These Timelines are a detailed look at the time and the influence of Cycles. Significant events of the decade are analyzed through Twelve categories that serve as a kaleidoscopic lens through time, (see the clickable links above), as well as the position of Cycles at the time, (see the clickable folder links in the upper left corner). You can read and link up and down vertically through this Timeline, or, you can go any Category and link horizontally to the same Category in other Timelines (links are provided at the head of each Category). This cross linking is designed to provide a fast and easy way to make reading fun and interesting.
See the go to Overview here link near the top for a brief look at Cycles for this decade.
See the Matrix links above left for navigating through all Overviews and Timelines by Time, Subject, or Cycle as described in Introduction to Part II).
The overall energy level of the 1790's decade was mid-level. The Physical Cycle had recently gone through its first Downward Crossover in 1789 to enter a period 3rd Quarter Review until its first trough in 1796 began a progressive shift with 4th Quarter Alternatives for the rest of the decade. The Emotional Cycle High in 2nd Expansion until its first Downward Crossover in 1793 precipitated crisis that ushered in its 3rd Quarter of Reforms. The Intellectual Cycle was also High in the 2nd Quarter until its first Downward Crossover in 1797 brought it into a 3rd Quarter before the end of the decade. During this time the nation went from expanding on its founding precedents to its first era of real reform.
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Congress maintained establishment and development of the armed forces as it set up the 1000-man U.S. Army in 1790 with one regiment of 8 infantry companies and passed the national conscription act to require "each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the republic" to serve in the militia. But now that the Revolutionary War was over energies could turn more inward in the Physical Low and Washington declared U.S. neutrality between the British and French War on April 22, 1793 having no reason to intervene. The Naturalization Act of 1795 made five-year residence a requirement for citizenship and members of the nobility were required to give up titles when entering the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of the Department of the Navy as independent of the War Department in May of 1794, the Neutrality Act forbade U.S. citizens from serving in or supplying foreign militias and when Congress created the Marine Corps in July of 1798 our armed forces were fully established.
Vermont became the 14th state in 1791, Kentucky became the 15th in 1792 and in 1796 Tennessee became the 16th. Congress established the Mississippi Territory in 1798 where fighting continued with Indians and the Spanish who controlled the Gulf ports.
In Washington, the cornerstone was laid for the President's Palace in 1792 which later became known as the White House. The cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol was laid in 1793. Also in 1793 work began on the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts and on the Santa Fe Canal in South Carolina. George Washington and John Adams were reelected President and vice-President in 1793, then Federalist John Adams was elected president in 1796 with Thomas Jefferson (a Democratic-Republican) as vice-President.
Fighting continued as Indians armed by the British attacked settlements in the Northwest Territory and defeated U.S. forces near the Wabash River in Ohio. The U.S. army under General Wayne defeated Indians at Fallen Timbers in northwest Ohio in 1794 and Indian resistance in the Northwest Territory was broken. Wayne signed the Treaty of Greenville with the chiefs of twelve Indian tribes in 1795 in which Indians ceded lands in the Northwest Territory to European settlers. Jay's Treaty between the United States and Britain for "amity, commerce and navigation" concluded in 1794 and the British promised to evacuate Great Lakes posts, but British interference with neutral U.S. ships continued. The U.S. Militia put down Whiskey Rebellion in on August, 1794 in western Pennsylvania against farmer who protested the tax that was put on the whiskey they made from their grain in 1791 when Congress passed the first internal revenue law.
| 1. Political 1790s |
Physical Cycle |
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Physical Low |
(1789 - 1803) |
The Pennsylvania Legislature Abolished Capital Punishment for all offenses except murder in its revision of the state criminal code on April 24, 1794. Enforcement rises and falls with the 28-year Physical Cycle. Virginia reflected the social trend away from capital punishment by reforming its criminal code in 1796 to reduce the number crimes for which capital punishment was decreed.
Congress Passed the Neutrality Act on June 4, 1794 which reinforced President Washington's neutrality proclamation by forbidding American citizens from joining the military service of foreign powers and banning the provisions and fitting of armed vessels from foreign power in American ports
President Adams Avoided War with France by reopening negotiations in 1799. This countered the view of pro-war Federalists led by Hamilton who opposed the president's friendly policies but found themselves unable to steer the nation toward fighting.
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Physical 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1789 - 1796) |
Tax Met with Reform just after its creation. The first internal revenue law was passed by Congress on March 3, 1793 as fourteen revenue districts were created and a tax of 20 to 30 cents a gallon was levied on distilled spirits. Shortly thereafter the legislatures of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland passed resolutions of disapproval in this first Physical 3rd Quarter Reform.
The First American Historical Association, the Massachusetts Historical Society,, was founded by Boston clergyman, Jeremy Belknap in 1791 to collect and preserve significant document of American history and the new nation looks back in its earliest Physical 3rd Quarter Review.
Virginia's Opposition to Slavery was led by statesman George Mason in 1792 who termed slavery as a disgrace to mankind and comparable to slow poison corrupting future politicians.
Kentucky Reflected Some Reform, but not in all areas when it became the fifteenth state to enter the union with a state constitution that provided for male suffrage, slavery and a bill of rights.
An Official Inquiry into the Condition of the Treasury came on January 23, 1793 after repeated but unsubstantiated charges of corruption and mismanagement against Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, on his conduct. Hamilton defended his actions in two reports that he presented the House on February 4 and 13, and the subsequent call to censure Hamilton on February 28 did not pass the House. Washington's administration met with discontent toward its fiscal policies that was magnified by a Crisis in Real Estate and Stock Speculation as some claimed that Congress was dominated with
moneyed interests. The demand of critics that America return to "genuine republicanism" reflected the lessened materialism that always accompanies a Physical Low.
The Whiskey Rebellion broke out in the Mongahelia Valley of western Pennsylvania in July of 1794 as farmers opposed the federal excise tax that was passed on liquor in 1791. They burned tax collector's houses and tarred and feathered revenue officers. President Washington led a militia of several thousand men from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and issued a proclamation that ordered all insurgents to go home. Trouble ended by mid-November. Two men were convicted of treason but Washington pardoned them in the Physical Low.
The Yazoo River Territory Scandal resulted on January 7, 1795 as a corrupt Georgia legislature sold 35 million acres of Yazoo River territory (including most of Alabama and Mississippi) to four land speculation companies for a small sum. The new Georgia legislature, elected the following year, invalidated all sales, but confusion over claims resulted in a Congressional investigation and a Supreme Court ruling in 1810 that Georgia could not revoke its original act.
Robert Randall was Charged with Trying to Coerce Members of the House of Representatives on behalf of Great Lakes fur traders in 1796. The House concluded that any such attempts to influence House members for private gain rather than the public good are to be regarded as contempt. The Physical 3rd Quarter of Reform was in full swing.
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Intellectual 4th Qtr. Expansion |
(1796 - 1803) |
Washington's "Farewell Address" in 1796 warned the United States against involvement in foreign affairs as the nation was in its Physical Low. He also refused the Presidency for a third term as the Low Cycle was in its 4th Quarter of Alternatives that brings a break with the past and a period of entropy.
| 1. Political 1790s |
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Emotional Downward Crossover |
(March 21, 1793 - March 21, 1794) |
Thomas Jefferson Resigned as Secretary of State on July 31, 1793, which became effective on December 31. He was succeeded by Edmund Randolph on January 2, 1794 and Washington relied more Alexander Hamilton for advice on foreign affairs. Jefferson became the first leader of the anti-federalist Democratic-Republican Party.
A Slave Rebellion in Albany, New York broke out on November 25, 1793 and rebelling slaves set a series of devastating fires in the city.
Albert Gallatin was Barred From his Elected Seat in the U.S. Senate on February 28, 1794 on a residence technicality put forth by Federalists who opposed the Swiss-born Pennsylvanian on his stand against the whisky tax. Gallatin was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives in 1795, he founded the Democratic-Republican party and became President Jefferson's Secretary of the Treasury in 1801.
| 1. Political 1790s |
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Intellectual 2nd Qtr. Expansion |
(1786 - 1797) |
The Government Split off into Two Parties in May and June of 1791 as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison conducted a tour of New York and New England to organize Anti-federalist groups against Washington's Federalist administration. Jefferson and Madison forces would later form the Democratic-Republican (later known as the Republican) party, and the Washington administration formed as the Federalist party. This split spun off of the feud between Jefferson and Hamilton in which Jefferson favored and agrarian based, democratic, individual freeholder society against the a strong centralized government, Hamilton favored diversified industrial growth governed by a central core of in government.
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Intellectual Downward Crossover |
(March 21, 1797 - March 21, 1798) |
The XYZ Affair resulted as France interfered with U.S. shipping and claimed that Jay's Treaty show American bias toward Britain. Three agents of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand attempt to extort money from U.S. commissioners in Paris. The commissioners, Elbridge Gerry, John Marshall and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney were set to France in 1797 by President Adams to negotiate a treaty of commerce and amity. Talleyrand refused to deal with them directly and sent three agents to meet them instead. These agents, who were referred to as X, Y, and Z in reports of the American delegation, suggested that the United States make a loan of "loan" of $250,000 to Talleyrand. Pinckney is believed to have said, "Million for defense, but not one cent for tribute." Pinckney and Marshall left Paris but Gerry was force to remain on Talleyrand's threat of a French declaration of war if he also left. This conceptual conflict precipitated an undeclared naval war between the U.S. and France from 1798 to 1800. While this conflict could have occurred at any time, in may have been exacerbated by the Intellectual crisis of crossover in American Cycles that year.
The U.S. House of Representatives Voted to Impeach Senator William Blount from Tennessee on July 8, 1797 for conspiracy to instigate war with Spain and for agitation Cherokee Indians to a attack both U.S. and Spanish possessions. The Senate expelled Blount but charges against him were dismissed on January 14, 1799.
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Intellectual 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1797 - 1808) |
Congress submitted the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to the states on March 3, 1794 to lessen federal judicial authority over the states by limiting the jurisdiction of federal courts to automatically hear cases brought against a state by the citizen of another state. This followed the case of Chisholm v. Georgia in 1793 in which the Supreme Court ruled that a citizen of one state could sue another state. The Amendment would be officially ratified on January 7, 1798 while the Intellectual Cycle was in its 3rd Quarter of Review and Reform.
| 1. Political 1790s |
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(1789 - 1797) |
The Bill of Rights is ratified by the states to become part of the U.S. Constitution. This major piece of reform of the foundation of our system reflected the Physical 3rd Qtr. Reform while expanding on the rights of individuals during the Emotional 2nd Qtr. of Expansion.
The Republican Party formed (also known as the Democratic-Republican party, not to be confused with the modern Republican party), as the pro-French Republicans opposed to the pro-British Federalists who they claim are harming farmers by favoring financial and commercial groups (classic Physical 3rd Qtr. Reform). This sentiments yields the spin-off political party during the Emotional 2nd Qtr. of Expansion.
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Physo-Emotional Low |
(1793 - 1803) |
President Washington Warned Against Involvement in Foreign Disputes in what became known as his farewell address before Congress on September 17, 1796. This paved the way for isolationist policies of the nineteenth century.
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Physo-Emotional Dbl. 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1793 - 1796) |
Congress Passed a Bill Banning Slave Trade with Foreign Nations in what was one of the earlier signs of reform against slavery on March 22, 1794.
Secretary of State Edmund Randolph Resigned from his Post under Suspicion of Corruption on August 19, 1795. Though charges were never proven, Washington suspected Randolph of having intrigued with the French to block implementation of Jay's Treaty. Randolph was succeeded by Timothy Pickering in December, 1795.
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Emo-Intellectual Dbl. 2nd Qtr. Expansion |
(1786 - 1793) |
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton split in a feud that was fueled by a series of articles that appeared in the opposing partisan journals, the "National Gazette" (Jeffersonian), and the "Gazette of the United States" (Hamiltonian). Hamilton accused Jefferson of undermining the government by opposing the both the Washington administration and the Constitution. President Washington made an unsuccessful attempt to meet with them both at Mount Vernon to resolve the dispute, but 2nd Qtr. Expansion had taken a harsh turn.
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Trirhythmic 2nd Qtr. Expansion |
(1786 - 1789) |
The Seat of the U.S. Government Moved from New York City to Philadelphia in 1790.
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Physical Low with
Intellectual 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1797 - 1802) |
Imprisonment of Debtors was Abolished by a bill enacted by Congress on June 6, 1798 to end this form of punishment. Lessening of enforcement reflected the Physical Low, recognition of human rights reflected the Emotional High, and that this change of view was enacted as liberation on financial exchange reflects the Intellectual High.
Benjamin Franklin's grandson, Franklin Bache, was arrested for violating the Sedition Act on September 12, 1798. This editor of the Philadelphia Democratic-Republican newspaper, the "Aurora," was charged with libel against President Adams. This arrest evoked a wide range against all Alien and Sedition Acts. Other editors and printers of Democratic-Republican publications that faced partisan prosecution under these acts included Thomas Callender, Matthew Lyon and Dr. Thomas Cooper. After Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1800 he pardoned all who were convicted under the Sedition Act and Congress restored all fines paid with interest. The nation chose lessened enforcement in the Physical Low and reform its own policy in the Double 3rd Qtr. of Reform.
Kentucky Determined the Alien and Sedition Acts to be Unconstitutional when its legislature adopted a set of resolutions on November 16. 1798 to protest Federal government usurpation power. Jefferson held that the Union is made of sovereign state that have the right to declare these acts unconstitutional. Kentucky also endorsed a second set of resolutions on November 22, 1799.
Virginia also Determined the Alien and Sedition Act to be Unconstitutional when resolutions composed by James Madison were adopted by the state legislature on December 24, 1798. These resolutions, like those of Kentucky, opposed the flex of power by the Federal government as practiced with these acts.
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| 2. Business & Economy 1790s |
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Invention and manufacturing continued to advance during the decade. John Stevens, a lawyer and inventor, promoted steam power as a means for transportation. His petition to the U.S. Congress led to the Patent Law of 1790 which led to the U.S. patent system. America's first successful sugar refinery was opened in New Orleans by Antonio Mendez in 1791. Alexander Hamilton described the state of American Industry in his " Report on the Subject of Manufactures." The Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) organized in Philadelphia in 1795 and was one of the earliest unions in America. A strike among Philadelphia shoemakers took place in 1799 as did the first use of the term "scab" as derogatory term for workers hired to replace strikers. Although both Eli Whitney and Simeon North were striving to make rifles with machined, interchangeable parts, the first successful implementation of methods to not occur until the 1827.
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Physical Low |
(1789 - 1803) |
Financial Reforms came as Congress adopted the financial programs of Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, in 1790 and the federal government assumed national debt and proposed the creation of the Bank of the United States. Revenue is raised by imposing import tariffs and excise taxes. Another mint was established in Philadelphia in 1792.
A Call for a Tariff System came from Alexander Hamilton who presented a report on manufacturers to Congress in 1791. This was intended to protect American industry, encourage American agriculture, and raise revenue for roads, canals, and other federal public works projects. Later, raising tariffs would often be used as a protectionist measure during industrial Lows in America.
| 2. Business & Economy 1790s |
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| 2. Business & Economy 1790s |
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Intellectual High |
(1775 - 1797) |
The Bank of the United States Opened its Main Branch in Philadelphia on December 12, 1791 then opened additional branches in the other urban centers. This bank functioned as the fiscal representative of the federal government as held the gold and silver that backed U.S. currency.
Congress passed the Coinage Act on April 2, 1792 which established the national mint in Philadelphia, mandated a decimal system of coinage and rationed the silver to gold levels in the U.S. dollar to fifteen to 1.
The New York Stock Exchange was Organized at the Merchants Coffee House by 24 brokers in New York City on May 17, 1792.
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Intellectual 2nd Qtr. Expansion |
(1786 - 1797) |
The Implementation of Interchangeable Parts in Industry proved to be one of the most significant improvement to manufacturing. Both Simeon North Eli Whitney are credited with developing this. In 1795 North began productions of scythes in a Berlin Connecticut mill.
| 2. Business & Economy 1790s |
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| 3. Science & Technology 1790s |
Physical Cycle |
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Physical High |
(1775 - 1789) |
Captain Robert Gray Completed the First Circumnavigation of the Globe by an American Vessel after setting out on the journey in the "Columbia" from Boston in 1787. He carried goods to trade for furs with Indians of the Pacific Northwest which opened a trade route between New England and the Northwest which brought wealth to Northeastern merchants. This helped the United States to lay claim to the Oregon Territory. From there he set sail to Canton China with a load of otter skins trade, then returned to Boston in 1790. (He made a second voyage to the Columbia River in 1792).
| 3. Science & Technology 1790s |
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| 3. Science & Technology 1790s |
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Intellectual High 1775 - 1797 |
(1789 - 1796) |
The Chemical Society of Philadelphia was Established as the world's first in 1792.
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Intellectual 2nd Qtr. Expansion |
(1786 - 1797) |
Robert Fulton Wrote the "Treatise on the improvement of Canal Navigation" in 1796 as we were discovering better ways to travel.
| 3. Science & Technology 1790s |
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Although the Physical Cycles was Low in the 1790s, machines and factories received design enhancements while the Intellectual Cycle was in the Second Quarter of Expansion. But in keeping with the fact that most, but not all, advancements come in context with the Cycles, Fulton invented a hand-operated submarine named the "Nautilus" in 1798.
| 4. Mechanical 1790s |
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| 4. Mechanical 1790s |
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| 4. Mechanical 1790s |
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Intellectual High |
(1775 - 1797) |
John Greenwood invented the foot-powered dental drill in 1790.
The First American Patent was awarded to Samuel Hopkins for his manufacturing process of potash.
Robert Fulton patented the first power-shovel for digging canals in 1795.
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Intellectual 2nd Qtr. Expansion |
(1786 - 1797) |
America's First Cotton Mill Improves Production with New Spindle Mill Machinery on December 21, 1790 in Pawtucket Rhode Island. After Samuel Slater observed the guarded milling secrets of Richard Arkwright in England, he returned to America and constructed similar machinery by memory to advance the industrial revolution in American. Slater segmented labor into simple tasks to the point that children four to ten years old could operated the machinery and out produce experienced adults.
Rumsey received a patents for his improved steam boiler in 1791.
Eli Whitney Invented the Cotton Gin in 1793. "Gin" is short for "engine" and this device processed cotton with such increased efficiency that the dying slave economy of the South was revived.
Thomas Jefferson invented the moldboard plow in 1793.
David Wilkinson invents the sliding rest lathe for making delicate pieces of machinery in 1794.
Charles Newgold patented the 1st cast-iron plow in 1797.
A jif for guiding tools invented by Eli Whitney was in operation in 1798.
Eliakim Spooner invented a seeding machine in 1799.
| 4. Mechanical 1790s |
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| 5. Education 1790s |
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| 5. Education 1790s |
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| 5. Education 1790s |
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Intellectual High |
(1775 - 1797) |
Textile industrialist, Samuel Slater, organized a Sunday School to teach the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic to child laborers of his factory in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1793.
Williams College, the Newly Chartered School in Massachusetts, set entrance requirements and accepted knowledge of French as a substitute for classical Greek and Latin languages.
| 5. Education 1790s |
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Physo-Emotional Dbl. 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1793 - 1796) |
Vermont Judge Nathaniel Chipman Promoted a Study of History Emphasizing Social Forces Instead of Military Events in 1795. The military emphasis rises and falls with the Physical Cycle, and social forces rise with the Emotional Cycle.
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| 6. Religion & Spirituality 1790s |
Physical Cycle |
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| 6. Religion & Spirituality 1790s |
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Emotional High |
(1775 - 1793) |
The Roman Catholic Episcopate was established in 1790 with the consecration of Reverend John Carroll who had been nominated for the position in 1788 after being appointed Superior with the power to administer confirmation in 1784 (a Peak year for the Emotional Cycle). In 1791 Carrol held the First Synod of Baltimore which was chosen by Pope Pius VI as the first Episcopal seat in America. (Although received some political discrimination until 1835).
The Russian Orthodox Church began missions in Alaska in 1792.
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Emotional Cycle - 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1793 - 1802) |
The Great Revival began on the frontier 1797 with the preaching of James McGready whose camp-meeting movement climaxed with the Cane Ridge Meeting in August of 1801. The revival brought the return of traditional religion during the 3rd Qtr. Review.
| 6. Religion & Spirituality 1790s |
Intellectual Cycle |
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| 6. Religion & Spirituality 1790s |
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Emotional 3rd Qtr. Review with
Intellectual High |
(1793 - 1797) |
Deism Gained Ground in 1794 following Thomas Paine's publication, "Age of Reason." which further such views as had been supported by Ethan Allen's "Reason the Only Oracle of Man" in 1784. These influences of rationale and reason came with the Intellectual High. Most influential on Deism the ex-Baptist preacher, Elihu Palmer, whose "Principles of Nature" attacked and orthodox tenets of Christianity to introduce new thoughts in 1797. Deists established ties with reformist, pro-Jacobin democratic societies in 1794. These turns represented the Emotional 3rd Quarter of Review and Reform.
Revival and Rationalism brought conflict in New England during this Emotional Low and Intellectual High. The revival led by the Edwardians were opposed by more traditional old covenant theologians, Timothy Dwight and Lymand Beecher as 3rd Quarter Review and Reform played out in the Emotional Cycle. Meanwhile, the revival was also opposed by the rationalists and Unitarians in the Intellectual High.
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As America was forming in its early years, Pierre-Charles L'Enfant, engineer, completed the design of Washington, D.C. in 1791. architect Charles Bulfinch designed the State House in Hartford, Connecticut in 1792, (the oldest such building still standing), Irish-American architect James Hoban designs the White House in 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone of the US Capitol building in 1793, and Bulfinch designed the Massachusetts State House in 1795. All of these designs with elaborate detail seem to have been enhanced by our first Intellectual High.
Despite the Physical Low of this decade, Timothy Palmer built the Essex Merrimac Bridge in Massachusetts in 1792 and America's first suspension bridge was built across Jacob's Creek in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania by James Finley in 1796. Gracie Mansion which is now the official residence of the New York City mayor was constructed in Manhattan in 1799.
| 7. Arts & Design 1790s |
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| 7. Arts & Design 1790s |
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| 7. Arts & Design 1790s |
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Intellectual High |
(1775 - 17967) |
The American Academy of Fine Arts Held its First Exhibition in Philadelphia's Philosophical Hall in 1795
The San Xavier del Bac Church was Completed in Arizona is completed in 1797 and it represented the height of Spanish-Mexican baroque style in the United States.
C.W. Peale painted "The Staircase Group," trompe d'oeil, a style of photographically realistic painting in 1795.
| 7. Arts & Design 1790s |
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Following American independence, more than seventy periodicals appeared before 1800, most did not last long. Among them were "Columbian Magazine" (1786 - 1792), "Massachusetts Magazine" (1786 - 1796) and "New York Magazine" (1790 - 1797). "Monthly Magazine and American Review." was established in Philadelphia and appeared in April of 1799 by Charles Brockden who was America's first professional novelist, and in 1801 it became a quarterly under the name "American Review and Literary Journal;" which lasted until the end of 1802. Brown also edited "Literary Magazine and American Register" which was founded in Philadelphia in 1803 until and lasted until 1807. Most magazines contained a mix of educational, literary, and scientific works.
Winthrop published his diary in two volumes in 1790. Noah Webster was instrumental in the Copyright Act passed in 1790 and he founded the pro-Federalist newspaper "The American Minerva" in 1793. The "Farmer's Almanac" was founded by Robert B. Thomas in 1792. "The Pocket Hymn Book" appeared in 1797 was used at revivalist camp meetings and it contained words but no music. Charlesa Brockden Brown who has been dubbed the "Father of the American Novel" published "Wieland," which dealt with mystery, terror, and crime in 1798 and he published "Alcium," which is considered the first feminist novel. C.B.Brown pubs two novels in 1799, "Ormond" describes a woman who saves her own life by virtue of her personal resources, and "Edgar Huntly," the first mystery novel in an Am setting, and it introduces the Indian as a character.
| 8. Literature & Publication 1790s |
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| 8. Literature & Publication 1790s |
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Emotional High |
(1775 - 1793) |
Mathew Carey published the first Roman Catholic Bible in the US in 1790
Scientific and Travel Accounts focused on beauty. Scientists traveled the New World widely to learn of the new and unique flora and fauna, then wrote of their accounts. Though they were scientists, they glorified the beauty of American scenery and were carried the spirit of the Romantic Movement. William Batram (son of John Bartam who wrote of his trips to Lake Ontario and Florida), wrote "Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, The Extensive Territories of the Masogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws" in 1791. Bartam presented a vision of "natural man." His description of the land was enthusiastic and influential on other writers like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
| 8. Literature & Publication 1790s |
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Intellectual High |
(1775 - 1797) |
Printing Began on Dobson's Encyclopaedia in 1790. It was a magnificent 18-volume American edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Special types were created for the task, and many fine engravings pared of fine workmanship were made in PA paper. Printing required seven years, the cost of the venture being covered by subscription. When completed, the encyclopedia was hailed as the greatest achievement of the press in America up to that time.
Benjamin Waterhouse, R.I. physician, publishes "The Rise, Progress and Present State of Medicine."
Thomas Cooper published "Some Information Respecting America," on the state of Science in 1794.
| 8. Literature & Publication 1790s |
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Physical 3rd Qtr. Review with
Intellectual High |
(1789 - 1793) |
Pro-monarchy, Anti-Democratic Writings Proved Unpopular in a time that shaped by Physical 3rd Quarter reforms and the liberation of an Emotional High. When John Adams released " Discourses of Davila" in 1791 to support a conservative ideal of classical utopian society to be ruled by the rich and powerful elite political body with an aristocratic monarchist social philosophy that defend against its fear of a democratic majority, it was met with great unpopularity among the general public. Adams found his eight years as vice president were surrounded by some resentment and mistrust of his views. Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, published his "Publicola" papers in 1791 in Boston that opposed democratic principles espoused by Thomas Paine, but is was the work of Paine that became eminently popular.
"The Rights of Man" was issued as political pamphlet by Thomas Paine who release the first part in January of 1792 to harshly attack the monarchy and support democracy. Paine had released the first part to in 1791 to argue that power should lie in the will of a democratic majority.
Barlow Defended Human Rights Over Property Rights when he wrote "Advice to the Privileged Orders" in 1792.
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Physo-Emotional Dbl. 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1793 - 1796) |
Itinerant Quaker minister John Woolman Called for Social Reforms when he published his humanitarian essay, "A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich" in 1793 which called for sweeping social reforms and the abolition of slavery.
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Emo-Intellectul High |
(1775 - 1793) |
"American Poems" Drew mostly from the works of the "Connecticut Wits" for its
selections in this early anthology published by Elihu Hubbard in Litchfield Connecticut in 1793. This Wits formed to celebrate American literary independence and included works by Joel Barlow, Timothy Dwight, Lemuel Hopkins and John Trumbull.
The first complete works of Shakespeare were published in America in 1796.
Joel Barlow Wrote a Humorous Epic Poem titled "The Hasty Pudding," in 1796, which became his best known work.
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(1793 - 1797) |
Paine published the first part of "The Age of Reason," in 1794 and it became popular with all who resented religious and political tyranny.
America's First Medical Magazine, "The Medical Repository," was published by Mitchill in 1797.
James Woodhouse published "The Young Chemist's Pocket Companion in 1797.
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Music saw advances during this decade. Joseph Hopkinson wrote the patriotic song "Hail Columbia" in 1798,
"The Columbian Songster and Free Mason's Pocket Companion" appeared in Boston in 1798 as one of the first collections of secular music, the Haymarket Theater that opened in 1796 was the largest building in Boston.
| 9. Entertainment 1790s |
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| 9. Entertainment 1790s |
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Emotional High |
(1789 - 179e) |
The New Exhibition Room opened in Boston in 1792 where plays were presented under the guise of "moral lectures."
| Entertainment 1790s |
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(1775 - 1797) |
Opera Advanced in 1790's. "The Death Song of an Indian Chief," was the first orchestral score published in America appeared as an insert in the "Massachusetts Magazine." in 1791. America's first opera house, The Theatre de St. Pierre, opened in New Orleans, also in 1791. James Hewitt wrote "Tammany or the Indian Chief," one of America's first operas in 1794."The Archers; or, the Mountaineers of Switzerland," is an opera by Benjamin Carr that was produced in New York in 1796 as is considered the forerunner of the American musical play. The New Theater in Philadelphia opened with an opera by English composer Samuel Arnold in 1794.
| 9. Entertainment 1790s |
Polyrhythms |
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Billiards is played frequently in the South in 1796.
| 10. Sports 1790s |
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| 10. Sports 1790s |
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| 10. Sports 1790s |
Intellectual Cycle |
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| 10. Sports 1790s |
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Duncan Phyfe was listed as a cabinetmaker in the "New York Directory and Register" in 1794. By 1800, he had transmitted, the elegant Sheraton, Regency and French Directoire furniture styles to American furnishing.
| 11. Fashion 1790s |
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Physical 4th Qtr. Alternatives |
(1796 - 1803) |
Previous Fashions Were Abandoned in men's fashions. Powdered wigs, knee-length pantaloons with buckles, silk stockings, and low-cut shoes, were on their way out of fashion by 1800.
| 11. Fashion 1790s |
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| 12. Lifestyles 1790s |
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| 11. Fashion 1790s |
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| 12. Lifestyles 1790s |
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Boring numbers: The US population in 1790 according the first national census was almost 4 million (3,929,625); including 697,624 slaves and 59,557 free blacks. Approximately 25% of the population lived in New England, 25% in the Middle States, and 50% in the South. The largest city was Philadelphia with 42,000 inhabitants, followed in order by NY, Boston, Charleston, and Baltimore. The most populous state was Virginia, with 747,610 people. The center of US population was about equally divided between New England and the Mid-Atlantic Atlantic States, and the South. Massachusetts was the only state to report no slaves.
The first important turnpike is opened with a 62-mile road between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1791 and is the first macadam road. Congress authorized the construction of Zane's Trace, a road from Wheeling (now in West Virginia) to Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky in 1796. It became one of the main routes for by westbound settlers.
Yellow fever killed 5000 in Philadelphia in 1793, the worst epidemic in any US city up to this time, and Yellow fever epidemic kills 2086 people in New York City in 1798.
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Physical Cycle - 3rd Qtr. Review |
(1789 - 1796) |
The Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons was headed by Tenche Coxe, William Howard and Dr. Benjamin Rush in 1790. It successfully lobbied for improvement in the prison system and brought about adequate clothing, more privacy, religious instruction, separation of prisoners by type of crime and protection of prisoners from exploitive guards. The Walnut Street prison in Philadelphia introduced the Pennsylvania system of prison management that instituted a solitary confinement policy as a means to effect "moral regeneration" through "enforced meditation." Other states followed the auburn penal system where prisoners interact but day but sleep in separated cells at night. Reform of enforcement is typical during the 3rd Quarter of Review and Reform in the Physical Cycle.
The First Celebration of Columbus Day in America was held in New York City under the auspices of the Society of St. Tammany on October 12, 1792. St. Tammany was chosen as the patron saint in a spirit of ridicule because he had been an Indian savant and the ridicule was directed societies like those of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. David. Both Review of the past and Reform manifest in this manner during the Physical 3rd Quarter.
| 12. Lifestyles 1790s |
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America saw the last of its initial High that ended around the middle of the decade. With the aftermath of the Revolutionary War over, America could focus more on developing arts, literature and music, and ingenuity brought advances to milling and manufacturing. The Bank of the United States opened and the New York Stock Exchange was founded. America also saw its earliest reforms as the all three Cycles were in, or entered, the 3rd Quarter of Review and Reform during the 1790s. These transitions brought critical views of old world styles of government and internal changes to various parts of American life in early self correction that abated some corporal and capital methods of punishment and liberated human rights over oppressive government. This came as America pulled up the drawbridge for the first time to focus less on foreign affairs an more in domestic development.
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1780s