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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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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 -
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. -
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 -
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 -
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. -
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. -
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. -
Bill of rights
The first 10 amendents. The lack of the Bill of Rights in the beginning, made several delegates refuse to sign the Constitution