Timeline: Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.

Jun 7, 1776

Richard Henry Lee

His 's resolution urges Congress to declare independence.

Period: Jun 12, 1776 to Jun 27, 1776

Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration

Jul 2, 1776

Congress declares independence when British fleets arrive at New York

Jul 4, 1776

Congress adopts Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence

Jul 5, 1776

John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches legislatures

Jul 6, 1776

Pensylvania Post prints out first newspaper of Declaration of Independence

Jul 8, 1776

The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia.

Jul 9, 1776

Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York

Aug 2, 1776

Delegates begin to sign the Declaration of Independence

May 25, 1777

The Constitutional Convention

The meeting of 12 states delagates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that replaced the Articles of Confederation with a new Constitution.

Nov 13, 1777

Articles of Confederation

Articles of ConfederationThe Articles of Confederation was the 1st plan of government for the USA, it gave the states power, & left a weak Centural government.

Sep 14, 1786

Annapolis Convention

May 30, 1787

Virginia Plan

Tha plan adopted by the Constitutional Convention in 1787, that established 3 branches of the federal government.

Jun 17, 1787

New Jersey Plan

The plan offerd by the small state's at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that would have given all the states an equal number of representatives in congress.

Jun 21, 1788