- May 6 1st African American Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston
- May 8 First US prison reform society formed, the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons led by Dr. Benjamin Rush
- May 10 British Parliament impeaches Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal
First Fleet Departs
May 13 First Fleet headed by Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of convicts for Botany Bay, Australia [1]
Constitution of the United States
May 14 Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up the Constitution of the United States
- May 17 English slave ship Sisters, en route from Africa to Cuba, capsizes killing hundreds
Constitutional Convention
May 25 Constitutional convention opens at Philadelphia, George Washington presiding
Virginia Plan
May 29 "Virginia Plan" by James Madison and Edmund Randolph proposed to the Constitutional Convention advocating for a national government with three branches - legislative, executive, and judicial [1]
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