- By the time the Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, the 13 colonies had already begun waging war against the British government.

The colonies wanted to be free from Great Britain and form a new nation with a new government.

But there was just one problem.

Each colony had its own idea of how to govern.

How could they fight a war together if they didn't share the same vision of what they were fighting for, and what would happen if they actually did defeat the British?

What would the government look like for this new nation?

(upbeat music) Tensions between the colonists and Great Britain started heating up following the end of the French and Indian War.

The proclamation of 1763 restricted the Colonist Westward settlements, and Britain issued new taxes like the Stamp Act, which added charges to everyday items.

These moves by Great Britain angered the colonists, sparking protests, and bringing them closer to a revolution.

Then in 1774, delegates or representatives from the colonies came together to hold a meeting about what to do with these escalating problems.

This was called the First Continental Congress.

When things didn't die down like they had hoped, the delegates came back together for a series of meetings beginning in 1775.

This was known as the Second Continental Congress.

In 1776, delegates agreed that it was time for them to sever ties with Great Britain and form a new nation.

That's when the delegates wrote the greatest breakup letter of all time, the Declaration of Independence.

And like any juicy breakup, this document didn't spare any details, it was organized in three main parts: the Preamble, Grievances, and Declaration.

The Preamble talked about the natural rights of people and gave reasons for the document itself.

The Grievances section listed out all of the ways Great Britain wronged the colonies and why independence was necessary.

Basically, it's not me, it's you.

And the final part had the actual Declaration of Independence where the colonists told Britain it's over.

All of the delegates of the second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, including three people from Georgia, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton.

Even though the colonies agreed that it was necessary to break away from Great Britain, there wasn't much of a plan on how to govern themselves once the American Revolutionary War began.

And that's a problem when, you know, you're trying to form a new nation.

So in 1777, the Continental Congress drew up the Articles of Confederation.

This would become the United States' first Constitution or Frame of Government.

It outlined a league of friendship among the states.

Together, they would work to provide for essential government, and this was by design.

The colonists had just ever ties from Great Britain because they were tired of being ruled by a tyrannical king.

So they were weary of giving too much power to the central government, and instead, wanted the people or the states to have control.

Under the Articles of Confederation, all the central government could really do was declare war, make money, establish post offices, and send and recall ambassadors.

There wasn't even an executive branch with the president, or judicial branch with courts to run our nation.

At the same time, the United States adopted its first national constitution, Georgia created its first state constitution.

It was simple too.

It was a governor, but he didn't hold much power, and could only serve one term.

The legislative branch, which had one House, had the real power, and could override any of the governor's decisions.

The state Constitution also established a judicial branch, but this was only to handle disputes between counties and other cases of law within the state.

Within a few years, it was obvious that the Articles of Confederation and the Georgia Constitution had some major issues.

At the national level, there was no regulation on trade between states, so states began putting tariffs or taxes on each other.

The national government couldn't impose taxes to fund itself.

Instead, it had to ask the states for money, and that was a problem because each state had its own currency.

In the League of Friendship, each state had one vote when it came to making decisions about the central government.

That meant that more-populated states like Virginia had the same voting power as less-populated states like Georgia.

And Georgia's state Constitution had its fair share of problems too.

Issues began popping up that were too complex for a simple state government to handle.

So both the United States and the state of Georgia decided they needed to design a better system of government.

In 1787, each state sent delegates to Philadelphia to address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

This gathering was called the Constitutional Convention.

Georgia's delegates were Abraham Baldwin, William Few, William Pierce, and William Houstoun.

During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and create an entirely new framework of government.

But what exactly would that look like?

Some delegates, including Abraham Baldwin, wanted to keep equal representation among the states, like the Articles of Confederation had established.

Others like William Houstoun wanted representation determined by population, meaning that states with more people would have more power in the central government.

Before Georgia's delegates voted on the issue of representation, there was a tie.

After Georgia voted, there was still a tie.

And what do you do when there's a disagreement?

- [Announcer] Fight to the death!

- No, no, no, no, no, you compromise.

Known as The Great Compromise, the result was the establishment of two houses in Congress, or the legislative branch, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Each state would have equal representation in the Senate.

In the House of Representatives, a state's population would decide how many seats it got.

For states that allowed slavery, another deal was made called a Three-Fifths Compromise.

It said that when determining a state's population, every five enslaved people would be counted as three free people.

This gave slave holding states like Georgia more power in the House of Representatives than they would have had if only free paper were counted.

The new Constitution also established a judicial branch to interpret laws and an executive branch with the President of the United States as its leader to enforce laws passed by Congress.

Now, there would be a more powerful central government.

But because those powers were separated into three branches of government, the Constitution aimed to prevent a single person or branch from holding too much power.

This federal system of government would also allow for checks and balances on each branch to ensure fairness of power.

Georgia, being the youngest state in the nation, supported a stronger national government.

There were disputes between White settlers and Indigenous people in the state, and Georgia wanted the national government to help protect its frontier.

At the same time, Georgia was glad that there were individual freedoms promised in the Bill of Rights, which would keep the national government from overstepping its boundaries and becoming too powerful.

When the Constitution was completed in 1787, only two of Georgia's delegates, Abraham Baldwin and William Few, remained and signed it.

All 13 states ratified the Constitution by 1788, and it has been in operation since 1789.

When the United States adopted its constitution, it meant Georgia needed a new one as well.

The new state Constitution also did away with its one House legislature, and established a bicameral legislature known as the General Assembly.

This meant that Georgia's state government would also have a House of Representatives and Senate.

The state also guaranteed individual freedoms like free speech, trial by jury, and freedom of religion.

Since the late 1700s, a lot has changed in our country and our state.

The U.S.

Constitution has been amended several times, and Georgia's Constitution has also changed to reflect the needs of the state.

But it's important to remember that the freedoms outline in these early documents were not granted to everyone.

Though the language in the U.S.

Constitution's Bill of Rights hasn't changed since it was first adopted, its application has.

Freedoms promised didn't originally extend to all Americans.

Enslaved people, Indigenous communities, women, and many others were excluded from the rights the founders described.

Still, some core principles have remained consistent in Georgia and the United States, the three branches of government and the protection of individual rights, ideals we continue to work toward today.

(upbeat music)