← 1786 1785 1784 1787 in the United States → 1788 1789 1790
Decades:	1770s 1780s 1790s 1800s
See also:	History of the United States (1776–1789) Timeline of the American Revolution List of years in the United States

Events from the year1787 in the United States. TheUnited States Constitution was written and the ratification process began.

• President:Arthur St. Clair (February 2-October 29)
• Second Continental Congress

• Governor of Delaware:Thomas Collins (no political party) (starting December 7)
• Governor of New Jersey:William Livingston (Federalist) (starting December 18)
• Governor of Pennsylvania:Benjamin Franklin (Independent) (starting December 12)

• January 6 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase 100 acres (0.40 km²) of land for the county seat ofChatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened toPittsboro) forWilliam Pitt the Younger.
• February 28 – A charter is granted establishing the institution known today as theUniversity of Pittsburgh.

• May 14 – InPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, delegates begin arriving to write a newConstitution for theUnited States.
• May 25 – InPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, delegates begin to convene aConstitutional Convention intended to amend theArticles of Confederation. However, a newConstitution for theUnited States is eventually produced.George Washington presides over the Convention.
• June 6 – Franklin College, named forBenjamin Franklin, opens inLancaster, Pennsylvania. It later merges with Marshall College to becomeFranklin and Marshall College.
• June 20 –Oliver Ellsworth moves at theFederal Convention that the government be called theUnited States.

• July 13 – TheU.S. Congress enacts theNorthwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for theNorthwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states including gridded townships and limits the expansion ofslavery.
• August 27 – Launching a 45-foot (14 m) steam powered craft on the Delaware River,John Fitch demonstrates the first U.S. patent for his design.
• September 17 – TheUnited States Constitution is adopted by theConstitutional Convention inPhiladelphia.

• October 27 – The first ofThe Federalist papers, a series of essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay calling for ratification of theU.S. Constitution, is published in aNew York paper.
• December 7 –Delaware ratifies the Constitution and becomes the firstU.S. state (seeHistory of Delaware).
• December 8 –Mission La Purisima Concepcion is founded byFather Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, becoming the 11th mission in theCalifornia mission chain.
• December 12 –Pennsylvania becomes the secondU.S. state (seeHistory of Pennsylvania).
• December 18 –New Jersey becomes the thirdU.S. state (seeHistory of New Jersey).

• TheNorth Carolina General Assembly incorporatesWaynesborough and designates it the county seat forWayne County, North Carolina.

• Articles of Confederation in effect (1781–1788)
• Northwest Indian War (1785–1795)

• January 10 –Robert C. Nicholas, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1836 to 1841 (died1857)
• February 13 –James P. Carrell, minister, singing teacher, composer and songbook compiler (died1854)
• February 23 –Emma Willard, women's rights activist and educator (died1870)
• March 7 –George Bethune English, explorer and writer (died1828)
• March 28 –Theodore Frelinghuysen, running mate ofHenry Clay in 1844 (born1862)
• May 7 –Thomas Buck Reed, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1826 to 1827 and in 1829 (died1829)
• June 27 –Thomas Say, naturalist (died1834)
• July 31? –Oliver H. Prince, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1828 to 1829 (died1837)
• August 20 –John Milton Niles, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1835 to 1839 and from 1843 to 1849 (died1856)
• September 10 –John J. Crittenden, U.S. Senator from Kentucky 1817-1819, 1835-1841, 1842-1848 & 1855-1861 (died1863)
• October 18 –Robert L. Stevens, inventor and president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad (died 1856)
• November 15 –Richard Henry Dana Sr., poet, critic and lawyer (died1879)
• December 10 –Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, minister, educator, co-founder of the first permanent school for the deaf in North America (died1851)

• January 1 –Arthur Middleton, politician (born1742)
• April 3 –George William Fairfax, planter and member of the landed gentry of late colonial Virginia (born1729)
• August 27 –Charles DeWitt, planter and member of the landed gentry of late colonial Virginia (born1727)
• October 5 –Thomas Stone, planter and lawyer, signatory of U.S. Declaration of Independence (born1743)
• William Savery, cabinetmaker (born 1721 or 1722)

• Timeline of the American Revolution (1760–1789)

• Media related to1787 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons

• 1787 in the United States
• 1780s in the United States
• 1787 by country
• 1787 in North America
• Years of the 18th century in the United States

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