1776 - Congress formally endorses the Declaration of Independence. Copies of the document are then prepared and sent to all of the colonies. On 9 July, the provincial congress of New York will vote to endorse the document.
1778 - George Rogers Clark captures the British garrison at Kaskaskia, at the junction of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia rivers.
1789 - In order to raise revenue, Congress passes the first Tariff Act. To become effective August 1, the bill sets a protective tax of 8.5 percent on some 30 enumerated items. Imports arriving on American ships are to be taxed at a rate 10 percent lower than those coming in on foreign ships.
1791 - The newly-organized Bank of the United States begins a subscription drive to raise capital.
1802 - The new United States Military Academy officially opens at West Point, New York.
1825 - Construction is recommenced on the Cumberland Road in order to extend it westward from Wheeling, West Virginia, through Ohio. From Wheeling onward, the route will be named the National Road.
1826 - On the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, founding fathers and former presidents Thomas Jefferson, 83, and John Adams, 91, die. Jefferson dies first at Monticello in Virginia, after having queried during the night, "Is it the Fourth?" John Adams dies some four and one-half hours later in Quincy, Massachusetts, murmuring, "Thomas Jefferson still survives." This event symbolizes to many God's devine approval of the United States.
1828 - Ground-breaking ceremonies are held for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with the assistance of Charles Carroll, the only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
On the same day, President Adams inaugurates the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
1831 - William C. Rives, the United States minister to France, concludes a treaty in Paris to settle spoliation claims from the Nepoleonic Wars, pending since 1815. Previous attempts to settle the claims for depredations on American commerce during the wars were halted by French counterclaims of violations of commercial agreements in the Louisiana Treaty. America will pay $300,000; France will pay $5 million.
1834 - An anti-slavery society meeting at the Chatham Street Chaple in New York is disrupted by a pro-slavery mob. The mob is angry because blacks and whites are sitting together in the audience. Rioting continues for eight days until July 12 with many churches and houses destroyed in the melee.
1840 - With a signature from President Van Buren, the Independent Treasury Act becomes law. It allows the government exclusive responsibility over its own funds and provides for government depositories to hold funds. According to the act, all government transactions will be made in specie payments after June 30, 1843. Subtreasuries for deposits are established in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Charleston, St. Louis and New Orleans.
1848 - Building begins on the Washington Monument with the laying of a cornerstone.
1856 - Federal troops from Fort Levenworth Kansas, disperse the Free-state legislature in Topeka.
1863 - Lee's defeated army begins its retreat to Virginia.
The siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ends with Grant coolly demanding "immediate and unconditional surrender" and gets it (thus acquiring the occasional nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant). Over 29,000 Rebel troops surrender with the city, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederacy north to south.
1864 - Congress passes the Immigration Act, permitting immigration of contract labor. Lincoln pocket-vetos the Wade-Davis Reconstruction bill, a Radical Republican measure that would place reconstruction in the hands of Congress.
1868 - The Democratic Convention meets in New York City to nominate Horatio Seymour from New York for President and the equally unprepossessing Francis P. Blair for Vice-President.
1874 - A steel arch bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis is completed. It is built by James Buchanan Eads and is the first to span the great river. It takes seven years to complete and is the inspiration for further such construction. 1881 - Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute is founded by black leader Booker T. Washington in Alabama. Tuskegee is the base from which Washington rises to national prominence. He is a new kind of leader, non-revolutionary, anxious to better his people but without violence or conflict. At Tuskegee Institute he advocates an education limited to vocational skills. Whites respect Washington because he seems to express their racial predisposition. Many blacks follow him, hoping he will help them to a toehold on American society, no matter how tenuous. Others believe he betrays his race into third-class citizenship. Washington becomes the center of black controversy. Wahsington's simple, but effective, leadership counsels slow but steady progress and slow but sure acceptance within the American structure. Only in the 1880s is the South beginning to abandon its dependence on cotton and starting to diversify into fruits, vegetables, timber, coal and steel. Tentative moves have been made to invite northern capital into southern territory to help develop its industrial potential. Soon Brimingham will rival Pittsburgh as a steel center. Booker T. Washington methodically helps to prepare blacks for a place in the industrial sun.
1896 - The Socialist Labor Party convenes in New York City. Charles H. Matchett of New York is nominated for president and Matthew Maguire of New Jersey is nominated for vice-president.
1898 - Troops on their way to the Philippines raise the U.S. flag over Wake Island which is vacant at the time.
1900 - The Democratic National Convention meets in Kansas City to nominate William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska for president and Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois for vice-president. The platform condemns imperialism and the Gold Standard Act of March 14. Although many smaller reform parties are active during this election, nonetheless the main fight is between the "Full Dinner Pail" of the Republicans and the personality of the Democrats' charismatic, but overly fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan. Bryan has had a long run on the silver question, but prosperity and enough gold has made this issue virtually irrelevant. Bryan will turn his attention onto the "trusts" and capture a faithful following, but the energetic Roosevelt is more than his match. Roosevelt is already attacking the "trusts" with booming sincerity. "I am as strong as a bull moose," he exclaims enthusastically. Bryan campaigns in 24 States and makes over 600 speeches pulling around him the Populists, the agratians, and organized labor.
1904 - The Populist Party convenes in Springfield, Illinois, to nominate Thomas E. Watson of Georgia for president and Thomas H. Tibbles of Nebraska for vice-president.
1908 - The Socialist Labor Party holds its National Convention in New York City and nominates Martin R. Preston of Nevada for president. Preston is serving a jail sentence for murder, and is in any case ineligible because of his youth. The Party will have to pick another candidate: August Gilhaus of New York. Nominated for the vice-presidency is Donald L. Munro.
1917 - The first training feild for military airmen is openedat Rantoul, Illinois. Ten days later the House appropriates $640,000,000 for the military aviation program. The army will begin the war with 55 planes and 4500 aviators. By war's end there will be some 16,801 aircraft in service.
1924 - The National Convention of the Conference for Progressive Political Action meets in Cleveland, Ohio, to nominate Robert La Follette, Senator from Wisconsin, for president. Burton K. Wheeler, Senator from Montana, will be nominated for vice-president.
1942 - The first U.S. pilots participate with the Royal Air Force in a bombing raid on German targets on the Continent.
1946 - Choosing Independence Day for its symbolism, President Truman proclaims the establishment of the Republic of the Philippines.
1976 - The U.S. officially observes its 200th birthday with parades, fireworks and festivals. During the day President Ford travels to Philadelphia and then New York City.
1986 - President Reagan, French President Francois Mitterrand and millions of other Americans celebrate the 100th birthday of the Statue of Liberty.