Constitutional Foundations--History

The document discusses several key events and issues that influenced the founding of the United States Constitution: 1) The English Civil War in the 1600s established debates around the rights of Parliament versus the monarch; 2) The 13 original colonies were established between 1607-1629 for different reasons but had self-governance traditions; 3) The French and Indian War and subsequent British taxation of the colonies without representation led to tensions and the American Revolution; 4) The Articles of Confederation, the first governing framework, had several weaknesses around sovereignty, taxation, and economic issues that necessitated the Constitutional Convention.