1796

Events from the year **1796 in the United States**.

Governors
* Governor of Connecticut: Samuel Huntington (Federalist) (until January 5), Oliver Wolcott (Federalist) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Delaware: Joshua Clayton (Federalist) (until January 19), Gunning Bedford, Sr. (Federalist) (starting January 19)
* Governor of Georgia: George Mathews (Democratic-Republican) (until January 15), Jared Irwin (Democratic-Republican) (starting January 15)
* Governor of Kentucky: Issac Shelby (Democratic-Republican) (until June 7), James Garrard (Democratic-Republican) (starting June 7)
* Governor of Maryland: John Hoskins Stone (Federalist)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Samuel Adams (no political party)
* Governor of New Hampshire: John Taylor Gilman (Democratic-Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: Richard Howell (Federalist)
* Governor of New York: John Jay (Federalist)
* Governor of North Carolina: Samuel Ashe (Anti-Federalist)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Thomas Mifflin (no political party)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Arthur Fenner (Country)
* Governor of South Carolina: Arnoldus Vanderhorst (Federalist) (until December 8), Charles Pinckney (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 8)
* Governor of Tennessee: John Sevier (Democratic-Republican) (starting June 1)
* Governor of Vermont: Thomas Chittenden (no political party)
* Governor of Virginia: Robert Brooke (Democratic-Republican) (until December 1), James Wood (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 1)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Oliver Wolcott (Federalist) (until January 5), Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (Federalist) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Moses Gill (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Stephen Van Rensselaer (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Samuel J. Potter (Democratic-Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Lewis Morris (Federalist) (until December 8), Robert Anderson (Democratic-Republican) (starting December 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Jonathan Hunt (political party unknown) (until October 13), Paul Brigham (Democratic-Republican) (starting October 13)

## Events

* February 29 – Ratifications of the Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain are officially exchanged, bringing it into effect. Britain vacates the forts it has been retaining in the Great Lakes region.
* March 30 – John Sevier is inaugurated as first governor of Tennessee.
* June 1 – Tennessee admitted becomes the 16th U.S. state.
* July 11 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under the terms of the Jay Treaty.
* July 14 – The de Portolá Expedition sets out from San Diego (modern-day San Diego, California) to find the Port of Monterey (modern Monterey, California).
* July 22 – Surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company name an area in Ohio "Cleveland" after Gen. Moses Cleaveland, the superintendent of the surveying party.
* August 2 – Marc Isambard Brunel is granted citizenship of the United States; in the autumn he is appointed chief engineer of New York City.
* August 31 – John McKinly, the first President of Delaware, dies in Wilmington, Delaware.
* September 17 – U.S. President George Washington issues his *Farewell Address*, which warns against partisan politics and foreign entanglements.
* November 2 – John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson in the U.S. presidential election.
* November 4 – The Treaty of Tripoli (between the United States and Tripoli) is signed at Tripoli (see also 1797).
* November 10 – The de Portolá Expedition returns from its terminus point (modern-day Menlo Park, California) to San Diego after failing to find Vizcaíno's Port of Monterey (modern Monterey, California).
* December 7 – The U.S. Electoral College meets to elect John Adams president.

## Memoriam

* January 5 – Samuel Huntington, 7th President of the Continental Congress, signatory of the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation (aged 64; Norwich, CT, USA)
* June 11 – Nathaniel Gorham, President of the Continental Congress, signatory of the United States Constitution (aged 58; Charlestown, MA, USA)
* June 21 – Richard Gridley, Revolutionary soldier (aged 76; Stoughton, MA, USA)
* June 26 – David Rittenhouse, astronomer, inventor, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman and public official (aged 64; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* June 30 – Abraham Yates, Continental Congressman (aged 71; Albany, NY, USA)
* August 31 – John McKinly, physician and 1st president of Delaware (aged 75; Wilmington, DE, USA)