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Declaration Of Independence
The Declaration of Independence states the principles on which our government, and our identity as Americans, are based. Unlike the other founding documents, the Declaration of Independence is not legally binding, but it is powerful. Abraham Lincoln called it “a rebuke and a stumbling-block to tyranny and oppression.” -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. Congress sent the Articles to the states for ratification at the end of November. -
The Treasury System was Reorganized
Treasury operates and maintains systems that are critical to the Nation's financial infrastructure, such as disbursing payments to the American public, collecting taxes, producing coins and currency, and issuing debt necessary to run the Federal government. This new system prevented the state and private banks from using federal money to back their banknotes. It helped to prevent further bank crisis. -
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers were a series of eighty-five essays urging the citizens of New York to ratify the new United States Constitution. The Federalist papers insurrection of debtor farmers in western Massachusetts—Shays's Rebellion—as a symptom of this broader crisis. The authors of the Federalist papers argued for an increase in the “energy” of the federal government to respond to this crisis. -
Virginia Bill
Introduced to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison's Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The plan called for a legislature divided into two bodies (the Senate and the House of Representatives) with proportional representation. -
Constitution of the United States
The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May of 1787. The delegates shuttered the windows of the State House and swore secrecy so they could speak freely. Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, by mid-June they had decided to completely redesign the government. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance chartered a government for the Northwest Territory, provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory, and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. It laid out the process by which lands west of the Appalachian Mountains were to be surveyed and sold. -
Bill of Rights
It spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. -
Federal Judiciary Act
The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the federal court system separate from individual state courts. It was one of the first acts of the First Congress. President George Washington signed it into law on September 24, 1789. -
Copyright Act
On May 31, 1790, the first copyright law is enacted under the new United States Constitution. The new law is relatively limited in scope, protecting books, maps, and charts for only fourteen years with a renewal period of another fourteen years. -
Indian Trade Acts
Passed on July 22, 1790, this was the first law to regulate trade between Native Americans and colonists. Congress proclaimed its treaty-making policy and mandated that all interactions between Indians and non-Indians were under federal control. -
The Bill of Rights Approved
A joint House and Senate Conference Committee settled remaining disagreements in September. On October 2, 1789, President Washington sent copies of the 12 amendments adopted by Congress to the states. By December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified 10 of these, now known as the “Bill of Rights.”