1750 - Detroit Population: First census by French authorities. 450 Free citizens 33 Enslaved people. (There was no distinction made between enslaved Africans and enslaved Indians).

1757 Jean DeBaptiste Pointe Du Sable, a free Black fur trapper of Haitian origin, arrives in the Detroit area, attracted by the rich beaver pelts. In 1779, he established the trading post which grows into the city of Chicago.

 

1760

 

1775 April 19 - Battles of Lexington and Concord begin the American Revolutionary War

 

November - Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia,offers freedom from slavery and indenture for any who servant will leave his master and fight to put down rebellion by the American colonies.

 

1776 January - The Continental Congress, in response to the Dunmore proclamation, revises its ban on African Americans in the Continental Army and allows them to join the forces of the American colonies.

 

July 4 The Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.

 

March 17 British forces and loyalists to the crown evacuate Boston,Massachusetts.

 

1787 July 13 - The Northwest Ordinance prohibits the extension of slavery to the Northwest Territories (roughly the Ohio and Mississippi River basin and the Great Lakes region). No new slaves may be imported to the Northwest Territories, but the status of existing bondsmen is unchanged. This is the first anti-slavery legislation in North America.

1783 September 3 - The Treaty of Paris formally ends the American Revolution.

1785 Congress adopts the Land Ordinance, which dictates how the parcels of land in the Northwest Territories shall be surveyed, parceled and sold according to the "New England Township system."

 

1789 March 4 - The United States Constitution takes affect in the thirteen states.

April - The first session of the United States Congress meets.

April - George Washington, Virginia planter and former General and Commander-in Chief of the Continental Army, is inaugurated as the first President of the United States.

 

 

1791 September - The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, called the Bill of Rights, are adopted.

1792 November - George Washington is re-elected President.

1793 The United States enacts its first Fugitive Slave Act authorizing state officials to cooperate in the extradition of criminal fugitives who are escaping justice and refugees who are escaping enslavement.

Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) bans the importation of new enslaved Africans. This sets the groundwork for Canada to become a refuge from U.S. slavery after total Canadian abolition in 1814.

1796 November - John Adams is elected President. He is the only one of the "founding fathers" who never owned any enslaved Africans.