Happy New Year America!
From Declaration to Constitution, it all started in 1776
July 4, 1776
Colonies declare their independence from Great Britain
October 17, 1777
General Burgoyne surrendered his army to the Americans under Arnold and Gates at Saratoga N.Y. As the greatest British defeat to this date, the victory guaranteed a French Alliance in the here-to-fore “English-Colonial Affair.”
November 1777
The Articles of Confederation establishes the first “official’ gov’t of the United States of America. The Articles stress the independence of the individual states and severely limits the powers of the central gov’t.
Winter 1777-78
Valley Forge, General’s Washington and von Steuben create the first “professional” American Army.
October 19, 1781
General Cornwallis surrenders his army to General Washington at Yorktown Virginia. Final straw that breaks the British will to continue the war. Peace negotiations begin in earnest.
1782-83
Peace of Paris, Great Britain grants the colonies their independence and all the territory from the East Coast to the Mississippi River, apart from Florida and the Gulf Coast which is given to Spain.
1785
Land Ordinance of 1785 (Township Act) established the township method of surveying and selling the lands of the Northwest Territories. A portion of each township is set aside to establish public schools.
September 1786-January 1787
Shays Rebellion demonstrated the need for a strong central gov’t. The inability/unwillingness of the states to assist one another in critical situations such as rebellions or natural disasters under the Articles of Confederation is undeniably demonstrated.
1787
Northwest Ordinance divides Northwestern territory into five smaller territories, established the format for accepting new states into the Union-60,000 settlers, a written state constitution and a representative/Republican form of gov’t. Slavery is also prohibited in the Northwest Territories.
May 25, 1787
Delegates from twelve states meet in Philadelphia to “revise the Articles of Confederation'' so as to provide unity, order and prosperity for the nation. This will become the Constitutional Convention.
May 30, 1787
The delegates decide to replace the weak “League of Friendship” of the Articles of Confederation with a strong, Federal, form of gov’t.
May-December 1787
Compromise! After many heated discussions the delegates create the United States Constitution, establishing three branches of gov’t, Legislative, Judicial and Executive. The Great Compromise established a two-house legislature: the Senate will be based on state equality with each having two senators, while the number of House seats will be based on the population of each state. The Slavery is defined and legalized in the Three-Fifths Compromise. Slave states will be allowed to count their slaves as Three-Fifths human for population numbers for the allocation of congressional representation. This will give slave states a greater say in presidential elections through the Electoral College then the number of voters have in free states.
March-May 1788
Publication of the “Federalist Papers” to promote ratification of the United States Constitution. Written by John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, the papers are instrumental in swaying much public opinion to favor the ratification.
December 1787-July 1788
Ratification! Two-thirds (nine) of the states were required for passage of the US. Constitution. On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify while New York became the ninth on July 26, 1788. The Bill of Rights was not initially part of the U.S Constitution, it was not added until December 15, 1791.
April 6, 1789
George Washington is unanimously chosen to become the first President of the United States, taking the oath of office on April 30.
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