Which 1787 document created the federal government celebrated by America250?

The United States Constitution created the federal government whose history is celebrated by America250.

Delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia drafted the Constitution in 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation. The Articles had created a looser national arrangement with a weak central government. The Constitution instead established separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches and gave the federal government defined powers.

The document was signed on September 17, 1787, then sent to the states for ratification. It took effect after the required number of states ratified it, and the new government began operating in 1789. The Constitution remains the oldest written national constitution still in use.

The Constitution did not declare independence; the 1776 Declaration did that. Nor is it the same as the Federalist Papers, which were essays supporting ratification. America250’s broader historical context therefore includes both the Revolutionary founding and the constitutional system that followed it.