1808

Events from the year **1808 in the United States**.

Governors
* Governor of Connecticut: Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (Federalist)
* Governor of Delaware: Nathaniel Mitchell (Federalist) (until January 19), George Truitt (Federalist) (starting January 19)
* Governor of Georgia: Jared Irwin (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Kentucky: Christopher Greenup (Democratic-Republican) (until September 1), Charles Scott (Democratic-Republican) (starting September 1)
* Governor of Maryland: Robert Wright (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Massachusetts: James Sullivan (Democratic-Republican) (until December 10), Levi Lincoln Sr. (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 10)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John Langdon (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: Joseph Bloomfield (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of New York: Daniel D. Tompkins (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of North Carolina: Benjamin Williams (Federalist) (until December 12), David Stone (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 12)
* Governor of Ohio: Thomas Kirker (Democratic-Republican) (until December 12), Samuel Huntington (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 12)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Thomas McKean (Democratic-Republican) (until December 20), Simon Snyder (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 20)
* Governor of Rhode Island: James Fenner (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of South Carolina: Charles Pinckney (Democratic-Republican) (until December 10), John Drayton (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 10)
* Governor of Tennessee: John Sevier (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: Israel Smith (Democratic-Republican) (until October 14), Isaac Tichenor (Federalist) (starting October 14)
* Governor of Virginia: William H. Cabell (Democratic-Republican) (until December 1), John Tyler Sr. (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 1)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: John Treadwell (Federalist)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Thomas Posey (until December), Gabriel Slaughter (Democratic-Republican) (starting December)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Levi Lincoln Sr. (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: John Broome (Democratic-Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Constant Taber (political party unknown) (until month and day unknown), Simeon Martin (political party unknown) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: John Hopkins (Democratic-Republican) (until December 10), Frederick Nance (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 10)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Paul Brigham (Democratic-Republican)

## Events

* January 1 – Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (1807) comes into effect: The importation of slaves into the United States is banned; this is also the earliest day under the United States Constitution that an amendment can be made restricting slavery.
* February 6 – The ship *Topaz* (from Boston April 5, 1807, hunting seals) rediscovers the Pitcairn Islands; only one HMS *Bounty* mutineer is found alive, Alexander Smith (John Adams).
* February 11 – Anthracite coal is first burned as fuel by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; the discovery leads to the use of coal as the key fuel source of America's industrial revolution.
* April 6 – John Jacob Astor founds the American Fur Company.
* April 24 – Irish Dominican R. Luke Concanen is consecrated first bishop of the newly erected Roman Catholic Diocese of New York (appointed April 8) but is unable to sail from Italy to America before his death in 1810 due to restrictions caused by the Napoleonic Wars.
* November 4 – James Madison defeats Charles C. Pinckney in the U.S. presidential election.

## Memoriam

* February 14 – John Dickinson, Founding Father of the United States, signatory of Continental Association, Articles of Confederation, and United States Constitution (aged 75; Wilmington, DE, USA)
* May 18 – Elijah Craig, minister and inventor of bourbon whiskey (aged 69; Georgetown, KY, USA)
* September 3 – John Montgomery, delegate to the Continental Congress (aged 86; Cumberland, PA, USA)
* September 17 – Benjamin Bourne, politician (aged 53; Bristol, RI, USA)
* October 9 – John Claiborne, politician (aged 30; Brunswick County, VA, USA)
* November 1 – Lewis Hallam Jr., actor (aged 68; Philadelphia, PA, USA)