1700 - The population of the American colonies reaches
approximately 275,000 1704 - John Campbell founds the Boston News-Letter, the first
successful newspaper in America 1712 - Carolina was divided into North and South Carolina 1714 - Tea is introduced into the American colonies 1724 - The Quakers make a statement opposing slavery in the
United States 1730 - Work begins on construction of Province Hall (now
known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia 1732 - Benjamin Franklin publishes Poor Richard's Almanac 1750 - The Conestoga wagon is developed in Pennsylvania,
helping improve overland travel into the frontier 1750 - Henry Scaggs, a longhunter attracted by abundant
game, explored Cumberland area for a North Carolina land
speculation company 1753 - The Liberty Bell is placed in the Pennsylvania State
House 1765 - Nine of thirteen colonies ask for repeal of the Stamp
Act 1767 - Mason Dixon Line establishes the boundary between
Pennsylvania and Maryland 1768 - Lt. Thomas Hutchins, a British Army engineer, begins
mapping Ohio River and its tributaries, including the Cumberland
River in Sumner County area. He called the river "Shawanoe" 1770 - Boston Massacre occurs between colonists and British
regulars in Boston 1770 - Boston Tea Party - colonists dress as Indians and throw
English tea into Boston Harbor 1775 - Battle of Lexington between colonial militia and British
Army starts the American Revolution 1776 - Members of the Continental Congress sign Declaration
of Independence 1777 - Articles of Confederation are signed 1778 - Permanent settlements attempted in Sumner area when
longhunters built cabins and tilled ground near Bledsoe's
Lick. Most of group returned to Virginia but Thomas Spencer
stayed. He is said to be county's first white settler 1780 - Three parties of settlers arrived in Cumberland Valley.
Instrumental in persuading the state legislature to take the
step was Richard Henderson. He entered into an agreement
with John Donelson and James Robertson. The small colony
they planted on the Cumberland River became Nashville 1780 - Mansker's, Bledsoe's and Asher's forts built in Sumner
to try and hold off a declared war by the Indians 1782 - Peace talks begin between Britain and America 1783 - Davidson County created Including most of Middle
Tennessee 1783 - Britain recognizes American Independence 1784 - Daniel Smith settled on Drakes Creek in what is now
Hendersonville and began the first two rooms of his
Rock Castle 1786 - North Carolina's general assembly created Sumner
County from eastern part of Davidson County to provide
government to people settling outside Nashville 1787 - Captain William Bowen erected Goodlettsville's Bowen-
Campbell House, thought to be state's first brick house 1787 - Constitutional Convention meets 1788 - Constitution is ratified 1789 - The Cumberland area became a part of the Territory of
the United States southwest of the River Ohio 1790 - The New York Stock Exchange was created 1791 - At Ziegler's Station, ten people were killed and
eighteen taken prisoner by Indians. They were driven south
on a forced march to Chattanooga 1792 - Kentucky becomes the 15th state 1793 - Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin 1794 - Cumberland volunteers took part in raids that destroyed
Indian towns at Running Water and Nickajack on the Tennessee
River near the foot of Lookout Mountain 1794 - Sons of the Bledsoe brothers, Isaac and Anthony, were
killed and scalped near Castalian Springs by Indians as they
returned from school 1795 - After a 110-mile wagon road to Bledsoe's Lick near
Castalian Springs was opened across the mountains, many
families poured into area 1796 - Tennessee becomes the 16th state on June 1. Rock
Castle on Drakes Creek in Hendersonville is completed 1799 - Britain becomes the first nation to introduce a national
income tax 1800 - A stagecoach route opened between Louisville and
Nashville. The White House Inn, for which city is named,
became important stop along the way Reprinted with permission from the Gallatin News-Examiner Millennium
Edition, A Pictorial History of Sumner County, Tennessee, 1999, p. 8, 12.
See the Timeline for 1800-1900