1600s

The Virginia Company sends 100 colonists to Virginia, where they found Jamestown.

Plymouth Colony on Cape Cod, MA is founded by over 100 English Pilgrims.

Boston is founded by members of the Massachusetts Bay Company.

The densely packed city of Boston is almost completely destroyed by fire. The Swedes build a log house in 1677 in the general area where Gloria Dei Old Swedes currently resides along the Delaware river in Philadelphia.

England’s Charles II grants Quaker William Penn an immense tract of land that will become Pennsylvania in 1682. East New Jersey is purchased by Penn and other Quakers. Philadelphia is designed by Thomas Holme and other members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). A grid pattern is used, in a successful effort at town planning. German Mennonites found Germantown, Pennsylvania. German Quakers in Germantown declare that slavery is contrary to Christian principles. Increasing numbers of Scots and Scots-Irish to leave Scotland and Ireland for America as the religious and political climate worsens in Britain.

Gloria Dei Old Swedes is built in 1699, located at Christian St. and Columbus Blvd. in Philadelphia, the oldest church in Pennsylvania. In Salem, Massachusetts, the witchcraft trials are held and 20 women are executed.

In the British Colonies, English and Welsh settlers make up 80% of the population. Others include Africans 11% and Dutch 4%, Scots 3% and others 2%. Of the African population, 27,817 are slaves, with 22,600 in southern colonies. Francis Makemie organizes the Synod of Philadelphia, that helps to unite Presbyterians of different backgrounds.

Pennsylvania declines to allow the importation of slaves. Benjamin Franklin published Poor Richards Almanack, which becomes a best seller and continues until 1958. Almanac’s provided seasonal forecasts, household hints, puzzles and other amusements.

The American Philosophical Society is founded in Philadelphia in 1743, one of America’s first museums. Today it continues as an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation located at 104 S. 5th street.

The colonial shipbuilding industry grows and thrives; by 1760 one-third of Britain’s ships are built in the colonies. Philadelphia becomes the first city in the U.S. to have a police force in 1751. New Jersey Quakers oppose the importation and sale of slaves. The Philadelphia Quakers ban slaveholding among their members, and in doing so initiate the religious debate over slavery. Philadelphia’s population reaches 25,000, New York’s is 12,500. Benjamin Franklin performs his famous kite experiment, that demonstrates that lightening is a form of electricity. A major stagecoach operates between Philadelphia and New York City.

The first chocolate factory opens near Dorchester, MA. Chocolate is a favorite beverage of the colonists. William Shippen, Jr., begins giving anatomy lessons in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia leads Boston, NY and Charleston in overseas trade in 1772. The population for the Thirteen Colonies is 1,688,254 whites and 459,822 blacks, almost all slaves. In 1775 in Philadelphia the first antislavery organization is founded, the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery.

In 1774 the first Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia and draws up a list of grievances to give to the King of England. War erupts in 1775 after British troops in Boston head to Concord to destroy ammunitions stored there. In 1776 Thomas Jefferson drafts the Declaration of Independence, which asserts the colonies’ independence from England and defines the natural rights of Americans. The Continental Congress adopts it. In 1777 Washington falls back in Brandywine Creek, and British troops under Sir William Howe occupy Philadelphia. Washington establishes his winter camp 20 miles away in Valley Forge. Fighting in the south continues until 1783. 180-250,000 people served, with 4,435 battle deaths.

In 1787, beset by financial and diplomatic crises, Congress endorses a plan for a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. Delegates write a new Constitution instead, one that significantly strengthens the central government. This Constitution authorizes Congress to collect taxes, borrow money, coin money, establish post offices and much more. The dollar becomes the official currency by Congress. In 1789 George Washington becomes the first president, and John Adams the first vice-president. New York City is the capital of the U.S. when George Washington is inaugurated at Federal Hall. Pennsylvania passes a law providing for the gradual emancipation of slaves. Inventor John Fitch launches the first American steamboat on the Delaware River. The bald eagle is adopted by Congress as our national symbol.

Philadelphia is the largest city, New York second, as shown by the first ten-year census. Ten years later New York takes first place, a position it has not relinquished. Almost all Americans live in rural areas. In 1790 Congress meets in Philadelphia and votes to establish a new capital on the Potomac. In 1791 Congress adopts the Bill of Rights, ratified as the first ten amendments to the Constitution. In 1792 the Mint of the US in Philly begins coining silver and gold. In 1793 a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia causes the city to be evacuated and 4,000 deaths. Poor sanitary conditions and no water supplies start to change in 1798 when a new water system is designed by Benjamin Latrobe in Philadelphia, the first in the U.S. But customers have to pay for the service so it only benefits the rich. Cordwainers in Philadelphia organize an early labor union. Charles Wilson Peale, portrait painter, naturalist, and inventor, moves his gallery into the hall of the American Philosophical Society. The first U.S. Census reveals that less than half the population is English, nearly 20 percent African, 15 percent is Irish or Scottish, 7 percent German, with the remaining composed of other ethnic groups. Of the 757,208 African Americans, 697,681 are slaves. In 1798 the Navy is established. In the late 1790’s tensions with France increase to the point that the period is described as an undeclared war.

In 1800 the seat of the federal government moves from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Cotton is the top export and continues, with a few exceptions, in to the 1890’s. The first U.S. Navy yard is built on the Delaware at Federal St. Philadelphia emerges as the premier region for the design and development of wooden sailing ships and later iron-steam powered warships. The international slave trade is terminated in the United States in 1807. In 1809 the destructive Embargo Act of 1807, which has brought U.S. trade to a standstill by forbidding almost all foreign commerce, is rescinded, although both Brittan and France remain hostile toward the U.S. The Spark’s Shot Tower opens for business in 1808. Lewis & Clark begin their expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase territory and they collect scientific data requested by Thomas Jefferson. Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society is founded in 1815 and gives its first performance of Messiah.

The War of 1812 starts between the U.S. and Great Britain over trade and border disputes, the rights of neutrals, and freedom of the seas, including maritime practices. 286,000 people served in this war, with 2,260 battle deaths. In 1814 the British occupy Washington D.C. and public buildings are burned.

The first drug mill is established in Philadelphia by C.V. Hagner. The NY Stock exchange is established. In 1819 a bank panic occurs and a 6 year depression sets in. Inflation, speculation in western lands, and contraction of credit drives the panic. The third U.S. Census counts over 7.2 million Americans, including 1,377,808 African Americans, 1,191,362 are slaves.

The Irish help build the Erie Canal in New York. This takes over eight years and opens in 1825. The result was revitalized economies from NYC through Buffalo, Columbus, Chicago and Detroit. Helped by the success of Erie Canal bonds, NY surpasses Philadelphia as a commercial center. The Franklin Institute opens in 1824. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, immigration begins to rise. During the decade 150,000 immigrants enter the U.S., mostly from Ireland, Germany, England and Scandinavia. Many immigrants are escaping starvation in their native lands, others are attracted by the possibility of religious and political freedom or greater economic opportunity. Philadelphia opens its first public school for blacks in 1822. In this decade workers in Philadelphia join together to seek political redress for some of their grievances. They initiate the promotion of a ten-hour workday, which becomes a chief aim for labor for the next two decades. By 1860, though not standard, the ten-hour day is widely accepted.

The fifth U.S. Census counts 12.9 million Americans. An 1834 riot in Philadelphia destroys churches and homes. In 1835 recession turns to boom as state banks grow, the price of cotton soars and western land speculation reaches new highs. Then in 1836 English banks raise interest rates and reduce credit. This sends shock waves in the cotton market and initiates a six-year depression. Most laborers in New York are without work and cities become divided along class lines. More than ½ of all U.S. city dwellers live in four cities: New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston.

In Philadelphia, a riot by Irish Catholics targets African Americans. Clashes between native-born Americans and Irish Catholic immigrants kill 20 people. The Southwark riots of 1844, with St. Philip Neri Church at its epicenter, were the first time in Philadelphia’s history that government troops were forced to raise arms against civilians to maintain public order. Irish potato famines spark the start of large-scale Irish immigrants. Throughout the next decade about 1.5 million Irish will immigrate to the U.S. At the Seneca Falls (New York) Convention, the first public meeting in the U.S. held to advocate women’s rights, women protest that they have not been permitted to obtain an equal education. The polka, a Bohemian dance caught fire from Prague to the capitals of Europe, is a major dance craze. Waltzes have also been popular.

A short but difficult depression grips the nation as the financial markets experience their first wave of panic selling. The first oil well is drilled in Titusville, PA. Macy’s opens in NYC. The gold rush blooms and San Francisco becomes a primary supply station. The Children’s Aid Society raises awareness about the plight of homeless urban children. Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park, the largest park within a city in the U.S., is established. The New York Times produces its first issue in 1851. Walt Whitman anonymously publishes Leaves of Grass.

In 1860 the following live in a city: 1 in 10 southerners, 1 in 7 midwesterners and 1 in 3 northeasterners. In 1861 the first federal income tax of 3% is enacted, but only the rich paid this tax. In 1862 the Internal Revenue Service is established. A huge economic boom is fueled by the end of the Civil War in 1865. Manufacturing soars, with the expansion of railroads leading the way, in the U.S. Congress enacts an 8 hour day for workers on all federal projects. Republican Abraham Lincoln is elected president, and without a single electoral vote from a slave state. South Carolina secedes from the Union, and the nation is at war that does not end until 1865. 600,000-1,500,000 people served, with about 74,500 Confederate and 140,400 battle deaths. In 1865 the thirteenth amendment, abolishing slavery, is ratified.

The Coinage Act puts the U.S. on the gold standard. In 1876 the nation makes its first 100 years with the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, 10 million people attend, incredible when one considers the U.S. population was only 40 million at that time. In 1873 the failure of the banking house Jay Cooke and Company sends the nation in to a five-year depression. The New York Stock Exchange closes for ten days. 100 banks and 18,000 businesses will fall. In 1876 Scottish American A. Graham Bell patents the telephone. In 1876 the Navy outgrew its original location in the crowded Southwark waterfront district of the city and moved permanently downriver to League Island.

The Chinese Exclusion Act, in a reaction to an influx of cheap labor, denies Chinese laborers entry to the U.S for ten years and is the first major attempt to regulate the immigrant labor. There are 250,000 Jews in the U.S. Before 1924, some 2.5 million more will arrive from Eastern Europe and Russia, many settle in Eastern cities.

New York Harbor’s Ellis Island opens an immigration depot; more than 12 million immigrants will pass through it by 1924. In 1893 a panic sends the nation in to a long depression, unemployment reaches 25%.

The U.S. population is 75.9 million, including 3.6 million immigrants who have entered since 1890. Colleges number nearly 1,000, but only 3 percent of the college-age population attends them Women constitute 40% of enrollment.