Americans had significant experience with self-government before the writing
of the Constitution in 1787, and this experience shaped the political views of the
framers who wrote the Constitution and factored into the formation of the first
government. A constitution is a set of rules that determines how power
will be used legitimately in a state. Contrary to popular belief, few governments
have been created by written constitutions.
The Colonies
Europeans settlers had been living in America for more than 250 years by
the time independence from England was declared. Although the colonists were
subjects of the British crown, the colonies functioned more or less
independently and thus had extensive experience in self-government. Many towns
held meetings to discuss public business, for example, and residents had some
input into their colonies’ governments.
The colonists rebelled, in part, because they felt that the British were
increasingly taking away their powers of self-government. Prior to the 1750s,
the colonists paid few taxes to Britain. But when the British Parliament passed
a number of taxes on the colonists, the colonists decried the measures as
taxation without representation. In the 1760s, for example, the Stamp
Act and the Sugar Act enraged many colonists because the acts levied taxes on
certain commodities but gave the colonists no say in how the money would be
spent.
Angered by the taxes, representatives from the colonies gathered at the
First Continental Congress in 1774 and called for a total
boycott of British goods. When the British sent troops to enforce the new taxes,
many colonists began to agitate for independence. War between the British and
the American colonists broke out in 1775.
The table on the next page lists the major events during the early years
of the United States.
MAJOR EVENTS IN THE FOUNDING OF THE UNITED
STATES
|
Date
|
Event
|
| 1607 | First permanent British colony at Jamestown,
Virginia |
| 1620 | Pilgrims land in Massachusetts |
| 1620–1732 | Founding of the thirteen colonies; colonists govern
themselves and develop idea of limited government |
| 1641 | Massachusetts Body of Liberties passed; it protects
rights of individuals |
| 1764 | Sugar Act taxes sugar |
| 1765 | Stamp Act taxes a variety of goods |
| 1770 | Boston Massacre |
| 1773 | Boston Tea Party |
| 1775 | Revolutionary War begins |
| 1776 | Second Continental Congress convenes; Declaration of
Independence is written |
| 1781 | Ratification of the Articles of
Confederation |
| 1783 | Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary
War |
| 1786 | Shays’ Rebellion begins in western
Massachusetts |
| 1786 | Annapolis Convention calls on Congress to convene a
meeting to fix the Articles |
| 1787 | Constitutional Convention |
| 1787–1789 | Battle to ratify the Constitution |
| 1789 | Constitution ratified; the new United States government
takes power |
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