Growth of a New Government Adopted in 1781 as America's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation soon proved inadequate for governing the young nation. By 1787, the United States was in crisis. The states, officially united in a loose...

Confederation Years Successful British settlement of the New World began in 1607 at Jamestown on the coast of present-day Virginia. By the mid-1700s, thirteen colonies, under British control, had been established. They included Massachusetts, Rhode...

Continental Congress Excerpt from "Land Ordinance of 1785" Issued on May 20, 1785, by the Continental Congress Published in Documents of American History, edited by Henry S. Commager, 1943 When Virginia completed the cession, or turning...

Continental Congress Excerpt from "The Northwest Ordinance" Issued on July 13, 1787 Published in Documents of American History, edited by Henry S. Commager, 1943 On July 13, 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a detailed...

In September 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, the first intercolonial meeting since the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. Fifty-five elected delegates from twelve colonies (excepting Georgia, Florida, Quebec, and Nova Scotia)...

Body of delegates that acted for the American colonies and states during and after the American Revolution.The First Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in September 1774, was called by the colonial Committees of Correspondence. The delegates...

The Continental Congress was the first de facto national government of the United States. It was a provisional government without a legal basis and was completely dependent on the colonies for political direction, funding and other resources. It...