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Declaration of Independence (drafted)
The Declaration of Independence came from the common belief that God made all men equal and gave them the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson drafted it, Adams and Franklin made changes to it. -
Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence
The document was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4th, and it announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. The day on which final separation was officially voted, was on the 2nd of July, although on the 4th was the day on which the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted. -
British Surrender at Saratoga, NY
The Battle of Saratoga occurred in September and October of 1777, during the second year of the American Revolution. It included two crucial battles, fought eighteen days apart, and was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War. -
Washington and his army winter in Valley Forge
While conditions were cold and harsh and provisions were in short supply, it was at the winter camp where George Washington proved his mettle and, with the help of former Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben, transformed a battered Continental Army into a unified, world-class fighting force capable of beating the British. -
The United States and France become allies
The United States and France established diplomatic relations in 1778 following the United States’ declaration of independence from Great Britain, and France provided key assistance to the United States as an ally during its war of independence. In 1778, France became an official ally of the United States through the Treaty of Alliance. At this point the French became directly involved in the war. The French navy entered the war fighting off the British along the American coast. -
Articles of Confederation adopted
The Articles of Confederation was the first form of government that united the colonies and served as the first Constitution of the United States of America.
After 16 months of debate, it was approved, November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. Ratification would take four more years when Maryland would sign in 1781. It would be replaced by the Constitution, but it served its purpose by united the colonies and implementing a government throughout the war. -
General Cornwallis officially surrenders at Yorktown, VA
On October 19, General Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate, and 30 transport ships. Pleading illness, he did not attend the surrender ceremony, but his second-in-command, General Charles O’Hara, carried Cornwallis’ sword to the American and French commanders. As the British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender, the British bands played the song “The World Turned Upside Down.” -
Shays Rebellion
Shays’ Rebellion was a series of violent attacks on courthouses and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full-blown military confrontation in 1787. The rebels were mostly ex-Revolutionary War soldiers-turned farmers who opposed state economic policies causing poverty and property foreclosures. The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a farmer and former soldier who fought at Bunker Hill and was one of several leaders of the insurrection. -
The Articles' weaknesses become apparent
After Shays' Rebellion it became apparent that the Articles of Confederation had its flaws. Shays' Rebellion highlighted the desperate need for a stronger central government. -
The U.S Constitution
It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Under America’s first governing document, the Articles of Confederation, the national government was weak, and states operated like independent countries. At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches—executive, legislative and judicial—along with a system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. -
Bill of Rights Introduced
In September 1789, the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The amendments were designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens, guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion; the right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms; and that powers not delegated to the federal government would be reserved for the states and the people. -
Ratification of the Bill of Rights
Within six months of the time the amendments–the Bill of Rights–had been submitted to the states, nine had ratified them. Two more states were needed; Virginia’s ratification, on December 15, 1791, made the Bill of Rights part of the Constitution.