Some Important Documents Regarding America's Founding
The Articles of Confederation were the first governing framework of the United States of America, adopted in 1777 and ratified in 1781.
They contained 13 articles. Each article dealt with topics such as the powers of Congress, relations among the states, military matters, finances, and amendment procedures.
The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation in 1789 because the Articles created a national government that was widely viewed as too weak.
The Framers of America drew heavily from:
Articles of Confederation (1776-1777)
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SMAN-107/pdf/SMAN-107-pg935.pdf
The English Bill of Rights (1689)
https://users.ssc.wisc.edu/~rkeyser/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/English-Bill-of-Rights1.pdf
The Magna Carta (1215)
https://minio.la.utexas.edu/webeditor-files/coretexts/pdf/121520magna20carta.pdf
Commentaries on the Laws of England - Blackstone (1765–1769)
https://lonang.com/wp-content/download/Blackstone-CommentariesBk1.pdf
English common law
https://ia601602.us.archive.org/6/items/commonlawofengla01odgeuoft/commonlawofengla01odgeuoft.pdf