The Founders and the United States Constitution:
The world knew only of monarchies and absolute rulers when courageous leaders such a Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and James Madison risked their lives and fortunes to lead the force for an independent United States. Jefferson was the chief author of the Declaration of Independence that the Continental Congress formally issued on July 4, 1776. George Washington led the new nation's army in the Revolution. George Washington, chairman of the Constitutional Convention became the first president under the Constitution. Madison was considered the influential mind of the Constitution and later served as president. The Founders who wrote the Constitution wanted their new nation to last. They knew how hard it was to create a government that could change with times. They had just fought and won a war against a government that had refused to change. That war was the American Revolution.
For over one hundred years, colonies belonged to England and ruled by the King. In 1763, King George III began to demand more taxes from the American colonies. People didn't like having to pay a tax on every little thing on paper, glass, and tea. But they had no one to speak for them in England. After a while, Americans wanted to rebel, to break away from England and become independent.
One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was Benjamin Franklin. He begged the thirteen new states to work together. The King of England sent more than one hundred ships full of soldiers to fight the American rebels. General George Washington led the Revolution against England. During the long Revolutionary War, General Washington gathered around young men from all over the thirteen states. These young men thought of themselves as fighting for a nation, not for their own state back home. Washington treated them like the sons he never had. Six years after the Revolution, in 1787, several of these young men would go to Philadelphia with George Washington to help write the Constitution. The delegates to the Second Continental Congress were aware that they were committing treason by signing the Declaration of Independence. Declaring a rebellion on Britain they were signing their death warrants.
Like the rules of a game the Constitution of the United States is the basic law. These rules are for the United States government and all citizens. The Constitution sets up rules for how laws are made. The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 and has lasted two hundred years, longer than any other written constitution.
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence officially declared the American colonies free and independent. It has become one of the most famous documents in the world. It declares that all men are created equal. It said that the thirteen colonies were now thirteen free states that were free from the King of England. The thirteen states were not united. The rebels didn't know if they could win their revolution. One third of the people in the colonies stayed loyal to the King of England.
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