Important U.S. Government Documents

Declaration of Independence

Written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776.

Declaration of Independence

Mentioned how King George committed lots of unfair grievances against the American colonists.

Declaration of Independence

States that the American colonists wanted to dissolve all political connections with England.

Declaration of Independence

Where American colonists have long desired for more political & economic sovereignty, but they are continuously denied of those privileges by the British.

Declaration of Independence

Showed the colonists' belief in unalienable rights that are exercised from birth.

Declaration of Independence

Thanks to this document, trial by Jury is now Federally protected under the Sixth Amendment.

Declaration of Independence

Thanks to this document, states (within the USA) are allowed to exercise non-federal laws within their own borders.

Declaration of Independence

The phrase “all men are created equal” was eventually used as inspiration for the 14th Amendment.

Declaration of Independence

Bill of Rights corresponds to the “unalienable Rights” mentioned in this document.

Declaration of Independence

This document laid the foundations for the modern-day practice of popular sovereignty.

Articles of Confederation

Written by John Dickinson in 1777.

Articles of Confederation

A document where most power was bestowed upon the states, not the Federal government.

Articles of Confederation

States were granted the same representative power despite their population sizes under this document.

Articles of Confederation

If 9 of the 13 states agreed on a topic, this document considered that situation to be a “super majority.”

Articles of Confederation

Under this document, states cannot alliance anything between them without an official Congressional assembly.

Articles of Confederation

Under this document, the United States would have zero authority to standardize weights & measures used domestically.

Articles of Confederation

This was the first Constitution of the United States.

Articles of Confederation

The lack of Federalism within this document proved unsuccessful & was later revised in the Constitution.

Articles of Confederation

Thanks to this document, if someone commits a crime & then flees to another state, they can still be extradited back to the state in which they committed the crime.

Articles of Confederation

This document established that states still need to respect each other’s court records & criminal records.

Articles of Confederation

This document idealized how states cannot secede since they are perpetually unified.

U.S. Constitution

Written by James Madison in 1787.

U.S. Constitution

Established a republican-style gov’t over the confederacy under the Articles of Confederation.

U.S. Constitution

Contains a preamble & 7 articles.

U.S. Constitution

Legislative powers were granted to Congress according to this document.

U.S. Constitution

Defined that the United States Congress would have a bicameral legislative (Senate & House of Representatives).

U.S. Constitution

Congress has limited in its powers.

U.S. Constitution

Allocates for 3 branches

U.S. Constitution

This document can be amended later on.

U.S. Constitution

This document still serves as the ultimate law of the land (on U.S. soil).

U.S. Constitution

Under this document, states can elect 2 representatives for the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Constitution

To this day, the House of Representatives grants an amount of representation to each state based on their population size.

U.S. Constitution

The three branches have checks & balances to prevent abuse & protect people’s rights.