1789 

June 21, 1789

The United States Constitution is ratified with New Hampshire, becoming the ninth state to ratify. Article I, Sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution contain provisions that clearly prohibit the federal government and the states from granting titles:

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.

No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex postfacto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

However, no penalty for violating the Article is specified.

March 4 - September 25, 1789

The U.S. House of Representatives compiles a list of possible Constitutional Amendments, some of which will ultimately become the Bill of Rights. The House proposes seventeen of many offered; the Senate reduces the list to twelve. During this process Senator Tristram Dalton (Mass.) proposes an Amendment seeking to prohibit and provide a penalty for any American accepting a "title of nobility" (RG 46 Records of the U.S. Senate). Although it isn't passed, this is the first time a "title of nobility" amendment is proposed.

April 30, 1789

George Washington is inaugurated and his term as the first President of the United States begins. He has previously served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, as Virginia Delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress, and as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.

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December 7, 1790

 William Branch Giles takes office in the House of Representatives. He will serve every year until 1803, with the exceptions of 1799 and 1800.

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March 4, 1797

John Adams begins his term as President of the United States. A Harvard educated attorney, he has served as Massachusetts delegate to the 1st Continental Congress, a diplomat in France and Holland during the Revolutionary War, Minister to the Court of St. James, and Vice President under George Washington.

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1798

The first case decided by the U. S. Supreme Court involving the ratification of a constitutional amendment is Hollingsworth v. Virginia, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 378 (1798). A challenge is made to the ratification of the Eleventh Amendment and it is contended that this amendment is void for the reason that the President had not approved the amendment. The Court, in one of the shortest decisions ever made, rules against this argument. Justice Salmon Chase explains in the written decision that the President is not involved in the amendment process.

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1799

December 14, 1799

George Washington dies in Virginia.