1. Declaration of Independence
1.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
1.1.1. To separate from Great Britain
1.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
1.2.1. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and Thomas Jefferson.
1.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
1.3.1. 1776 to present
1.4. 4. How is the document structured?
1.4.1. One Paragraph
1.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
1.5.1. 1( That it gave us are freedom 2( It gave us right to rule by the people 3( Robert Livingston one of the writers did not sign the declaration. 4( To treat each other equality 5( Gave us the right to over throw the government
2. Articles of Confederation
2.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
2.1.1. To provide a general government for the 13 colonies
2.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
2.2.1. John Dickinson
2.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
2.3.1. 1777 to 1781
2.4. 4. How is the document structured?
2.4.1. Paragraphs
2.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
2.5.1. 1( The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the states and not enough to the central government, 2( It had no national court system, 3( There was no standing army to protect the nation, 4( Each state could create its own foreign policy, 5( The Articles didn't allow congress to collect taxes.
3. Constitution
3.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
3.1.1. To define the powers of the new government as originating from the people of the United States.
3.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
3.2.1. James Madison
3.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
3.3.1. 1787 to present
3.4. 4. How is the document structured?
3.4.1. Paragraphs
3.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
3.5.1. 1( It replaced the Articles of Confederation, 2( It has been amended twenty-seven times, 3( The Constitution is interpreted, supplemented, and implemented by a large body of constitutional law, 4( The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, 5( Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers.
4. Bill of Rights
4.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
4.1.1. To guarantee the individual rights of citizens under the Constitution.
4.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
4.2.1. James Madison
4.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
4.3.1. 1776 to present
4.4. 4. How is the document structured?
4.4.1. Sections
4.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
4.5.1. 1( Proposed to assuage the fears of Anti-Federalists who had opposed Constitutional ratification, 2( Originally the amendments applied only to the federal government, 3( Congress commissioned 14 official copies of the Bill of Rights, 4( Four states are missing their copies—Georgia, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania, 5( North Carolina’s copy was stolen by a Union soldier during the Civil War.
5. Federalist Papers
5.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
5.1.1. To promote the ratification of the United States Constitution.
5.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
5.2.1. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
5.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
5.3.1. 1787 to 1789
5.4. 4. How is the document structured?
5.4.1. One paragraph
5.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
5.5.1. 1( The authorship of the articles was a closely guarded secret, 2( The press was inundated with letters about the controversial document, 3( After its completion by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, 4( Originally, they were a series of 85 anonymous letters to newspapers, 5( The papers remain important statements of U.S. political and legal philosophy as well as a key source for understanding the U.S. Constitution.
6. Anti-Federalist Papers
6.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
6.1.1. To oppose the Us constitution
6.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
6.2.1. major authors include Cato (likely George Clinton), Brutus (likely Robert Yates), Centinel (Samuel Bryan), and the Federal Farmer (eitheors r Melancton Smith, Richard Henry Lee, or Mercy Otis Warren).
6.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
6.3.1. 1787 to 1789
6.4. 4. How is the document structured?
6.4.1. Paragraphs
6.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
6.5.1. 1( The author collected 85 of the most significant papers and arranged them in an order closely resembling that of the 85 Federalist Papers, 2( The most frequently cited contemporary collection the Complete Anti-Federalist, was compiled by Herbert Storing and his former student Murray Dry of the University of Chicago, 3( There was an intense debate on ratification in 1789, 4( Some of the weaknesses the papers mention were corrected by adoption of the Bill of Rights, 5( Some weaknesses remained, and some of these dangers are now coming to pass.
7. Northwest Ordinance
7.1. 1. What is the general purpose of this document?
7.1.1. To create a territory in the north
7.2. 2. Who is responsible for writing it?
7.2.1. Nathan Dane
7.3. 3. What time frame was/is the document significant?
7.3.1. 1787
7.4. 4. How is the document structured?
7.4.1. Sub sections
7.5. 5. What are the top 5 most important things we need to know this document?
7.5.1. 1( It created the first us territory map 2( It added new states to the country 3( It organized the government 4( Ohio was the first state added to it 5( It showed that we need to fight the natives for land