his royal seal on Magna Carta, or “the Great Charter,” on #ThisDayInHistory in 1215. The document, essentially a peace treaty between John and his barons, guaranteed that the king would respect feudal rights and privileges, uphold the freedom of the church, and maintain the nation’s laws. Although more a reactionary than a progressive document in its day, the Magna Carta was seen as a cornerstone in the development of democratic England by later generations.How Did Magna Carta Influence the U.S. Constitution? The 13th-century pact inspired the U.S. Founding Fathers as they wrote the documents that would shape the nation. by Dave Roosep posted September 30, 2019 on History.com. Copied from a June 15, 2022 post by History.com on Facebook.
Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage is what he is best known for, but he led more expeditions to the Caribbean, as well. After his third, he was charged with maladministration of Hispaniola. He was brought back to Spain in disgrace, and in chains, in 1500.
When he pleaded his case before Queen Isabella and King Fernando of Spain, they promised restitution of the rights and offices that Columbus had negotiated with them ahead of his first expedition. But months passed without redress. This is where the "Book of Privileges" comes in. To try to prevent his promised positions and entitlements from being questioned, Columbus gathered all the documentation of his agreements with the Spanish monarchs from years earlier and hired scribes to make copies. The Library has one of these copies of the "Book of Privileges."
Unique to the Library's copy is a transcription of Pope Alexander VI's 1493 letter to the Spanish monarchy (pictured), granting papal authority to claim all lands unruled by "Christian powers." The document lays out the deadly course of colonialism that would be inflicted on the Americas.
Columbus died in Spain in 1506, having never abandoned the belief that he had found a previously unexplored part of Asia. "America" comes from the name of another Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who asserted the lands Columbus had sailed to were part of a separate continent.
Resources if you want to learn more about Columbus, his "Book of Privileges" & Vespucci:
1600s: Europeans bring diseases that kill an estimated 80 percent of Native Americans throughout New England and many in this area. From Millennium milestones in Fort Wayne in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.
#OTD, in a move that would create the first militia on the North American continent, the Massachusetts General Court in Salem issued an order in 1636, requiring all able-bodied men between 16 and 60 years old to create a standing army for protection
The #NationalGuard is the oldest military organization in America. Its members serve during times of war and emergency.
NCA salutes all who served in the National Guard, in all branches of service, and to those who are designated as #Veterans who are interred in our VA national cemeteries. Thank you for your service!
The second paragraph of a June 13, 1923 Historical Societies newspaper article states: White settlers were in these parts as early as 1644, when Samuel De Champlain, governor of new France, (Canada) and founder of Quebec, is believed to have seen the Maumee. Certain it is that Champlain's map of 1632 indicates the Maumee, the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph's rivers.
1648-49: The Iroquois nearly annihilate the Huron Indians, who have already been decimated by disease, as the two groups fight over fur supplies and trade relations with the French. Both tribes had pushed the Miamis out of northeastern Indiana. From Millennium milestones in Fort Wayne in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.
1659
1659, May 11 - when Puritans outlawed Christmas.
Another Look at Christmas in the Eighteenth Century, David DeSimone, This article is reprinted from The Colonial Williamsburg Interpreter, vol. 16, no. 4, winter 1995-96. Colonial Williamsburg That The Future May Learn The Past.
1659, May - Penalty for Keeping Christmas, 1659: From: Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. Printed by order of the Legislature, edited by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M.D., Vol. IV, Part I, 1650-1660
Text Reads (with modern spelling):
For preventing disorders arising in several places within this jurisdiction, by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other countries, to the great dishonor of God and offence of others, it is therefore ordered by this Court and the authority thereof, that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, upon such accounts as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence five shillings, as a fine to the country.
Massachusetts Law Banning Christmas We often get questions about crazy or unusual laws. This is one we can actually verify! Massachusetts Law Updates.
A Massachusetts law enacted in 1659 read: "Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas, or the like, either by forebearing of labor, feasting in any other way, shall be fined 5 shillings, and forbade the Festival of Christmas and kindred ones, superstitiously kept." The law was only in effect for 22 years, but Christmas was not made a legal holiday in Massachusetts until the mid-19th-century.
1700
1719, May 12 - a French inventory and orders for Francois Roye to go to the Miamis and trade was signed by Vincennes. Another document is a voyageur contract from August 17, 1720 to travel by canoe to go down and trade for furs among the Miamis. The documents were to be deposited with the judge at Montreal, Canada. [this means some Fort Wayne history is found in Canadian archives!]
Did you know that Fort Wayne has French roots? French voyageurs were the first Europeans come to the Three Rivers region, drawn to this area by the abundant supply of furs, including fox and beaver. We have voyageur documents in our collection. One from 1719, an inventory and orders for Francois Roye to go to the Miami and trade, signed by Vincennes. Another document is a voyageur contract from 1720 to travel by canoe to go down and trade for furs among the Miami. As July 14th marks Bastille Day in France, officially known as “The National Celebration,” we commemorate our French heritage by sharing these voyageur documents and their translations. #sociallyhistory
1720, August 17 - a French document to travel by canoe to go down and trade for furs among the Miamis. The documents were to be deposited with the judge at Montreal, Canada. [this means some Fort Wayne history is found in Canadian archives!]
1721 - Fabureau Fur Trading Contract - One of the earliest manuscripts in the library, this contract calls for trader Charles Fabereau to deliver supplies to Sieur Dumont, a French officer commanding the Miamis post (now Fort Wayne), and return to Montreal with Dumont's fur pelts to sell at a profit. The North American fur trade fulfilled Europe's thirst for beaver-felt hats and explorers quest for fame and fortune. French traders exchanged blankets, weapons, and gunpowder with Native Americans for furs and skins.Treasures from the Indiana Historical Society. Shared February 2, 2023 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
For the first 20 years of his life, Washington’s birthday was celebrated on February 11. In 1752, English Parliament adopted the Gregorian calendar for England and all its colonies.
Under the Gregorian Calendar, Washington's birthday was February 22, 1732 (New Style).
(Image Credits)
Young Washington, Man of Action by Frederick Trevor Hill. Circa 1914. New York Public Library.
1747: Little Turtle is born to Turtle, a Miami war chief, and his Mohican wife at a site in Whitley County called Devil's Lake.
1752, September 3 - Britain and the American colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar.
In 1752 Great Britain transitioned from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Because there was an eleven-day difference in the two calendars, it was necessary for the British to skip eleven days in order to “catch up.” So, by act of Parliament, in Great Britain and the British colonies, in 1752 the day after September 2 was September 14, not September 3. The change is said to have caused widescale rioting across England, as people demanded the return of the eleven “stolen” days. How did this all come about?
For 600 years, in England the first day of the new year was not January 1, but rather March 25, which was popularly known as “Lady Day.” Officially the “Feast of the Annunciation,” Lady Day celebrated the angel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she was to give birth to the Messiah. Even as the rest of the Western World celebrated New Year’s Day on the first day of January, England stubbornly held on the practice of beginning the new year on Lady Day, in part because it coincided neatly with the beginning of an agricultural year.
But in 1750 England finally succumbed to the pressure to conform to the practice of the rest of the world and made January 1 the first day of the year (Scotland having done so 150 years earlier), replacing the Julian Calendar with the Gregorian Calendar at the same time. In England the year 1751 began, as usual, on March 25, but ended on December 31, making the English year of 1751 only 282 days long.
The transition to the “New Style” calendar required that another inconsistency be resolved as well. The old Julian Calendar, which had been implemented in 46 B.C., had a built-in error, caused by miscalculating the solar year by 11 minutes. The error caused the calendar to “lose” a day every 128 years. The Gregorian Calendar had solved the problem by making the last leap year of a century a leap year only it was evenly divisible by 400. Over the passing centuries, therefore, the Gregorian calendar gradually gained days on the Julian calendar, so that by the time Great Britain got on board, the date there was 11 days earlier than the date in the rest of the West (i.e., January 1 in England was January 12 elsewhere). It was this misalignment that was solved by the elimination of the eleven days in September. The dates September 3-13, 1752 simply never occurred in Great Britain and the British colonies.
Although it has long been claimed that when the change occurred there were riots across Britain, demanding the return of the eleven “stolen” days, most historians now believe the “calendar riots” are a myth. But there was non-riotous resistance to the change. For example, many British people complained about and were suspicious of the change in dates of religious holidays, so that many continued to celebrate Christmas on the traditional day, which under the new calendar fell on January 6 rather than December 25. And some did fear that the law had shortened their lives by eleven days. There are also consequences when dating things that occurred during the period of change. When George Washington was born, for example, the date of his birth was February 11, 1731. But by sliding the calendar forward 11 days and changing New Year’s Day, his birthday under the New Style Calendar Act became February 22, 1732, the date we currently recognize. Anyone researching dates during this period will see them often referred to as “1731/32,” for example.
The image is William Hogarth’s 1755 painting “An Election Entertainment,” depicting English Whigs partying on election day, while Tories protest outside. On the floor is a stolen Tory banner which reads “Give us our Eleven Days.” This painting, intended to poke fun at election shenanigans, is believed to be one of the primary source of the “Calendar Riots” myth.
Two hundred seventy-one years ago in Great Britain and her colonies, what would normally have been September 3 was September 14 instead.
Happy Birthday Daniel Boone, or is it? In 1734, Sarah Boone gave birth to a son, Daniel. The actual date of his birth depends on which calendar you use. In ancient times, the calendar depended on the country and ruler. It became a mess with many people not even knowing what day it was. Julius Caesar fixed this problem in 46 B.C. by installing a new 365-day calendar that alternated with a leap year. By the 16th century, many people realized the Julian Calendar was off by 10 days. On February 24, 1582, Pope Gregory XIII installed a new calendar that fixed these issues, advancing the calendar on October 5, 1582, to October 15. As the reformation was occurring at the time, most protestant countries ignored the Papal decree and continued to use the Julian Calendar.
In 1750, Parliament issued the British Calendar Act of 1751 that adopted the Gregorian Calendar. It officially went into effect on September 3, 1752, which became September 14, adjusting the calendar by 11 days. Under the new calendar, Daniel Boone was born on November 2, 1734. For his entire life, Boone refused to accept the new date and celebrated his birthday on October 22. Which day do you think we should celebrate his birthday?
1754-1763: The Miamis align with the French in the French and Indian War, known in Europe as the Seven Years' War.
ON THIS DAY // On February 10, 1763, the Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War, concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain, and Spain. Check out the map below to see how the area now known as Indiana changed territories as a result of the war.
Learn more about the war via the Library of Congress web guide:
#OTDin 1763, representatives from Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal signed the Treaty of Paris, which concluded the Seven Years War. One of the provisions of the treaty transferred French claims east of the Mississippi River, including land that would become Indiana Territory, to Great Britain. The British Government also issued a Royal Proclamation reserving expansive territory west of the Appalachian Mountains for indigenous peoples, consequently recognizing the sovereignty of these indigenous nations and their inherent right to the land.
1768, December 6 - The 1st volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica was published. The final print version (15th Edition) was published in 2010. Digital content & distribution has continued since then. Copied from a December 6, 2018 Tweet by The Library of Congress.
1776: The American Revolutionary War against Britain begins, with the Miami allied with the British.
1770
1770, March 5 - The Boston Massacre occurs. British soldiers fire into a snow-ball throwing crowd, killing five colonists.
1773
1773, March 11 - Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and others met in a small room in the Raleigh Tavern and planned the creation of committees of correspondence to connect the colonies in their fight against Britain. For more see Williamsburg and the Intercolonial Committees of Correspondence at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
1773, December 16 - Colonial opposition to British taxes leads to the Boston Tea Party
On the night of December 16, 1773, hundreds of tea chests were floating in Boston Harbor. The "Sons of Liberty" had crept onboard cargo ships and dumped the tea overboard to protest taxes on the tea trade. This act had serious consquences--the Port of Boston was closed and the British goverment issued the "Intolerable Acts." What do you think was the event that finally pushed the colonies into open war with the Crown?
Contrary to popular belief, the 1773 protest opposed a tax break, not a tax hike. And it didn’t immediately unify the colonies against the British.
The Many Myths of the Boston Tea Party Contrary to popular belief, the 1773 protest opposed a tax break, not a tax hike. And it didn’t immediately unify the colonies against the British
Today marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. #OnThisDay in 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts, American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor to protest against the British rule over the American Colonies.
In response to these protests, in June of 1774, George Washington wrote: “the cause of Boston…ever will be considered as the cause of America.” However, he held a different personal opinion about the Boston Tea Party, stating "not that we approve their cond[uc]t in destroyg the Tea.”
Like many other elites, Washington considered private property unimpeachable. Benjamin Franklin thought that the British East India Company should be reimbursed for the tea they lost. He even offered to pay them himself.
@Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
(Image Credit)
W.D. Cooper. "Boston Tea Party.", The History of North America. London: E. Newberry, 1789. Engraving. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
December 16 marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 1773. This excerpt shows how one newspaper of the time described the event.
See the full clipping in the Pennsylvania Gazette on our site: Account of the Boston Tea Party [ The Pennsylvania Gazette Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, Dec 22, 1773, Page 7 ]
Or explore more newspaper coverage about the Boston Tea Party on our Topic Page: Boston Tea Party
A Political Historian Describes the Boston Tea Party
1774, September 26 - John Chapman was born in Massachusetts. He became known as "Johnny Appleseed" and established orchards throughout the Midwest. He died in Fort Wayne, Indiana in March 1845.
1775
1775, March 10 - the beginning of the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap, also called the Cumberland Road. It was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. The other was northern National Road started in the early 19th century. From May 10, 2017 The Genealogy Center Tweet.
1775, March 23 - in Virginia, a meeting of the colony’s delegates was held in St. John’s Church in Richmond where Patrick Henry recited those famous words: Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! Read Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” Speech by Evan Andrews published March 22, 2015 on History.com.
1775, April 19 - shot heard 'round the world - first military engagements of the American Revolution begins with the battles of Lexington and Concord. “Yankee doodle keep it up, Yankee doodle dandy...” According to the Library of Congress, tradition holds that the Colonials began to sing the tune Yankee Doodle as they forced the British back to Boston. Read more at Lexington and Concord on the Library of Congress American Memory Today In History blog.
In 18th century English culture a “dandy” was a man obsessed with gaudy fashion. A “macaroni” was a particularly outrageous dandy, one who favored ridiculous effeminate fashion, such as tall beehive-style powdered and perfumed wigs.
So when English soldiers began referring to the Colonial rebels as “Yankee doodle dandies” who stuck feathers in their hats and called them “macaronis,” their intent to was to deliver a stinging insult—basically they were calling the Americans rubes and sissies.
As has happened often in history, the intended insult was appropriated and embraced by those to whom it was directed. Nowadays “Yankee Doodle” is considered one of America’s defining patriotic songs.
Archibald Willard's famous painting “The Spirit of '76,” was originally called “Yankee Doodle.”
1775, May 10 - representatives from the Thirteen Colonies gathered for the Second Continental Congress
On May 10, 1775, representatives from the Thirteen Colonies gathered for the Second Continental Congress. The meetings eventually resulted in the Declaration of Independence. Explore our free collection of Continental Congress Papers on Fold3: http://fnote.it/6xw0
1776, January 2 - the first known date when United States of America was used in a leter from Stephen Moylan to Joseph Reed. From Who Coined the Phrase ‘United States of America’? You May Never Guess by staff published November 5, 2014 on New York Historical Society Museum & Library.
1776, January 2 - The Continental Congress publishes the “Tory Act” resolution which describes how colonies should handle Americans who remain loyal to the British and King George.
1776, June 10 - the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a statement of independence for the colonies.
On June 10, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a statement of independence for the colonies. The committee included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Jefferson drafted the statement while Adams and Franklin made some changes. The draft was presented to the Congress following the July 2nd adoption of the independence section of the Lee Resolution. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was engrossed on parchment, and on August 2, 1776, and delegates began signing it.
Learn more about the drafting of the Declaration of Independence on the Milestone Documents page:
1776, June 12 - Virginia's colonial legislature becomes 1st to adopt a Bill of Rights. Read the Bill: - Bill of Rights - The Virginia Declaration of Rights. It was written by Stafford County resident George Mason. It was the basis for the preamble of the Declaration of Independence that was signed on July 4th. It also formed the basis of the Bill of Rights.
Thomas Jefferson, the lead author of the Declaration of Independence, was also an avid weather observer. Here is part of his log from July 1776 in Philadelphia. The late 18th century was during a climate period known as "The Little Ice Age" and a notable coolness is observed here compared to what we expect almost 250 years later. Courtesy of https://jefferson-weather-records.org/
1776, July 2 - Continental Congress ended its debate and approved the resolution proposed on June 7 by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and seconded by John Adams. The newspapers of the day treated the action as the colonies’ definitive word on the break with Great Britain. Read John Adams’s vision of July 4 was July 2 on The National Archives Prologue: Pieces of History blog.
In 1776, Richard H. Lee of Virginia introduced this resolution at the Second Continental Congress, "That These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent..." Explore the documents that gave birth to a nation in our free Continental Congress Papers collection: http://fnote.it/6xw0
On this day in 1776, with the passing of the Lee Resolution, “the Continental Congress declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States.”
The announcement just made it in the July 2 edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post. It's easy to miss on the left side of the page, opposite an advertisement for the return of an escaped enslaved person, an apt reminder of the paradox of the ideals of liberty and equality laid out in the Declaration existing alongside the tyranny of slavery.
1776, July 4 - the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, but none of the Continental Congress delegates signed the Declaration of Independence until August 2. John Adams, Founding Father and future President, was certain that July 2 would be the day that Americans would remember as Independence Day. That was the day that the Continental Congress declared the United States independent. From Happy July 2, John Adams! on The National Archives Prologue: Pieces of History blog and You asked, we answered: How did soldiers commemorate the first Fourth of July? on Smithsonian National Museum of American History blog. See Fun Fourth Facts on The Genealogy Center blog. Interesting trivia, united is lower case "u" in the original mention of the united States: In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. See Declaration of Independence: A Transcription Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original. Copied from America's Founding Documents at The National Archives. July 4, 2022 post of the image on right by Today's Document with information about the Dunlap Broadside [Declaration of Independence] at The National Archives.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: Check out Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, complete with deletions, corrections, insertions & other edits from members of his committee prior to July 4. Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence.
File Unit: Rough Journals, 9/5/1774 - 3/2/1789
Series: Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 1789
Record Group 360: Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, 1765 - 1821
Transcription:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.
A D E C L A R A T I O N
BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN GENERAL CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.
The Library of Virginia acquired this copy of the Declaration of Independence in 2004. It is one of the earliest-known reproductions of the Declaration of Independence and was engraved from a copper plate in 1818 by Benjamin Owen Tyler, a professor of penmanship in Washington, D. C. Tyler's reproduction was made less than 50 years after the original Declaration was written and his text is accompanied by near-perfect facsimiles of the signer's signatures. Only a few dozen of Tyler's copies were printed on parchment and the Library has one of these. Learn more at https://edu.lva.virginia.gov/.../declaration-of...#LVA200years#July4th
Happy Independence Day! On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
This 1823 copy, now on display at the Museum, is as close as you can get to seeing the Declaration as it looked right after the founders signed it in 1776. The original Declaration with the founders’ signatures is badly faded and parts of it are illegible.
To help preserve the already-damaged original, in 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams hired a Washington D.C. engraver named William J. Stone to create this near duplicate. It took Stone three years to make this copy, during which he had the original Declaration in his shop. All subsequent copies of the Declaration have been made from the Stone engravings.
This example of the Stone engraving, on loan from DOI Holdings LLC, belonged to the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland. In a note on the bottom left, Carroll presented the engraving to a friend and signed it “exactly half a century after having affixed his name to the original.”
On this day in 1776, the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Evening Post presented the first newspaper printing of the newly adopted Declaration of Independence.
Most Americans read or heard the words of the Declaration of Independence via newspapers and printed broadsides. In Philadelphia, a German language translation appeared in the July 9, 1776 issue of the Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote, a newspaper that served Pennsylvania’s large German-speaking community. By the end of August 1776, the Declaration had been reprinted in at least 29 newspapers and 14 broadsides.
Take a closer look from our collection.
1776, July 8 - the Liberty Bell rings for independence announcing the Declaration of Independence first reading to the public at Independence Hall (then the PA State House) in Philadelphia (in addition to Trenton, NJ and Easton, PA).
1776, July 9 - days after the Declaration of Independence was ratified by the Second Continental Congress, George Washington ordered that the document be read out loud to the Continental Army in Manhattan. From July 9, 2020 post by Daughters of the American Revolution National Headquarters on Facebook.
On this day in 1776, members of Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.
According to the Journal of the Continental Congress of August 2nd: "The declaration of independence being engrossed and compared at the table was signed." One of the most widely held misconceptions about the Declaration is that it was signed on July 4th.
Indeed, a July 19th order of Congress called for an official copy of the declaration to be “fairly engrossed” on parchment for all of the delegates to sign. Not every member did.
Eventually 56 delegates signed, although all were not present on August 2. Among the later signers were Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton, who found that he had no room to sign with the other New Hampshire delegates.
In January 1777, the names of the signers were made public, when they were printed in a broadside edition of the Declaration published in Baltimore, Maryland.
You can read more about the history of the document at
1776, September 9 - the United States of America gets its name by the Continental Congress. Previously referred to as the United Colonies from September 9, 2015 post by Campaign 1776 on Facebook.
1776, September 22 - American Captain Nathan Hale is hanged as a spy by the British with no trial. His last words are reputed to be I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.
1777
1777:Hyacinth Laselle, son of British Indian agent Jacques Laselle, becomes the first white child born at what is now Fort Wayne. Copied from Millennium milestones in Fort Wayne in the archives of The News-Sentinel newspaper.
First Stars and Stripe 1777 – For over a year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the United States did not have an official flag. Meeting in Philadelphia in June, the Continental Congress declared: “Resolved that the flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” No guidelines, however, were provided for the arrangement of the stars, and an amazing number of variations were created
1777, November 15 - The first "constitution" of the United States, the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress 240 years ago on November 15, 1777 and ratified on March 1, 1781 : Today's Document Articles of Confederation on Tumblr.com.
1778
1778, February 6 - Treaty of Alliance with France (1778) The American Colonies and France signed this military treaty on February 6, 1778. It formalized France’s financial and military support of the revolutionary government in America. At The National Archives.
1778, June 24 - An eyewitness account of the first recorded total solar eclipse in the United States. Other total eclipses: June 26, 1869, March 7, 1970, and April 8, 2024.
An eyewitness account of the first recorded total solar eclipse in the United States: On June 2, 1848, Nancy Gentry...
An eyewitness account of the first recorded total solar eclipse in the United States:
On June 2, 1848, Nancy Gentry Bailey, who lived in Hardin County, Kentucky and was 86 years old at the time, applied for a widow's pension based on her husband's service during the Revolutionary War. In her application, she recounted witnessing the Solar eclipse which occurred 246 years ago on June 24, 1778.
This eclipse was notable as the first total solar eclipse documented in the United States. Interestingly, it was the same eclipse that General George Rogers Clark and his soldiers saw as they traveled over the Falls of the Ohio on their way to Kaskaskia during the Illinois Campaign. They interpreted the eclipse as a positive sign or omen.
"That although she can not give with certainty the time of the service of her husband yet she remembers distinctly that it was during the year of the great eclipse of the sun, when stars were seen, for some time, during the day. That she remembers that it produced almost universal alarm. That at the time she was at her aunts, ten miles from home, and she remembers that when she saw the eclipse she thought she never would see her brother John Gentry again, who was then in the army as aforesaid."
-Excerpt of affadavit of Nancy Bailey – 1848 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Nancy and her husband, Revolutionary War soldier Thomas Bailey, both Virginia natives, are buried in Maffet Cemetery just outside of Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Sources:
(1) National Archives and Records Administration: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files Series M805 Roll 39 Image 443
In 1778 David Rittenhouse, a Montgomery County native, tracked a total solar eclipse and documented it for the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Both David Rittenhouse and his younger brother, Benjamin, were clockmakers and also made surveying instruments. Historic Trappe owns a clock made by Benjamin Rittenhouse; in addition to telling time, it has a moon phase dial enabling one to follow the phases of the moon. Moon phase dials use a system of gears and levers that are connected to the clock's mechanism. These gears rotate the moon phase display at the same rate as the moon's orbit around the Earth, completing a full rotation in about 29.5 days.
Tall clock, movement by Benjamin Rittenhouse (1740-1825), Worcester Township, Montgomery County, PA, c. 1775. Gift of Estate of John J. Snyder, Jr. 2014.001.0024
The United States signed its first written peace treaty with a Native American tribe on September 17, 1778. The agreement, made with the Lenape Nation, served as a means of establishing a military alliance during the American Revolution.
1778, October 29 - the English army under British leader Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamilton came through the “Glorious Gate” described by the Miami War Chief Little Turtle on their way from Detroit to Vincennes. Described in Red Coats through Fort Wayne by Tom Castaldi published March 1, 2016 in History Center Notes & Queries blog.
1778, November 2
On this date in 1778, a young girl named Frances Slocum, is taken from her Quaker family in Pennsylvania by a Delaware...
On this date in 1778, a young girl named Frances Slocum, is taken from her Quaker family in Pennsylvania by a Delaware Tribesmen She would end up being adopted by a childless couple of the Miami Tribe and given the name Maconaquah. She eventually married Shepoconah who was a Miami Chief for awhile, and lived near Peru Indiana along the Mississinewa River in a settlement know as Deaf Man's Village. They would have four children together, two sons who died at young ages and 2 daughters who lived to adulthood. Eventually Maconaquah's Quaker family would find her in 1838 in Peru, but she chose to stay with her Miami family. She passed away March 9, 1847 and is today buried along with Shepoconah in the Francis Slocum Cemetery which is owed by our the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana.
Did you know that one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War was fought in Indiana?
George Rogers Clark was a fearless and aggressive frontiersman who helped win the Revolutionary War. Learning that the British retook Fort Sackville in Vincennes, George Rogers Clark and 170 Americans and French settlers headed east for Vincennes 280 miles away.
The march normally took eight days but it took Clark and his men 18 due to bad weather. They were often forced to wade through freezing flood water, sometimes up to their necks. It was only Clark's leadership and good humor that kept them going. Veterans of the march fondly recalled a story Clark told about a drummer boy who used his drum as a flotation device for most of the trip.
On February 23, 1779, Clark and his men finally reached Vincennes. The next day Clark revealed his ingenious plan to capture the fort. Despite the anticipated challenges of his overland march, Clark had ordered his men to bring battle flags sufficient for a force of 500.
Due to a steep incline, British observers in Fort Sackville could not see Clark's men fully on the bank of the river. But they could clearly see the tops of the unfurled flags as they were marched back and forth to fool them. That coupled with the uncanny accuracy and rate of fire of Clark's Kentucky riflemen convinced Lt. Gov. Henry Hamilton to surrender thinking he was outnumbered. Clark had won without the loss of a single man.
This became the first major American victory in the West during the Revolutionary War. Because of Clark, American included what is today the Midwest instead of just theEast Coast. The victory would help George Washington convince France theAmericans could win the war ensuring French support for the fledglingRepublic when it was needed most. Clark's victory also helped theAmericans win major agreements from the British in the Treaty of 1783.Because of this, Clark eventually became known as "the father of the Northwest Territory".
In 1784, five years after his triumph at Vincennes, Clark founded the city of Clarksville, Indiana where land for the town had been granted to Clark and some of his men as a reward for their bravery.
February 25 is George Rogers Clark Day! On this day in 1779, British Lieutenant General of Detroit Henry Hamilton surrendered Fort Sackville at Vincennes to George Rogers Clark. The surrender came after an 18 day trek by Clark and his men from Kaskaskia (in present-day Illinois). Learn more about George Rogers Clark's journey to Vincennes and more here: George Rogers Clark.
It’s George Rogers Clark Day! Each year on February 25, Indiana commemorates the 1779 defeat of British troops at Fort Sackville by American Colonel George Rogers Clark and his forces, both American military and French supporters. According to the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park: “As a result of Clark's brilliant military activities, the British ceded to the United States a vast area of land west of the Appalachian Mountains,” including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. Of course, Clark’s achievements also came at the expense of indigenous peoples in the region, some who were allied with the British, but others uninvolved in the conflict. The Shawnee and Piankeshaw were particularly impacted. Clark’s is a complicated legacy, so why not unpack it for yourself. IHB has collected and made accessible many relevant primary sources, including Clark’s memoir. We also have teacher resources and a podcast episode that attempts to show a modern audience the significance of the fall of Fort Sackville by imagining . . . what if events had unfolded differently? Find these and more on the IHB website: George Rogers Clark
Frederick C. Yohn, Fall of Fort Sackville painting courtesy of the Indiana Historical Bureau, The Fall of Fort Sackville
On this day in 1779, British commander Henry Hamilton surrendered Fort Sackville to George Rogers Clark. This marked the decline of British control and was an important step in securing the Northwest Territory for the United States. Pictured below is the commemoration of the event’s sesquicentennial, 150th anniversary.
Notice the big Purdue University drum in this 1929 photo!
July 4th