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The Declaration of Independence was a document signed by all representatives of the Colonies declaring the peoples unsatisfaction with the British and wanting independence. -
The Third Continental congress was convened to discuss a government. This was because now that the colonies were "independent" they needed a government to govern them and oversee the war. -
The Articles were a document loosely joining the states in a sort of alliance. The purpose of this was to prevent the freedoms of the states from being overidden. -
This date marks the end of the revolutionary war. This essentially guarnteed that U.S was a country. -
Several thousands farmers led by Daniel Shay, who were upset with the states taxing led an attempted revolution. -
Following Shays' Rebellion, a Convention in Annapolis discussed the state of commerce in the United States. However, the national government didn't have any power to regulate commerce between and among states, and it was decided that amendments to the Articles of Confederation were sorely needed. Thus it was recommended that another Constitutional Convention take place to fix the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation. -
It's important to note the famous "Father of the Constitution," James Madison, arrived two weeks before the start of the convention to lay out his "Virginia Plan" with other Virginia delegates. He wanted to flesh out exactly what should be accomplished by the Convention. When the Convention opened, it would spend its first few weeks discussing and making revisions to the Virginia Plan. -
The final draft of the Constitutional Convention was signed on September 17th, 1787, and marked the adjournment of the Constitutional Convention. It's important to note that only 39 of the 55 delegates that attended the convention actually signed. However, this was enough to send the document on to the Congress for ratification. -
After the delegates at the Constitutional Convention completed and signed the Constitution, the next step was getting approval from the established Congress under the Articles of Confederation to agree. This happened very soon after the Constitutional Convention adjourned, and the ratification process began. Two-thirds of the states had to ratify the Constitution before it could go into effect. -
On this day, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, officially making it the new governmental framework for the United States. However, a plan was needed to move from the Articles of Confederation to the new Constitution. -
On this date. The newly established government under the Constitution began. -
The first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights, were not originally included in the Constitution. The lack of a "Bill of Rights" led to several delegates refusing to sign the Constitution until it was included. The disagreement centered on the fear that people would think that the listed rights were their only rights.