1788 in the United States

Events from the year 1788 in the United States.

Federal government

 * President: Cyrus Griffin (starting January 29)
 * Congress of the Confederation

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" ! Governors and lieutenant governors

Governors

 * Governor of Connecticut: Samuel Huntington (Federalist) (starting January 9)
 * Governor of Delaware: Thomas Collins (no political party)
 * Governor of Georgia: George Mathews (no political party) (January 2-January 26), George Handley (no political party) (starting January 26)
 * Governor of Maryland: William Smallwood (no political party) (April 28-November 24), John E. Howard (starting November 24)
 * Governor of Massachusetts: John Hancock (no political party) (starting February 6)
 * Governor of New Hampshire: John Langdon (Democratic-Republican) (starting June 21)
 * Governor of New Jersey: William Livingston (Federalist)
 * Governor of New York: George Clinton (Democratic-Republican) (starting July 26)
 * Governor of Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin (Independent) (until November 5), Thomas Mifflin (no political party) (starting November 5)
 * Governor of South Carolina: Thomas Pinckney (Federalist) (starting May 23)
 * Governor of Virginia: Edmund Randolph (no political party) (June 25-December 1), Beverley Randolph (no political party) (starting December 1)

Lieutenant governors

 * Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Oliver Wolcott (Federalist) (starting January 9)
 * Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Benjamin Lincoln (Federalist) (starting February 6)
 * Lieutenant Governor of New York: Pierre Van Cortlandt (political party unknown) (starting July 26)
 * Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Thomas Gadsden (Federalist) (starting May 23)
 * }

Events

 * January 2 – Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 4th U.S. state under the new government (see History of Georgia).
 * January 9 – Connecticut ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 5th U.S. state (see History of Connecticut).
 * January 22 – the Continental Congress, effectively a caretaker government, elects Cyrus Griffin as its last president.
 * February 1 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent the steamboat in Georgia.
 * February 6 – Massachusetts ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 6th U.S. state (see History of Massachusetts).
 * March 21 – Great New Orleans Fire (1788) kills 25% of the population and destroys 856 buildings, including St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, leaving most of the town in ruins. At the time New Orleans was a Spanish colony that would be secretly given to France in 1800. Not until 1803 would New Orleans as part of the Louisiana Purchase become part of the United States.
 * April 7 – American pioneers establish the town of Marietta (in modern-day Ohio), the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies.
 * April 13 – A riot, the Doctors' Mob, begins. Residents of Manhattan are angry about grave robbers stealing bodies for doctors to dissect. The rioting is suppressed on the 15th.
 * April 28 – Maryland ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 7th U.S. state (see History of Maryland).
 * May 23 – South Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 8th U.S. state (see History of South Carolina).
 * June 21 – New Hampshire ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 9th U.S. state (see History of New Hampshire), the Constitution goes into effect.
 * June 25 – Virginia ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 10th U.S. state under the new government (see History of Virginia).
 * July 26 – New York ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 11th U.S. state (see History of New York).
 * November 15 – Cyrus Griffin resigns as President of the Continental Congress after only two delegates arrived for the final session.

Ongoing

 * Articles of Confederation in effect (1781–1788)
 * Northwest Indian War (1785–1795)

Births

 * April 14 – David Gouverneur Burnet, politician (died 1870)
 * September 15 – Gerard Brandon, 4th and 6th Governor of Mississippi from 1825 till 1826 and from 1826 till 1832. (died 1850)
 * September 21 – Margaret Taylor, First Lady of the United States (died 1852)
 * November 8 – Jabez W. Huntington, United States Senator from Connecticut from 1840 till 1847. (died 1847)
 * Date unknown – Sacagawea, interpreter and guide on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (died 1812)

Deaths

 * January 9 – Benedict Swingate Calvert, judge (born 1722)
 * February 28 – Thomas Cushing, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (born 1725)
 * March 29 – Charles Wesley (born 1707)