1786 in the United States

Events from the year 1786 in the United States.

January–March

 * January 3 – The Treaty of Hopewell is signed between the United States of America and the Choctaw Nation.
 * January 10 – The Treaty of Hopewell is signed between the United States of America and the Chickasaw Nation.

April–June

 * June 25 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.

July–September

 * August – James Rumsey tests his first steam boat in the Potomac river at Shepherdstown Virginia (now West Virginia).
 * August 29 – Shays' Rebellion begins in Massachusetts.

October–December

 * November 7 – The oldest musical organization in the United States (the Stoughton Musical Society) is founded.
 * December 4 – Mission Santa Barbara is founded by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, becoming the 10th mission in the California mission chain.

Undated

 * The town of Martinsborough, North Carolina, itself named for Royal Governor Josiah Martin in 1771, is renamed "Greenesville" in honor of United States General Nathanael Greene by the North Carolina General Assembly; the name "Greenesville" is later shortened to become Greenville.