| Years | Image | Event | Description | Keywords |
| 1769 | | Forefather's Day celebrated by Plymouth's Old Colony Club | | |
| 1776 | | Declaration of Independence | | revolution |
| 1783 | | Boston establishes annual July 4 oration | After the revolution, Independence Day replaced Pope's Day and Boston Massacre orations in public memorials. | |
| 1812 | | War with England | sometimes called the "second war for Independence" | revolution |
| 1818 | | John Trumbull's painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence displayed at Faneuil Hall | | July 4, revolution |
| 1833 | | Indian Declaration of Independence | Part of Mashpee Revolt led by "Blind Joe" Amos and William Apes | Indian, Mashpee, Apes |
| 1835 | | George Robert Twelves Hewes feted in Providence and Boston | Joseph G. Cole painted his portrait, called "The Centenarian" | Independence Day, July 4, revolution |
| 1836 | | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow begins teaching modern languages at Harvard. | He lasted until 1854, though he complained early on, "Perhaps the worst thing in a college life is this having your mind constantly a playmate for boys,--constantly adapting to them, instead of stretching out and grappling with men's minds."
Today Harvard's Longfellow Institute honors American multi-lingualism. | |
| 1837 | | Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The American Scholar" | "Our day of dependence, our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands, draws to a close." | |
| 1840 | | Agitation for Ten-hour Day | | labor |
| 1856 | | Charter Oak toppled in a wind storm | The romance of the Charter Oak persists even today. | charter oak, Connecticut |
| 1858 | | Black seamen parade in Boston and Providence to celebrate West Indian independence. | | maritime |
| 1858 | | Crispus Attucks Day celebrated at African Meeting House | | revolution, Boston Massacre |
| 1863 | | Lincoln declares Thanksgiving a national holiday | | |
| 1870 | | First transcontinental train leaves Boston on a 39-day journey across the United States | | economy |
