1. Anti-Federalist Papers
1.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
1.1.1. Articles to oppose the Federalist papers and its authors.
1.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
1.2.1. George Clinton, Robert Yates, and Samuel Bryan
1.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
1.3.1. 1787-1789
1.4. How is the document structured?
1.4.1. Letters/Articles
1.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
1.5.1. Five important things you should know are that the articles were written to oppose the views of the Federalists, these articles failed to get people on their side in the end, opposed ratification of the Constitution, shared a core view of American society despite diversity among members, and highly against governmental decisions.
2. Federalist Papers
2.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
2.1.1. The series of 85 letters were used to persuade the doubtful New Yorkers to ratify the constitution.
2.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
2.2.1. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay
2.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
2.3.1. 1787-1789
2.4. How is the document structured?
2.4.1. Letters/Articles
2.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
2.5.1. Five important things you need to know are that it helped persuade people to ratify the Constitution, it was intended to replace the Articles of Confederation, protected the States' rights, 77 of the 85 were published, and originally didn't support the Bill of Rights.
3. Bill of Rights
3.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
3.1.1. The Bill of Rights is written to give us citizens certain unalienable rights that cannot be taken away.
3.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
3.2.1. James Madison
3.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
3.3.1. 1791-Present
3.4. How is the document structured?
3.4.1. List of rights in order starting at 1
3.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
3.5.1. Five important things you need to know are this document gives you most if not all of the rights you have today, plays a central role in America law and government, pertains to our natural rights, it's the first 10 amendments in the Constitution, and it was built off of the original Constitution.
4. Constitution
4.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
4.1.1. The Constitution of the United States of America defines a set of "rules" for the country's laws and orders.
4.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
4.2.1. James Madison
4.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
4.3.1. 1787-Present
4.4. How is the document structured?
4.4.1. Paragraphs
4.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
4.5.1. Five important things to know are it has been amended 27 times, first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights, gives us most of our rights today, provides a sense of direction to the three branches of government, and the first three amendments are for the three branches of government.
5. Northwest Ordinance
5.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
5.1.1. The purpose was to establish a proper way to settle in the Northwest territories.
5.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
5.2.1. Nathan Dane
5.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
5.3.1. 1784-1787
5.4. How is the document structured?
5.4.1. Paragraphs
5.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
5.5.1. Five important things to know are that it gave the government for the Northwest, it created a procedure in which states could establish, ordinance set aside land for schools, prohibited slavery and included the first full statement of the U.S. Indian policy.
6. Articles of Confederation
6.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
6.1.1. it was a written agreement that served as the constitution of the United States for a short time before the Constitution itself
6.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
6.2.1. John Dickinson
6.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
6.3.1. 1781 to 1789
6.4. How is the document structured?
6.4.1. One giant paragraph
6.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
6.5.1. Five important things to know are measures passed by Congress had to be approved by 9 of the 13 states, the articles were virtually impossible to amend so problems could not be corrected, congress had very little control, congress could pass laws but couldn't force states to follow them, and the government had almost no power over the states' decisions.
7. Declaration of Independance
7.1. What is the general purpose of this document?
7.1.1. The purpose was to persuade colonists to join them and brake away from Britain.
7.2. Who was responsible for writing it?
7.2.1. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman
7.3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
7.3.1. 1776-Present
7.4. How is the document structured?
7.4.1. One giant paragraph
7.5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know about this document?
7.5.1. Five important things to know are that it was written to help persuade colonists to brake free of Britain, this document helped shape America, listed all the things Britain had no right to do, plays a huge roll in America today, and it helped give a final push for our rebellion against Britain.