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Boston Tea Party
Few people realize that when the tea went overboard in boston tea party on Decenmber 16, 1773, the war for independence was actually beginning. A mass meeting at the Old South Meeting House that morning resolved that the tea ships should leave the harbor without payment of any duty. -
First Continental Congress meets
The first Continental Congress assembled in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, Pa., on Sept. 5, 1774, "British oppression has effaced the boundaries of the several colonies; the distinction between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, and New-Englanders is no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American." -
Second continental congress meets
Members of the second continental congress met at the state house in philadelphia. John hancock from massachusetts, thomas jeffrson of virgina, and benjamin franklin from pennsylvania. it all started with battle of lexington and concord fresh in their memories the new england militia were still encamped outside of boston trying to drive the bristish out of boston. -
Revolutionary War begins
In April 1775 Gage learned that weapons were being gathered in Concord, and he sent British troops to seize and destroy them.France, Spain and the Dutch Republic all secretly provided supplies, ammunition and weapons to the revolutionaries starting early in 1776 -
Articles of Confederation is signed
Its drafting by the Continental Congress began in mid 1776 and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. Nevertheless, a perceived weak government created by the Articles became a matter of concern for key nationalists and in 1789 the Articles were replaced with the U.S. Constitution. -
Revolutionary War ends
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded roughly by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west. A wider international peace was agreed, in which several territories were exchanged. -
Constitutional Congress opens
Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. -
Frinal draft of the Constitution is signed
On September 17, 1787, members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution. Two days earlier, when a final vote was called, Edmund Randolph called for another convention to carefully review the Constitution as it stood. This motion, supported by George Mason and Elbridge Gerry, was voted down and the Constitution was adopted
