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First Continental Cogress
Every colony except Georgia sent delegates to the Continental Congress in the fall of 1774. They created a document called the Declaration of Resolves. The British eventually rejected the Declaration and that started the conflict as the shot that was heard around the world. -
Second Continental Congress
This time the congress decided to organize a rag tag group of militia into the official Continental Army. George Washington was named the leader. On August 23, 1775 George III proclaimed the American Colonists were rebelling. The war was now officially underway. -
The Publication of Common Sense
Thomas Paine persuasively used plain language to convince the public that leaving Great Britain was the right thing to do. Within 3 months 150,000 copies had been printed. -
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
On June 7, 1776, the Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee stood before Congress and proposed that the colonies should declare independence. In July the British thirteen colonies ceased to exist and the American colonies began. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution. It was adopted on June 12, 1777 -
Treaty of Paris
This secured independence for the United States from Britain in 1783 -
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Shay's Rebellion
Rebellion led by a Revolutionary War captain named Daniel Shays. They were trying to prevent judges from foreclosing farms so they attacked them but eventually they were disbanded. -
Constitutional Convention
In 1787 the United States had a problem. The Articles of Confederation were not good enough to sustain a country. So the delegates from 12 of the 13 states came together and attempted to create a new framework for the government. -
Ratification of the Constituion
It took some work to get the Constitution ratified. The small states were hardly reluctant at all because of the fact that there was equal representation. The bigger states took much longer because they felt it didn't represent the people but rather the states. -
Federalist Papers
These papers were essays written to justify and defend the Constitution. All together there was 85 essays. -
Bill of Rights
James Madison wanted to make a bill of rights a priority. He wanted to make rights protected in this called amendments. The congress proposed 12 amendments and 10 of them were ratified.
