Founding the Nation

By the 1770s, thirteen British colonies were tired of being taxed by a government three thousand miles away that gave them no vote. The slogan was "no taxation without representation." Tensions over taxes, troops, and trade boiled into the American Revolution.

The Declaration of Independence (1776)

Thomas Jefferson wrote it. It announced that the colonies were breaking from Britain and laid out the big idea: that all men are created equal and have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government, it said, gets its power from the consent of the people.

• ●1775 to 1783: the Revolutionary War is fought
• ●July 4, 1776: the Declaration of Independence is adopted
• ●George Washington leads the Continental Army to victory
• ●France helps the Americans win

The Constitution and Bill of Rights

After winning, the new nation's first plan of government (the Articles of Confederation) was too weak. In 1787 leaders wrote the U.S. Constitution, the document that still runs the country. It split the federal government into three branches so no one person could grab all the power.

• ●Legislative branch (Congress): makes the laws
• ●Executive branch (President): carries out the laws
• ●Judicial branch (Supreme Court): interprets the laws
• ●Checks and balances: each branch can limit the other two
• ●Bill of Rights (1791): the first 10 amendments, protecting freedoms like speech, religion, and a fair trial