The First Constitution
Chapter 2
Section 3
Nation’s Earliest Governments
• Even before the Declaration was signed, colonial
leaders were writing state constitutions to replace
the old colonial charters
• Jan. 1776: New Hampshire is first state to write
constitution
Constitution: a written plan for
government
Nation’s Earliest Governments, continued
• By 1780, Massachusetts became the last state to
draft its own constitution
• These state constitutions set up governments similar
to each other. Each state had
– a governor, elected by the state legislature or the
citizens
– a judicial/court system
– a bicameral legislature, like the English Parliament.
Bicameral: two houses
Massachusetts Constitution:
Perfect Example
• Even though Massachusetts was the last state to
write its constitution, this would be the model for
the U.S. Constitution we use today.
• At this time, however, the country was unified
under a different constitution:
The Articles of Confederation
As the situation with Great Britain worsened
and the first shots of the war were fired,
Americans realized that they must organize a
national government of the country’s best
men.
The Second Continental Congress met from
May 10, 1775 until March 1, 1781. This would
serve as America’s governing body during the
war.
“A league of friendship”
• In 1777, the Second Continental Congress
drafted the Articles of Confederation
• The AOC established a “league of friendship”
among independent states
• This is known as America’s first constitution, but
it would only survive for less than 10 years.
Confederation:
group of individual governments who
band together for a common purpose.
The Articles of
Confederation were
sent to all the states to
be ratified in 1777, but
were not passed into
law until 1781.
At this point, the
Second Continental
Congress became the
Confederation
Congress.
Finally, in 1783 the United States became an
independent nation when it defeated Great
Britain and signed the Treaty of Paris,
declaring peace between the two nations.