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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was an example for the founders for how our government should be. The Magna Carta gave people rights to trial by jury and due process of law and these concepts were used and are still used in our country. -
Mayflower Compact
Instead of taking the risk of people taking advantage of not having a ruler, the colony decided to construct the Mayflower Compact. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights showed the founders that the person in power shouldn’t have too much power and that there had to be some system to decide whether the punishment is lawful or not. Since Charles I couldn’t rule by his military, it took away his chances of being a dictator. -
Navigation Act
The Navigation Acts caused resentment in the colonies. They required all of the colonies’ imports come from England even if prices were less expensive somewhere else. They resorted to smuggling. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights largely inspired the United States Bill of Rights. It was a role model because it protects the people from the leader. -
Proclamation of 1763
It regulated colonial expansion and created management the new French colonies. This was the cause for many of the Native Americans’ uprisings. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act reached the colonies at a time when they were having economic difficulties. Raising taxes increased their difficulties. Instead of protesting Taxation Without Representation, they focused on complaining about the economic impact. -
Stamp Act
This was the first time a significant number of colonies came together to stand against the British government. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a huge protest that was sure to get England’s attention and let them know that we didn’t approve of what they were doing. It was a key event leading up to the American Revolution. It triggered events that caused more and more tension between England and the American colonies. -
Coercive Act
These acts outraged Americans. Many colonists saw the acts as a violation of their rights. In 1774, they organized a protest. The Revolutionary War started the next year when tensions escalated. -
First Continental Congress
They decided they needed to take action against the Coercive Acts. This back and forth quarry between England and its colonies eventually led to the Revolutionary War. -
First Shots Fired at Lexington and Concord
This marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress
Without the Second Continental Congress, the American colonies wouldn’t have become the United States. They took action and made it happen by putting together the Declaration of Independence and armies for the Revolutionary War. -
Declaration of Independence
If no other actions made it clear that we didn’t like being ruled by England, this certainly did. We told them that we weren’t part of their empire any longer. There was no clearer way to tell them. A year later, the Revolutionary War began.
