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1778 Treaty of Alliance with France

Ben Franklin signed this military treaty with France on Feb. 6, 1778, pledging military assistance to France if England attacked. This was the first military treaty of the new U.S. France went to war against England 4 months later, adding Spain & Holland as allies.

1777 Articles of Confederation

Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, enacting the first constitution of the U.S. John Dickinson (Delaware), the principal author, named the confederation "the United States of America" and based congressional representation on the population of each state. Each state had one vote in Congress, and the states entered into a "firm league of friendship with each other." Because ratification by all 13 states was necessary, and various disputes between states had to be resolved, four years transpired before final ratification on March 1, 1781. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever. . . .

1782 Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States

In 1776, Congress appointed Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams to design a seal for the U.S. to symbolize its national sovereignty. One feature from their work survived—the motto E Pluribus Unum ("out of many, one"). Congress revisited designing a seal 4 years later, calling on James Lovell, John Morin Scott, and William Churchill Houston. Prominent features of their work included the olive branch, constellation of 13 stars, and the red, white, & blue shield. A third committee was appointed in 1782, and they added the eagle. The same year, Charles Thompson added a fourth design (using elements of the first three) along with a written explanation of its symbolism: • White - Signifies purity and innocence • Red - Signifies hardiness and valor • Blue - Signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice • Olive branch, arrows - Powers of peace and war, vested in Congress • Stars - New state taking its place among other sovereign powers • Lone eagle - U.S. relies on its own virtue

1783 Treaty of Paris

John Adams, Ben Franklin, and John Jay negotiated this treaty that formally ended the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783. Two crucial provisions were the British recognition of U.S. independence and the delineation of boundaries that would allow for American westward expansion. It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, king of Great Britain . . . and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which they mutually wish to restore . . .

1776 Declaration of Independence

On June 10, 1776, Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston, & Roger Sherman to draft statement of independence. Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4. When Congress ordered an engrossed copy 2 weeks later, John Hancock (president of the Congress) famously signed his name with a large bold signature, and every other member of Congress followed suit. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. . . .

1776 Lee Resolution

On June 7, 1776, in the second Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate, introduced this resolution, which proposed independence for the American colonies. The Lee Resolution contained three parts: 1) a declaration of Independence ( July 2, 1776) 2) a call to form foreign Alliances (Sept. 1776) 3) a plan for confederation (Nov. 1777) Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a resolution earlier in the year which made a formal declaration inevitable. A committee was assembled to draft the formal declaration, to be ready when congress voted on independence. Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document,[2] which congress would edit to produce the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The Independence Day of the United States of America is celebrated on July 4, the day Congress approved the wording of the Declaration.

Lee Resolution

The Lee Resolution, also known as the resolution of independence, was an act of the Second Continental Congress declaring the United Colonies to be independent of the British Empire. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia first proposed it on June 7, 1776, after receiving instructions from the Virginia Convention and its President, Edmund Pendleton (in fact Lee used, almost verbatim, the language from the instructions in his resolution). Voting on the resolution was delayed for several weeks while support for independence was consolidated. On June 11, a Committee of Five was appointed to prepare a document to explain the reasons for independence. The resolution was finally approved on July 2, 1776, and news of its adoption was published that evening in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the next day in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The text of the document formally announcing this action, the United States Declaration of Independence, was approved on July 4.

1787 Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan recognized the Articles of Confederation were too weak for a long-term document and proposed a strong central government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. James Madison and Edmund Randolph were the primary authors, and they presented it to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787.

Treaty of Alliance with France

also called The Treaty of Alliance with France, was a defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, which promised military support in case of attack by British forces indefinitely into the future. Delegates of King Louis XVI of France and the Second Continental Congress, who represented the United States government at this time, signed the treaty along with The Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris on February 6, 1778[1] formalizing a Franco-American alliance that would technically remain in effect until 1800, and the signing of the Treaty of Mortefontaine,[2] despite being annulled by the United States Congress in 1798[3] and the execution of King Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

Articles of Confederation

formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.[1] Its drafting by the Continental Congress began in mid 1776 and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. The formal ratification by all 13 states was completed in early 1781. Even if not yet ratified, the Articles provided domestic and international legitimacy for the Continental Congress to direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomacy with Europe and deal with territorial issues and Indian relations. Nevertheless, a perceived weak government created by the Articles became a matter of concern for key nationalists and in 1789 the Articles were replaced with the U.S. Constitution. It provided for a much stronger national government with a chief executive (the president), courts, and taxing powers.

Treaty of Paris

signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of these, and the negotiations which produced all four treaties, see Peace of Paris (1783).[1][2] It is most famous for being "exceedingly generous" to the United States in terms of enlarged boundaries.[3]

Virginia Plan

was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch.[1] The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.[2][3] The Virginia Plan was notable for its role in setting the overall agenda for debate in the convention and, in particular, for setting forth the idea of population-weighted representation in the proposed national legislature.