Timeline: DoI - BoR (Civics)

Jul 4, 1776

Declaration of Independence

It was published to announce independence from Great Britain and ratified on July 4th of 1776. It was written by Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

Dec 20, 1776

Third Continental Congress Convenes

Convened 8 days after the 2nd Continental Congress adjourned. They needed to create a government and deal with the conflict with Britain. The Articles of Confederation were modified and finalized.

Mar 1, 1781

Ratification of Articles of Confederation

Loosely joined the states, but made the states independent from one another. The Articles had several flaws that the Framers would resolve when creating the Constitution.

Jan 14, 1784

Ratification of the Treaty of Paris

Ended the Revolutionary War and was made between Great Britain and the United States. Signed by representatives from both America and Great Britain in September of 1783. Ratified January 14th 1784.

Aug 29, 1786

Shays' Rebellion

Upset farmers that weren't paid for their service during the Revolutionary War waged a series of violent battles in Massachusetts. Exposed the flaws of the Articles of Confederation

Sep 14, 1786

Annapolis Convention Adjourns

It was decided that amendments to the Articles of Confederation were extremely needed. Recommended that another Constitutional Convention to take place to fix the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation.

May 25, 1787

Constitutional Convention

James Madison arrived 2 weeks before the convention to lay out his "Virginia Plan". When the convention open it spent the first few weeks discussing and making revisions to the Virginia Plan

Sep 17, 1787

Constitution signed by Convention Attendees

The final draft of the Constitution was signed. Only 39 out of the 55 people that attended the convention actually signed

Sep 28, 1787

Congress approves the Constitution and sends to the States for ratification

Congress approved of the Constitution. 2/3 of the states had to ratify the constitution before it could go into effect.

Jun 21, 1788

Constitution is ratified

New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify the Constitution, officially making it the new government framework for the U.S. Elections were scheduled to run from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789, with the new government taking over.

Mar 4, 1789

New Constitutional Government Begins

The newly established government under the Constitution began. This made the government more stable and a bit stronger than the one under the Articles, but not overpowered.