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The Declaration of Independence is written.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the Second Continental Congress signed it, dissolving the ties between the now-former colonies and England. -
The Third Continental Congress Convenes
The Third Continental Congress Convened 8 days after the Second Continental Congress adjourned. The purpose was different than the previous Congresses. Having signed the Declaration of Independence, the delegates needed to create a goverment and deal with the conflict with Britian. The Articles of Confederation were modified and finalized. -
The articles of Confederation was ratified
The Articles of Confederation loosely joined the states, but each state was independent from each other. -
Ratification of the Treaty of Paris Ends Revolutionary War
The Treaty of Paris between Great Britian and the United States ended the Revolutionary War. The treaty recognized the United States as a free nation and established boundaries for the United States to be regcognized by Great Britian. -
Shay's Rebellion Begins
Upset farmers who hadn't been paid for their service during the Revolutionary war waged a series of violent battles in Massachusettes. They were upset about the debts they had gained throughout the war, and most importantly they, had no real way to pay off the debts. -
Annapolis Convention Adjourns
After Shay's rebellion, a convention in Annapolis discussed the state of commerce in the United States. However, because the national Government did not have the power to control commerce between the states, it was recommended that another Constitutional Convention take place to fix the flaws of the Articles of Confederation. -
The U.S. Constitution was created.
There was discussion and debate about what to do with the Articles of Confederation. But during June instead of amending the articles, they would rather create an entire new frame of goverment. -
Constitutional Convention opens
James Madison, "the Father of the Constitution," showed up two weeks before the Convention to introduce his "Virginia Plan" to the other Virginia delegates. He wanted to plan out exactly what should be done by the Convention. And for the first few weeks, were spent discussing and making changes to the "Virginia Plan" -
The Constitution is signed by Convention attendees
The final draft of the Constitutional Convention was signed on September 17th, 1787, and marked the adjournment of the Constitutional Convention. Though only 39 of the 55 delegates that attended the convention signed. Nevertheless, this was enough to send the document to Congress for ratification. -
Congress Approves the Constitution & Sends to the States for Ratification
After the Constitution was signed by the delegates, the next was to get it approved by the established Congress under the Articles of Confederation to agree. This happened shortly after the Constitutional Convention was adjourned, and the ratification process began. Two third of the States had to ratify the Constitution before it could go into effect. -
The Constitution was Ratified
New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, officially making it the new Government skeleton for the United States. But a plan was needed to move from the Articles of Confederation to the new Constitution. Elections were scheduled to run from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789, with the latest Government taking over the following March. -
Bill of Rights Ratification
James Madison, one of the most vocal opponent of the bill of rights, introduced a list of amendments. The House passed on a joint resolution containing 17 amendments based on Madison's list, The Senate changed the joint to consist of 12 amendments,on October 2, 1789 President Washington sent copies of the remaining 12 amendments adopted by Congress and the states. And finally by December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified 10 of these, know now as the "Bill of Rights"