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Virginia House Of Burgesses
The 1619 Formation of the Virginia House of Burgesses established a precedent of democratic govenrment in the American Colonies. The legal document portrayed in this segment is associated with the Virginia Hosue of Burgesses. "1754 Virginia Document Signed by John Madison." Scraps Of American History. N.p., 2011. Web. 2 Feb.
2011. <http://www.scrapsofamericanhistory.com/catalog/
index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=140_141&pro -
Period: to
The Road to Democracy
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Mayflower Compact
The general rule of law for American colonies at large. "The Mayflower Compact." Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of North Carolina. N.p., 19
Aug. 2008. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. http://www.ncmayflower.org/mayflowercompact.htm. -
King Charles the First of England faced execution at the hands of the English Parliamentary government
This introduced the concept of the lawful prosecution and execution of a monarch legitimized by a just cause of the people. -
French and Indian War
This war established Britain as the primary authority in the continent. “...hearing of new French forts on the upper Allegheny River, sent out a young Virginia officer, George Washington, to deliver a letter demanding that the French leave the region...Washington noted that the point of land at the junction was an excellent spot for a fort...the British started to build a fort there...but French troops soon arrived and threw them out." -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a tax passed that required all American colonists to pay a tax on the paper they used. The Americans did not like the Stamp Act because they thought it violated their rights. Parliament repealed the act a year after it was imposed. “An Act for granting and applying certain stamp duties... towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing... as direct the manner of determining and recovering the penalties and forfeitures." -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
Pivotal Battle in the Revolutionary war where British General Thomas Gage writes, “[I have] received intelligence of a large quantity of military stores being collected at Concord...It appears ...that the march of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith was discovered... they proceeded to Concord, where they destroyed all the military stores they could find...the return of the troops they were attacked from all quarters...The loss sustained by those who attacked is said to be great.” -
Publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense
giving voice to a great many ideals held by the beleaguered American populace. -
Declaration of Independence
The formal iteration of the idealistic democratic state.
