1743 Thomas Jefferson born.
1747 Voltaire publishes Zadig.
1748 Charles Montesquieu publishes The
Spirit of Laws.
1750 Rousseau publishes the Discourse on the
Arts and Sciences.
Denis Diderot begins publication of his
Encyclopédie.
1751 Hume publishes An Enquiry Concerning
the Principles of Morals.
1752 Hume publishes Political Discourses.
1754 Rousseau publishes the Discourse on the
Origins of Inequality.
1755 Alexander Hamilton born.
1758 Helvétius writes Essays of the Mind.
1759 Voltaire publishes Candide.
Adam Smith publishes The Theory of
Moral Sentiments.1762 Rousseau publishes the Social Contract
and Emile.
1764 Cesare Beccaria publishes Dei delitti e
delle pene(On Crimes and Punishment).
1765–69 Sir William Blackstone publishes the
Commentaries on the Laws of England.
1767 Andrew Jackson born.
1768 Joseph Priestly’s Essay on the First Prin-
ciples of Governmentpublished.
1770 Rousseau publishes the Confessions.
Hegel born.
Holbach writes The System of Nature.1771 Robert Owen born.
1772 Keeping of slaves banned in Britain.
1774 Herder’s Another Philosophy of History
and Humanityis published.
1775 American Revolutionary War begins.
1776 Thomas Paine publishes Common
Sense.
The Declaration of Independence, writ-
ten by Thomas Jefferson, is adopted by
the American colonies.
Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of
Nations.
David Hume dies.
1778 Rousseau dies.
1780 Kant publishes first edition of Critique
of Pure Reason.
1781 Articles of Confederation ratified by
U.S.
1787–88 The Federalist Papers, written by
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,
and John Jay, are published in New
York newspapers.
John Adams publishes Defence of the
Constitutions of the Government of the
United States.
1788 U.S. states ratify Consitution.
1789 Mob storms Bastille, marking begin-
ning of the French Revolution.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Cit-
izenapproved by the National Assem-
bly in Paris.
Jeremy Bentham publishes his Introduc-
tion to the Principles of Morals and Legis-
lation.
1790 Kant publishes his Critique of Pure Rea-
son.
Benjamin Franklin dies.
Burke publishes Reflections on the Re-
volution in France.
Adam Smith dies.
1791 Paine publishes Rights of Man, Part I, in
England.
John Adams publishes Discourses of
Davila.
1792 First French Republic established.
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindi-
cation of the Rights of Woman.
1793 Paine, with Condorcet, Brissot, Sieyes,
and others, drafts a proposed French
constitution, which is not adopted.322 Chronology