For America's 250th anniversary, what 1787 document created the framework of the U.S. federal government?

For America's 250th anniversary, the 1787 Constitution of the United States created the framework of the U.S. federal government.

Delegates met at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia from May to September 1787. Rather than simply revise the Articles of Confederation, they produced a new governing document that divided authority among a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary.

The Constitution established the federal government’s basic structure and described relationships between the national government and the states. It was signed on September 17, 1787, then sent to the states for ratification. The required ninth state, New Hampshire, ratified it on June 21, 1788, allowing the new system to take effect in 1789.

The Constitution is often confused with the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration announced separation from Great Britain in 1776; the Constitution organized the government of the new United States. The Articles of Confederation preceded it but created a weaker central government.