1828 in the United States

Decades:	1800s ; 1810s ; 1820s ; 1830s ; 1840s ;
See also:	History of the United States (1789–1849) ; Timeline of the history of the United States (1820-1859) ; List of years in the United States ;

Last updated November 19, 2025

Incumbents

Federal government

State governments

Governors and lieutenant governors
Governors Governor of Alabama: John Murphy (Democratic) Governor of Connecticut: Gideon Tomlinson (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Delaware: Charles Polk Jr. (Federalist) Governor of Georgia: John Forsyth (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Illinois: Ninian Edwards (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Indiana: James B. Ray (Independent) Governor of Kentucky: Joseph Desha (Democratic-Republican) (until August 26), Thomas Metcalfe (National Republican) (starting August 26) Governor of Louisiana: Henry Johnson (National Republican) (until December 15), Pierre Derbigny (National Republican) (starting December 15) Governor of Maine: Enoch Lincoln (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Maryland: Joseph Kent (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Massachusetts: Levi Lincoln Jr. (National Republican) Governor of Mississippi: Gerard Brandon (Democratic) Governor of Missouri: John Miller (Democratic) Governor of New Hampshire: Benjamin Pierce (Democratic-Republican) (until June 5), John Bell (National Republican) (starting June 5) Governor of New Jersey: Isaac Halstead Williamson (Federalist) Governor of New York: until February 11: DeWitt Clinton (Democratic-Republican) February 11-December 31: Nathaniel Pitcher (Democratic-Republican) Governor of North Carolina: James Iredell Jr. (Democratic-Republican) (until December 12), John Owen (Democratic) (starting December 12) Governor of Ohio: Allen Trimble (Federalist) Governor of Pennsylvania: John Andrew Shulze (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Rhode Island: James Fenner (Democratic-Republican) Governor of South Carolina: John Taylor (Democratic-Republican) (until December 10), Stephen Decatur Miller (Democratic) (starting December 10) Governor of Tennessee: Sam Houston (Democratic-Republican) Governor of Vermont: Ezra Butler (National Republican) (until October 10), Samuel C. Crafts (National Republican) (starting October 10) Governor of Virginia: William Branch Giles (Democratic) Lieutenant governors Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: John Samuel Peters (National Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: William Kinney (Democratic-Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: John H. Thompson (Democratic-Republican) (until December 3), Milton Stapp (Independent) (starting December 3) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Robert B. McAfee (Democratic-Republican) (until August 26), John Breathitt (Democratic) (starting August 26) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Thomas L. Winthrop (Democratic-Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: vacant (until month and day unknown), Abram M. Scott (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: vacant (until November 17), Daniel Dunklin (Democratic) (starting November 17) Lieutenant Governor of New York: until February 11: Nathaniel Pitcher (Democratic-Republican) February 11-October 17: Peter R. Livingston (Democratic-Republican) October 17-end of December 31: Charles Dayan (Democratic-Republican) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Charles Collins (political party unknown) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: James Witherspoon (Democratic-Republican) (until December 10), Thomas Williams (Democratic) (starting December 10) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Henry Olin (Democratic-Republican)

Events

December 3: Jackson defeats President John Quincy Adams ElectoralCollege1828.svg — December 3: Jackson defeats President John Quincy Adams

January 8 – Democratic Party is established.
February 19 – The Boston Society for Medical Improvement is established.
February 21 – The Cherokee Phœnix , the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States and in one of their indigenous languages (Cherokee), is first issued in New Echota.
May 19 – The Tariff of 1828 is enacted. Critics name it the 'Tariff of Abominations' because they see it as unfairly protective of northern industry to the detriment of the southern economy.
July 4 – Construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad commences with a cornerstone laid by Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
July 9 – The 1828–29 United States House of Representatives elections commence; they will increase the majority of the Jacksonian Democrats.
August 11 – The Working Men's Party is founded in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the 1st 'worker oriented' political party in the United States.
October 27 – Gold is discovered by Benjamin Parks in or near Cherokee First Nation land in Hall County - later reorganized into Lumpkin County - in, Georgia.
December 3 – U.S. presidential election: Challenger Andrew Jackson beats incumbent John Quincy Adams and is elected President of the United States.
December 19 – A document written by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun, the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, is presented to the South Carolina House of Representatives protesting the 'Tariff of Abominations'.^[1]
December 20 – The Georgia state legislature charters the Medical Academy of Georgia, which becomes the Medical College of Georgia, and authorizes it to award a Bachelor of Medicine degree, making it the 13th oldest U.S. medical school and the 6th public medical school to be established.

Undated

White comedian Thomas D. Rice introduces blackface and the song "Jump Jim Crow" to American audiences.
Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language is published.
A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus , a novel by Washington Irving, is published and popularizes the common misconception that Europeans thought the Earth was flat prior to the explorations of Columbus.^[2]
John Neal publishes Rachel Dyer , the first hardcover novelized version of the Salem witch trials story^[3]
Two minor political parties are formed: The single-issue Anti-Masonic Party in upstate New York, and the Nullifier Party advocating states' rights in opposition to the 'Tariff of Abominations'.
American Peace Society established.
A ring spinning machine is developed in the U.S.

Ongoing

20th United States Congress

Births

January 2 – George M. Chilcott, U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1882 to 1883 (died 1891)
January 28 – Thomas C. Hindman, U.S. Representative from Arkansas from 1859 to 1861 and Confederate general (murdered 1868)
May 26 – Benjamin F. Rice, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1868 to 1873 (died 1905)
March 24 – Horace Gray, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1902)
April 28 – Richard Arnold, Union Army brigadier general (died 1882)
June 2 – James Cutler Dunn Parker, organist and composer (died 1916)
July 8 – David Turpie, U.S. Senator from Indiana in 1863 and from 1887 to 1899 (died 1909)
July 14 – Jervis McEntee, painter of the Hudson River School (died 1891)
August 6 – Andrew Taylor Still, "father of osteopathy" (died 1917)
August 28 – William A. Hammond, military physician and neurologist, 11th Surgeon General of the U.S. Army from 1862 to 1864 (died 1900)
September 8
- Joshua Chamberlain, leader of the 20th Maine during the Civil War, Governor of Maine, President of Bowdoin College (died 1914)
- Clarence Cook, art critic and writer (died 1900)
October 19 – James F. Wilson, U.S. Senator from Iowa from 1883 to 1895 (died 1895)
October 20 – Horatio Spafford, author of the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul" (died 1888)
October 26 – William M. Robbins, U.S. Representative from North Carolina (died 1905)
October 29 – Thomas F. Bayard, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1869 to 1885 and U.S. Secretary of State from 1885 until 1889 (died 1898)
November 17 – Milton Wright, bishop of the United Brethren Church and father of aviation pioneers the Wright brothers (died 1917)
December 8 – Clinton B. Fisk, temperance leader (died 1890)

Deaths

February 11 – DeWitt Clinton, 6th Governor of New York, U.S. Senator (born 1769)
March 25 – Maria Reynolds, mistress of Alexander Hamilton (born 1768)
June 1 – Lyncoya Jackson, 2nd adopted son of Andrew Jackson (born c. 1811)
June 6 – John Kinzie, Fur trader responsible for "the first murder in Chicago", when he killed Jean La Lime in 1812 (born December 23, 1763)
July 9 – Gilbert Stuart, painter (born 1755)
September 20 – George Bethune English, adventurer, marine and diplomat (born 1797)
December 22 – Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson (born 1767)
Full date unknown– William Lee, personal servant and slave of George Washington (born 1750)

References

↑ Loesch, Alyce. "Interpreting the Constitution: The Unconstitutionality of the Protective Tariff of 1828". The Gilder Lehrman Institute. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
↑ Russell, Jeffrey B. "The Myth of the Flat Earth". American Scientific Affiliation. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
↑ Sears, Donald A. (1978). John Neal. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers. p. 82. ISBN 080-5-7723-08.

External links

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[1] Loesch, Alyce. "Interpreting the Constitution: The Unconstitutionality of the Protective Tariff of 1828". The Gilder Lehrman Institute. Retrieved October 30, 2009.

[Jeffrey_Russell-2] Russell, Jeffrey B. "The Myth of the Flat Earth". American Scientific Affiliation. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2009.

[3] Sears, Donald A. (1978). John Neal. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers. p. 82. ISBN 080-5-7723-08.

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