1803

Events from the year **1803 in the United States**.

Governors
* Governor of Connecticut: Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (Federalist)
* Governor of Delaware: David Hall ([Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Georgia: John Milledge (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Kentucky: James Garrard (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Maryland:
	+ until November 13: John Francis Mercer (Democratic-Republican)
	+ November 13-November 15: vacant
	+ starting November 15: Robert Bowie (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Caleb Strong (Federalist)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John Taylor Gilman (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: John Lambert (Democratic-Republican) (until October 29), Joseph Bloomfield (Democratic-Republican) (starting October 29)
* Governor of New York: George Clinton (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of North Carolina: James Turner (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Ohio: Edward Tiffin (Democratic-Republican) (starting March 1)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Thomas McKean (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Arthur Fenner (Country)
* Governor of South Carolina: James Burchill Richardson (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Tennessee: Archibald Roane (Democratic-Republican) (until September 23), John Sevier (Democratic-Republican) (starting September 23)
* Governor of Vermont: Isaac Tichenor (Federalist)
* Governor of Virginia: John Page (Democratic-Republican)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: John Treadwell (Federalist)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Alexander Scott Bullitt (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Edward Robbins (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Samuel J. Potter (Democratic-Republican) (until month and day unknown), Paul Mumford (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Ezekiel Pickens (Democratic-Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Paul Brigham (Democratic-Republican)

## Events

* January 30 – Monroe and Livingston sail for Paris to discuss, and possibly buy, New Orleans; they end completing the Louisiana Purchase.
* February 24 – *Marbury v. Madison*: The Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.
* March 1 – Ohio admitted becomes the 17th U.S. state, retroactive from August 7, 1953.
* April 30 – Louisiana Purchase is made by the United States from France.
* July 4 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
* October 20 – The Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, doubling the size of the United States.
* November 30 – At the Cabildo building in New Orleans, Spanish representatives Governor Manuel de Salcedo and the Marqués de Casa Calvo, officially transfer Louisiana (New Spain) to French representative Prefect Pierre Clément de Laussat. Barely three weeks later, on December 20, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Sale of Louisiana.

## Memoriam

* February 22 – Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, "Father of the American Revolution" (aged 76; France)
* May 14 – William Smith, Episcopalian priest, educator, theologian, poet and historian (aged 75; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* June 24 – Matthew Thornton, signatory of the Declaration of Independence (aged 89; Newburyport, MA, USA)
* September 13 – John Barry, first commissioned U.S. naval officer (aged 58; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* September 27 – Frances Brett Hodgkinson, actress (aged 32; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* October 2 – Samuel Adams, a Founding Father of the U.S. (aged 81; Cambridge, MA, USA)
* December 8 – William Verstille, portrait artist (aged 46; Boston, MA, USA)