Articles about Government in North America from 1600 to 1800

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson
Primary conflict between Hamilton and Jefferson.
Articles of Confederation Explained
How America’s first government shaped the Constitution.
Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments
Original text of the Bill of Rights
Birth of the Bill of Rights
Compromise created protections for individual rights.
Boston Tea Party: Seeds of Revolution
Defiance in Boston sparks a movement for independence.
Constitution of the United States
Building a Stronger Government
Constitutional Convention of 1787
Compromise and debate led to the birth of the Constitution.
Declaration of Independence
Declared the colonies' independence from Great Britain and laid out the principles on which the new nation would be built.
Enlightenment Thought Guided U.S. Democracy
Explores Enlightenment influence on America’s founding principles.
Federalist Papers
How arguments and compromises built a nation.
Federalists and Anti-Federalists
Differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the American Revolution.
George Washington and Early Political Divisions
Washington set precedents that shaped the presidency forever.
Government and Daily Life in the Thirteen Colonies
Explore how early settlers built self-rule and community traditions.