Between 1774 and 1789, 13 colonies became a nation -- the United States of America. In 1774, Great Britain's North American colonies first came together to defend themselves against wrongs committed by their "mother country." By 1789, these colonies had become independent states, joined by a new federal constitution into a single nation.

Assembling representatives from every colony, the Continental Congress (1774-1789) provided a platform to those colonists dedicated to resisting the British. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Congress became the central institution for managing the struggle for American independence.

The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789) represented America's first attempt to govern itself as an independent nation. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 proposed a new constitution establishing a much stronger national government. Although this controversial new Constitution provoked a great deal of resistance, it was eventually ratified by the necessary number of states, replacing the Articles of Confederation as the framework of the U.S. government.