October 17

Event:
1777 British General Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga. The British had planned to separate New England from the rest of the colonies by capturing the Hudson River valley. This ended the plan and was a turning point in the War for Independence.

1779 The American Army under the leadership of General George Washington opens their winter camp at Morristown, New Jersey. The winter of 1778 is one of the worst ever and Washington’s troops spend another winter with few supplies. Morale is low and there are desertions as well as attempts at mutiny.

1781 As Yorktown is about to be taken, the British send out a flag of truce. Washington and Cornwallis begin to determine the terms of surrender.

Celebrated Birth:
Jacob Broom (b. 1752 – April 25, 1810) Delaware member of the Constitutional Convention, signed the Constitution.

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October 16

Event:
1775 The City of Portland, now in the State of Maine but part of Massachusetts at the time, is burned by the British.

Celebrated Birth:
Jonathan Dayton (b. 1760 – October 9, 1824) New Jersey member of the Constitutional Convention, signed the Constitution of the United States.

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October 14

Event:
1773 East India Company tea ships’ cargo is burned at Annapolis, Maryland.

1774 Congress approves Declaration of Rights and Grievances.

1780 George Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army. Greene takes command on December 2, 1780 at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Celebrated Birth:
Francis Lightfoot Lee (b. 1734 – January 11, 1797) Virginian, member of Virginia House of Burgesses, member of Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence.

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October 7

Event:
1763 The Proclamation Line, which forbids settlement west of Appalachian Mountains to prevent clashes between the colonists and Native Americans, is established. 10,000 British troops are stationed in the colonies to enforce compliance.

1765 The Stamp Act Congress convenes in New York City to petition the King for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Nine colonies send representatives with 27 delegates.
Massachusetts – James Otis, Oliver Partridge, Timothy Ruggles;
Rhode Island – Metcalf Bowler, Henry Ward;
Connecticut – Eliphalet Dyer, David Rowland, William Samuel Johnson;
New York – Robert R. Livingston, John Cruger, Phillip Livingston, William Bayard, Leonard Lispenard;
New Jersey – Robert Odgen, Hendrick Fisher, Joseph Borden;
Pennsylvania – John Dickinson, John Morton, George Bryan;
Delaware – Thomas McKean, Caesar Rodney;
Maryland – William Murdock, Edward Tilgman, Thomas Ringgold;
South Carolina – Thomas Lynch, Chrisopher Gadsden, John Rutledge.
The Massachusetts Assembly had sent a letter to the House of Representatives or burgesses of all colonies inviting them to meet to consult. It was arranged to start on the first Monday of October. Timothy Ruggles was elected chairman beating James Otis by a single vote. It ends on October 25.

1769 British Explorer Captain James Cook discovers New Zealand.

1776 Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 The Continental Congress begins working on the Articles of Confederation. The Articles are completed on November 15, 1777

1777 American forces under Major General Horatio Gates repelled the British General John Burgoyne’s attempt to take their fortified position on the Bemis Heights in Western New York.

1780 The Battle of King’s Mountain in South Carolina. American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeated Major Patrick Ferguson and one-third of General Cornwallis’ army. After this battle Cornwallis abandons plans to invade North Carolina.

1787 The German Born Henry Muhlenberg, founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church, dies.

Celebrated Birth:
William Samuel Johnson (b. 1727 – November 14, 1819) Connecticut delegate to Stamp Congress 1765, member of the Constitutional Convention, signed the Constitution of the United States.

Caesar Rodney (b. 1728 – June 29, 1784) Delaware delegate to Stamp Congress 1765, member of Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, President of Delaware.

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October 1

Event:
1767 The New York Restraining Act is passed. The New York assembly would not comply with the Quartering Act and the Act dissolves the New York Assembly.

1768 British troops under General Thomas Gage occupy Boston.

1788 Nguyen Hue, leader of a peasant uprising known as the Tay Son Rebellion, declares himself emperor of Vietnam. Upon his death in 1792 his ten-year-old son, Nguyen Phuc Anh, follows him in succession. There will be a political and leadership vacuum until he finally establishes himself as emperor and the first of the Nguyen Dynasty that will last from 1802 – 1945.

Birth:
1781 James Lawrence, naval hero during the War of 1812 whose dying command was ‘Don’t give up the ship’.

Celebrated Birth:
Richard Stockton (b. 1730 – February 21, 1781) New Jersey member of Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence.

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September 27

Event:
1777 The Continental Congress, having been forced out of Philadelphia with the advancements of The British Army under General Howe, reconvenes in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They will later move to York.

1779 The Continental Congress appoints John Adams to negotiate with Great Britain for peace.

Celebrated Birth:
Samuel Adams (b. 1722 – October 2, 1803) – Massachusetts’s tax collector, Delegate to First Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

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September 23

Event:
1779 John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures the British man-of-war Serapis near the English coast. During the battle when the British demanded his surrender Jones responded “ I have not yet begun to fight!”.

1780 British spy John Andre arrested as a spy by American soldiers near Tarrytown, New York exposing Benedict Arnold’s treason.

Birth:
1771 Emperor Kōkaku, the 119th imperial ruler of Japan.

Celebrated Birth:
Empress Go-Sakuramachi (b. 1740 – December 24, 1813) the 117th imperial ruler of Japan and last of eight Empresses.

*****
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September 21

Event:
1776 During the night a fire breaks out in New York. Strong winds quickly spread the flames among tightly packed homes and businesses. Many residents are forced onto the streets, clutching the few possessions they could gather, and find refuge on the grassy town common. The fire rages into the daylight hours and eventually consumed between 400 and 500 buildings — about one-quarter of the city. There has never been a definite answer on how the fire started. However, even Washington speculated that Patriot arsonists might have been at work.

1780 Benedict Arnold as the commander of the Fort in West Point meets with British spy John André and gives him information that could allow the British to capture the fort. André will be caught with the information and Arnold’s treason is discovers. Arnold will not be captured, but will join the British.

Celebrated Birth:
Francis Hopkinson (b. 1737 – May 9, 1791) New Jersey Lawyer, member of Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence

John McAdam (b. 1756 – November 26, 1836) Scottish engineer and road builder. During the Revolutionary Period he worked in his uncle’s counting house in New York, but in the early 19th century he developed a process of road building that raised them above ground and constructed by layers of rocks and gravel. The system was termed macadamisation and is now known as macadam.

*****
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September 19

Events:
1777 The Continental Congress seeing that the British under General Howe could soon enter the city of Philadelphia leaves the city. They first settle in Lancaster and then later at York.

1777 The Battle of Saratoga. In North Western New York, British forces under General John Burgoyne and American forces under the command of General Horatio Gates begins. The British was trying to separate New England from the other states by capturing the Hudson Valley.

1778 The Continental Congress passes the first United States Budget.

Celebrated Birth:
Charles Carroll (b. 1739 – November 14, 1832) Maryland committee of Safety, member of the Second Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of independence, and Senator from Maryland.

*****
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September 18

Event:
1769 The first American-built piano is reported by the Boston Gazette. It is built by John Harris.

1775 The Continental Congress creates a Secret Committee. The purpose of this committee was to obtain military supplies and distribute them in secret. It included selling gunpowder to privateers that were chartered by Congress.

Celebrated Birth:
George Read (b. 1733 – September 21, 1798) Delaware member of Continental Congress, even though he felt Lee’s Resolution for Independence too hasty and voted against it, he signed the Declaration of Independence, member of the Constitutional Convention, signed the United States Constitution.

*****
For a Spiral Bound book with information on events that happened on each day of the year during the American Revolutionary Period goto: American Revolutionary Period: 1760-1789