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The Revolutionary War
The Americans fought against Great Britain and King George III to gain their independence. The fighting began outside of Boston at Lexington and Concord. With French support, General George Washington led the Americans to victory, ending the fighting at Yorktown. Peace was made with the Treaty of Paris in 1783 with the United States gaining recognition as an independent country. -
The Declaration of Independence
Delegates from the Thirteen Colonies met to draft this in Philadelphia. It declared the United States of America as a nation along with its independence from Great Britain. Thomas Jeffereson wrote it. It claimed that men had certain unalienable rights like "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" that King George III had violated. -
The Articles of Confederation
Originally drafted in 1777, this document was ratified in 1781. It was the United States' first constitution. It created a "league of friendship" ruled by a unicameral legislature that equally represented the states. It maintained a weak central government with most power concentrated within the states. It was later replaced by the Constitution. -
Shays's Rebellion
This was a rebellion led by Daniel Shays which lasted until January of 1787. It was made up of ex-Revolutionary War soldiers who were suffering from debts and taxes. They prevented the courts in western Massachusetts from sitting. The Continental Congress had little power to raise troops or money to squash the rebellion. A privately funded volunteer army was able to desperse the rebels. It demonstrated that the national government created by the Articles of Confederation was weak. -
The Constitutional Conventions
These conventions met to amend and fix the Articles of Confederation. Ultimately, the convention decided to eliminate the Articles and create the Constitution according to James Madison's ideas. He wanted to create a government that operated on checks, balances, and federalism. He wanted it to have a strong enough national government that preserved life, liberty, and property. -
Ratification of the Constitution
The Constitution followed James Madison's ideals and other compromises. It was ratified in 1788 and fully adopted by all of the states by 1791. It created a federal system in which power was shared between the national and state governments. Within the national government, checks and balances were set up as the judicial, bicameral legislative, and executive branches. It replaced the Articles of Confederation, and it made allowances for amendments (the first ten were the Bill of Rights). -
Bill of Rights Ratification
The Bill of Rights was the first ten amendments to the Constitution. It was originally thought unnecessary because each state had a bill of rights. It protected the rights of individuals like freedom of speech, religion, and the right to bear arms from the government. Some states (especially Antifederalist states) would not ratify the Constitution without a Bill of Rights; so, the Constitution was amended to include it.
