1790 in the United States

Incumbents

Federal Government">Federal government of the United States">Federal Government

• President: George Washington
• Vice President: John Adams
• Chief Justice: John Jay
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Frederick Muhlenberg
• Congress: 1st

  Governors

• Governor of Connecticut: Samuel Huntington
• Governor of Delaware: Joshua Clayton
• Governor of Georgia: George Walton , Edward Telfair
• Governor of Maryland: John E. Howard
• Governor of Massachusetts: John Hancock
• Governor of New Hampshire: John Sullivan , Josiah Bartlett
• Governor of New Jersey:
• * until July 25: William Livingston
• * July 25-October 29: Elisha Lawrence
• * starting October 29: William Paterson
• Governor of New York: George Clinton
• Governor of North Carolina: Alexander Martin
• Governor of Pennsylvania: Thomas Mifflin
• Governor of Rhode Island: Arthur Fenner
• Governor of South Carolina: Charles Pinckney
• Governor of Virginia: Beverley Randolph

  Lieutenant Governors

• Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Oliver Wolcott
• Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Samuel Adams
• Lieutenant Governor of New York: Pierre Van Cortlandt
• Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Samuel J. Potter
• Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Alexander Gillon

  Events

January–March

• January 8 - President of the U.S. George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City.
• February 1 - In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.
• February 11 - Two Quaker delegates petition the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery.
• March 1 - The first United States census is authorized.
• March 21 - Thomas Jefferson reports to President George Washington in New York City as the new United States Secretary of State.

  April–June

• April 10 - The United States patent system is established.
• May 26 - Southwest Ordinance creates a Southwest Territory.
• May 29 - Rhode Island ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the last of the 13 original states to do so.
• June 20 - Compromise of 1790: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton come to an agreement: Madison agrees to not be "strenuous" in opposition for the assumption of state debts by the federal government; Hamilton agrees to support the capital site being above the Potomac.

  July–September

• July 10 - The House of Representatives votes on where to locate the national capital.
• July 16 - The signing of the Residence Act establishes a site along the Potomac River as the District of Columbia, the capital district of the United States.
• July 31 - Inventor Samuel Hopkins becomes the first to be issued a U.S. patent.
• August 2 - The first United States Census is taken.
• August 4 - A newly passed U.S. tariff act creates the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the forerunner of the Coast Guard.

  Undated

• The first United States federal budget bill is introduced by Alexander Hamilton.
• 5.1% of Americans are living in centers of 2,500 or more people.

  Ongoing

• Northwest Indian War

  Births

• January 6 - Arnold Naudain, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1830 to 1836
• January 13 - Richard Saltonstall Rogers, shipping merchant and politician
• January 17 - Powhatan Ellis, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1825 to 1826 and from 1827 to 1832
• March 29 - John Tyler, tenth President of the United States from 1841 to 1845, tenth Vice President of the United States from March to April 1841
• May 20 - Micajah Thomas Hawkins, politician
• June 1 - Chester Ashley, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1844 to 1848
• July 8 - Fitz-Greene Halleck, poet
• July 18 - John Frazee, portrait sculptor
• October 1 - Henry H. Chambers, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1825 to 1826
• November 12 - Letitia Christian Tyler, First Lady of the United States
• Unknown
• * Willis Buell, politician and portrait painter
• * James Moore Wayne, politician and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Probable - Lone Horn, Miniconjou chief

  Deaths

• January 25 - Meriwether Smith, Continental Congressman for Virginia
• January 31 - Thomas Lewis, Virginia settler
• March 4 - Henry Wisner, Continental Congressman for New York
• March 12 - William Grayson, Continental Congressman and U.S. Senator for Virginia
• April 17 - Benjamin Franklin, publisher, inventor, congressman, ambassador, abolitionist and American icon
• May 4 - Matthew Tilghman, Continental Congressman for Maryland
• May 9 - William Clingan, Continental Congressman for Pennsylvania
• May 20 - Nathan Miller, Continental Congressman for Rhode Island
• May 26 - Nathaniel Folsom, Continental Congressman for New Hampshire and Revolutionary War major general
• May 29 - Israel Putnam, Revolutionary War general
• June 1 - Theodorick Bland, Continental Congressman and U.S. Representative for Virginia
• July 25 - William Livingston, signer of the U.S. Constitution and Governor of New Jersey from 1776 to 1790
• August 16 - David Brearley, Revolutionary War colonel, signer of the U.S. Constitution for New Jersey and federal judge
• October 14 - William Hooper, signer of the Declaration of Independence
• October 19 - Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Georgia from 1783 to 1784
• November 6 - James Bowdoin, Governor of Massachusetts
• November 16 - Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Continental Congressman and signer of the U.S. Constitution for Maryland
• November 27 - Robert Livingston, member of the New York colonial assembly from 1737 to 1758
• December 16 - Benjamin Andrew, Continental Congressman for Georgia and member of the Georgia House of Representatives
• Unknown - John Hawks, architect