United StatesPolitical Timelines
The American experiment in self-government, from independence to the amendments that widened the vote.
Turning points
- 1776July 4
Declaration of Independence
The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration, arguing that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
- 1781Confederation
The Articles of Confederation
The first national charter took effect in 1781. It left the central government without power to tax, and within a few years many leaders wanted something stronger.
- 1787September 17
The Constitution signed
The Philadelphia Convention produced a federal system with separated powers. Ratification followed a fierce public debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
- 1791December 15
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments were ratified, a promise made during ratification to those who feared a strong central government.
- 1801Transfer
The first change of party
After the bitter election of 1800, power passed from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson peacefully, a precedent every later transfer has relied on.
- 1803The Court
Marbury v. Madison
Chief Justice John Marshall's opinion established that federal courts may strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution.
- 1861–65War
The Civil War
Eleven Southern states seceded and war followed. The Union was preserved and slavery ended with the 13th Amendment in 1865.
- 1868Citizenship
The 14th Amendment
It defined national citizenship and promised every person the equal protection of the laws, the basis of many later court decisions.
- 1920August
The 19th Amendment
Women won the constitutional right to vote after decades of campaigning that began well before the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.
- 1965August 6
The Voting Rights Act
Passed after the Selma marches, it outlawed literacy tests and other discriminatory devices at the polls.
- 1974August 9
Watergate and resignation
Richard Nixon resigned as the House moved toward impeachment, the only presidential resignation in American history.
- Today
Twenty-seven amendments
The 27th Amendment, first proposed in 1789, was ratified in 1992. The document is still argued over, and still in force.