==Events and trends== For more events, see 18th century United States Declaration of Independence ratified by the Continental Congress (July 4, 1776). The document was drafted by a committee consisting of representatives John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. Abol Fath Khan accends to the throne of Persia as the second Shah of the Zand dynasty in 1779. The Ferguson rifle,… (More on 1770s)