Year 1797: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1797. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, U.S. economic data, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: George Washington (Independent-Virginia)—Until March 4
2. President of the United States: John Adams (Federalist Party-Massachusetts)—Beginning on March 4
3. Vice President: John Adams (Federalist Party-Massachusetts)—Until March 4
4. Vice President: Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican-Virginia)—Beginning on March 4
5. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Oliver Ellsworth (Connecticut)
6. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Jonathan Dayton (Federalist-New Jersey)
7. In 1797, the fourth U.S. Congress was in session until March 4, when the fifth U.S. Congress convened. It met at Congress Hall, located at 6th and Chestnut Streets in Center City Philadelphia. Both chambers had a Federalist majority.
8. Inflation rate: -3.79%
9. Consumer price index (CPI): 12.700
10. $100.00 in 1797 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,622.20 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.44% per year” between 1797 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 2,522.20%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 3.814% of what it could purchase back in 1797.
11. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 97% of its value since 1797.
12. In 1797, there were 16 U.S. states. In order of admission to the Union, they were Delaware (1787), Pennsylvania (1787), New Jersey (1787), Georgia (1788), Connecticut (1788), Massachusetts (1788), Maryland (1788), South Carolina (1788), New Hampshire (1788), Virginia (1788), New York (1788), North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Kentucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796).
13. American companies established in 1797 included Roosevelt & Son, an investment banking firm that was one of the oldest banking houses on Wall Street. Many “male members of the Roosevelt family” worked for the firm in some capacity over the course of time.
14. On January 1, Albany replaced New York City as the capital of New York state.
15. On January 15, John Etherington of London wore the world’s first top hat.
16. On March 28, Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire received the first U.S. patent for a “washing machine.” Back then, it was called a “scrub board” or “wash board.”
17. On March 29, British author and activist Mary Wollstonecraft married philosopher and journalist William Godwin.
18. On June 26, Charles Newbold received the first U.S. patent for a cast-iron plow. However, American farmers at the time had doubts about the effects of the plow on the soil.
19. On July 7, for the first time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives exercised its “constitutional power of impeachment” and voted to charge Senator William Blount of Tennessee with “a high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public duty and trust as a Senator.”
20. On July 26, future U.S. President John Quincy Adams—the son of U.S. President John Adams—married Louisa Johnson in London, England. For more than two centuries, Louisa Johnson was “the only foreign-born first lady of the United States.”
21. On October 21, after two unsuccessful attempts, the USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides), the world’s oldest commissioned warship, was launched in Boston Harbor.
22. Key fiction books published in 1797 included Anthony Carlisle’s The Horrors of Oakendale Abbey and Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette, or the History of Eliza Wharton.
23. Noteworthy dramatic works for the year were Richard Cumberland’s False Impressions and The Last of the Family.
24. Famous people born in 1797 were Charles Lyell (a geologist), Franz Schubert (a composer), and Mary Shelley (a novelist).
25. Famous people who died in 1797 included Horace Walpole (a historian) and Oliver Wolcott (a politician who signed the Declaration of Independence and later became the governor of Connecticut).
26. In 1797 as well, the words “autobiography,” “dang,” “egotistical,” “greenery,” “honorable mention,” “ice storm,” “iconoclasm,” “ideological,” “kilogram,” “Latin cross,” “merrymaker,” “milligram,” “millimeter,” “overestimate,” “par value,” “police officer,” “saw palmetto,” “revolutionize,” “taxpayer,” and “vanishing point” all appeared in print for the first time.
27. Beef: $2.00 to $3.00 per 100 pounds
28. Butter: 12 to 15 cents a pound
29. Chickens: 12 cents each
30. Coffee: 25 cents to 33 cents per pound
31. Corn: 50 cents per bushel
32. Flour: $5.00 per barrel
33. Milk: Eight cents a quart
34. Oats: 33 cents per bushel
35. Salt Pork: Eight cents per pound
36. Turkeys: 50 cents each
37. Wheat: $1.00 to $1.25 per bushel

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1797_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1797
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1797
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1797_in_literature
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1797.html
6. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1797.html
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1797
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1795-1799.html
9. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1797
10. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1797

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor