US Founding Documents Timeline

Normally I'd do a bio sketch of the author but that doesn't quite work here.  Instead I thought I'd run through the time line of the documents and the era here so that it's easier to understand the full context.  I'll cover the actual history of each in separate blog posts.

• The Revolutionary war begins on April 19th 1775, as fighting begins in Lexington, Massachusetts.
• Declaration of Independence - Famously signed on the 4th of July 1776, the declaration explains the vote for independence that was taken on July 2nd.  And to make matters more confusing, the signers actually put their John Hancocks on it on August 2nd.  
• In June of 1776, drafting begins on the Articles of Confederation.  In late 1777 they are sent to the various states to ratify.  This is completed in early 1781.
• The Treaty of Paris is signed on September 3rd 1783, bringing an end to the war.  
• On February 21 1787, a Constitutional convention was called.  On May 25th 1787, they began drafting the United States Constitution.  On September 17th of that year, they adopted the finished work and sent it off to the states to ratify.  It went into effect on March 4th 1789.  The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.  
• The Federalist Papers were published between October of 1787 and August of 1788.