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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is an English legal document written in 1215 CE which had a huge influence on the developing legal system of England. Because England's legal system was used as a model by many former colonies when they developed their own legal systems, the Magna Carta also had an impact on many other governments. Many legal historians believe that the Magna Carta is one of the most important documents of all time, and several copies of it are on display around the world for interested parties t -
Jamestown
The Jamestown Colony was settled in 1607, thirteen years before the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock and is the site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Three ships landed containing a total of 104 men and boys, all sponsored by the Virginia Company of London which hoped to expand English trade and, of course, make a profit. Each of these early settlers was required to meet a financial obligation by sending back trade goods to the Company that sponsored them. -
Virgina House Of Burgesses Convenes
Created in 1619, the House of Burgesses was an assembly of elected representatives from the Virginia settlement. It was the first representative assembly in the colonies and it served as a model for other colonies. The House of Burgesses met in Williamsburg, Virginia throughout the colonial period. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact is a written agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. They had traveled across the ocean on the ship Mayflower which was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The Mayflower’s passengers knew that the New World’s earlier settlers failed due to a lac -
Petition of Right
A petition sent by the English Parliament to King Charles I complaining of a series of breaches of law. The petition sought recognition of four principles: no taxation without the consent of Parliament, no imprisonment without cause, no quartering of soldiers on subjects, and no martial law in peacetime. To continue receiving subsidies for his policies, Charles was compelled to accept the petition, but he later ignored its principles. -
Great Fundamentals
The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New-Plimouth is one of the oldest items in the Library's collection of American laws. This 1685 book reproduces the contents of a 1671 volume, which was the first edition of the laws to be printed, and adds laws enacted between 1671 and 1684. The Colony of New Plymouth, founded by the Pilgrims who arrived in the Mayflower in December 1620, occupied the southeastern corner of the present state of Massachusetts. It was soon sur -
Fundmental Orders of Connecticut
the spring of 1638 three Connecticut towns, Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, chose representatives and held a general court at Hartford. At its opening session the Reverend Thomas Hooker preached a powerful sermon on the text that "the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people." On January 14 following, by the Julian calendar in use at the time, which would January 24, 1639, by today's Gregorian calendar, the constitution given here was adopted by the freemen of the t -
William and Mary take the English Throne
The crown was accordingly offered to Mary, however William would not agree to rule only in his wife's name, which he considered humiliating. The crown was consequently offered to William and Mary jointly. On her arrival in England, Mary was widely criticised for having no respect for the father whose throne she had come to take and she and Anne were compared to the unfilial daughters of King Lear. James himself wrote bitterly to Mary, disowning her and laying a curse upon her. A devout woman, Ma -
Glorious Revolution Begins
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland and II of Ireland) in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange) who, as a result, ascended the English throne as William III of England together with his wife Mary II of England.
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English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament in December 1689. It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689, inviting them to become joint sovereigns of England. It enumerates certain rights to which subjects and permanent residents of a constitutional monarchy were thought to be entitled in the late 17th century, asserting subjects' right to petition the monarch, as well as to have arms in defence. (T -
John Lock's Two Treatises of Government Published in Europe
ocke's Two Treatises of Civil Government were published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but they were written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s. In this work Locke gives us a theory of natural law and natural rights which he uses to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments. -
Albany Plan of Union Proposed and Considered
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan written by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 for all 13 colonies to unite and fight as one power to win the French and Indian War. It did not pass, however, because colonial legislators did not want to give up control of their own affairs. -
First Battle Of the French and Indian War at Fort Necessity
On May 28, Washington’s forces surprised a group of French and Indians, inflicted heavy casualties and took a number of captives. The colonial forces then hastily constructed the aptly named Fort Necessity, in the Great Meadows not far from Fort Duquesne.
On July 3, the French forces struck back. After a day-long battle — the first of the French and Indian War — Washington signed terms of surrender and returned with his defeated men to Virginia. The French commander treated his opponents lenient -
George III Takes the Throne
George III, unlike his father and grandfather, was born in England. He became heir to the throne when his father Frederick, Prince of Wales, died in 1751 from a lung abscess (believed to be caused by a blow on the chest from a cricket ball) before he could succeed his father. George was shy and stubborn but well educated in science and arts. He became King George III in 1760 following the death of his grandfather. In 1761, after an official search for a suitable wife, he married Sophia Charlotte -
Treaty of Paris signed Ending the French and Indian War
On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed officially ending the Revolutionary War. However, the British stopped fighting in February, 1783. The treaty recognized the colonies as the United States of America. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay all represented U.S. interests and signed it though Benjamin Franklin was the real architect of the treaty. However, American and Great Britain would clash again in the War of 1812. -
Pariament passes The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act of 1764 was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, in part, to cut down on smuggling between the West Indies and the American colonies and also to tighten England's grip on its empire. But mostly the Act was approved to raise money to pay England's national debt caused by the French and Indian War (1754–1763). It was for that reason that the law was also known as the Revenue Act. The Act had three major parts. First, the measure created a complicated system of loading and unloa -
Boston Massacre
A group of British soldiers came to Massachusetts to calm down the colonists, but that didn't work. An angry crowd of 400 people jeered and through snow balls at them, so they started to shoot. They killed three people immediately, they shot two more people which then died from their wounds. -
Stamp Act passed by British Parliament
On March 22, 1765, the Stamp Act was passed by Parliament without debate and was to become effective November 1 of that year. The apparent purpose was to raise £60,000 yearly in the colonies in order to help support the cost of maintaining British troops there, a cost totaling £350,000 annually. In fairness to the colonies, the money collected would remain in America, and Americans would be appointed stamp agents.
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Stamp Act Congress Meets in NYC
he Stamp Act Congress met in the October of 1765 in New York. Delegates from 9 out of the 13 colonies showed up to talk about the recent passing of the Stamp Act which outraged American citizens.
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John Lock's Two Treatises of Government Printed in Boston, MA
Locke's Two Treatises of Civil Government were published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but they were written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s. In this work Locke gives us a theory of natural law and natural rights which he uses to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and to argue for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments. -
Committess of Correspondence are Proposed and Begin
The Committees of Correspondence was a group of people in the colonies who exchanged letters on colonial affairs. -
Parliament Passes the Tea Act
The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, would launch the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which was floundering financially and burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price. The Townshend Duties were still in place, however, and -
Boston Tea Party
On the evening of December 16, 1773, a group of men calling themselves the "Sons of Liberty" went to the Boston Harbor. The men were dressed as Mohawk Indians. They boarded three British ships, the Beaver, the Eleanor and the Dartmouth, and dumped forty-five tons of tea into the Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable/Coercive Acts Passed by British Parliament
The reaction in Britain was one of anger and a feeling that Massachusetts must be punished, as an example to the other colonies. The government rushed a series of pieces of legislation through parliament: In Britain they were known as the Coercive Acts but the American colonists labeled them "the Intolerable Acts". -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia's Carpenters Hall on September 5, 1774. The idea of such a meeting was advanced a year earlier by Benjamin Franklin, but failed to gain much support until after the Port of Boston was closed in response to the Boston Tea Party. -
Lexington and Concord/First Shot of the Revolutionary War
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were actually the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774, also in Philadelphia. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. -
Common Sense Published
Published in 1776, Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. -
Declaration of Independence
In this tense climate, the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia with the intention of voting for independence from England. In anticipation of this vote, the Congress selected a committee to draft a declaration of independence. The committee, composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, in turn instructed Thomas Jefferson to write the declaration. -
Declaration of Independence Approved and Ratified
he Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and outlined the reasons why the colonies were seeking independence from Great Britain. The document was written by Thomas Jefferson at the suggestion of the other members of the Continental Congress -
Plan for Confederation
hortly after the revolutionary war began at Concord and Lexington, Benjamin Franklin submitted this plan for a united colonial confederation or American republic to the Continental Congress. -
First State Constitution Drafted
All of the delegates were convinced that an effective central government with a wide range of enforceable powers must replace the weaker Congress established by the Articles of Confederation. -
Articles of Confederation Ratified
The process dragged on for several years, stalled by the refusal of some states to rescind their claims to land in the West. Maryland was the last holdout; it refused to go along until Virginia and New York agreed to cede their claims in the Ohio River Valley. A little over three years passed before Maryland's ratification on March 1, 1781. -
Treaty of Paris Officially Ends the Revolutionary War
Treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783. It was signed in Paris by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. Under the terms of the treaty, Britain recognized the independent nation of the United States of America. Britain agreed to remove all of its troops from the new nation. The treaty also set new borders for the United States, including all land from the Great Lakes on the north to Florida on the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. -
Economic Depression Begins And Hits Massachusetts
As the evidence piled up to suggest that the Articles of Confederation were an ineffective framework of government, criticism poured in from all areas of the nation. The depression that struck in 1784 hit Massachusetts particularly hard. Despite financial hard times, the state legislature voted to pay off the state's war debts by 1789. This necessitated a huge tax hike, which further hindered the financial situation of the majority of Massachusetts' residents. -
Meeting at Mt. Vernon
Was a meeting that was an extension of the Alexandria, Virginia meeting between Maryland and Virginia delegates on matters of commerce, navigation and fishing rights on the Potomac River. Because it managed to work out an agreement, it is seen as a stepping stone to the 1787 convention in Philadelphia which produced the US Constitution. -
Ordinance of 1785
he Ordinance provided that sections be offered to the public at the minimum bidding price of one dollar per acre or a total of $640. Jefferson and other members of Congress hoped that competitive bidding would bring in receipts far in excess of the minimum amount. The meager treasury of the Confederation sorely needed every dollar it could find. -
Shay's Rebellion Begins
Shays' Rebellion forcibly demonstrated the dangers to which the new nation was vulnerable because of her weak national government. Daniel Shays, a farmer in eastern Massachusetts, led armed uprisings that extended as far east as Concord. The rebels managed to close the courts in Berkshire, Hampshire, and Worcester counties, preventing lawsuits for the collection of debts, and nearly took the federal arsenal at Springfield. The cause of Shays' Rebellion was partly the refusal of the Massachuset -
Annapolis Convention
The Annapolis Convention was a meeting at Annapolis, Maryland of 12 delegates from five states (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia) that called for a constitutional convention. The formal title of the meeting was a Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government. The defects that they were to remedy were those barriers that limited trade or commerce between the largely independent states under the Articles of Confederation. -
Daniel Shay's attack on Springfield Arsenal
The critical battle of the rebellion was Shays' attack on the government arsenal at Springfield in January 1787, the only means of standing off troops who were advancing from Boston under General Benjamin Lincoln. At the arsenal, the defending militia commanded by General William Shepard unexpectedly fired their cannons into the ranks of the advancing rebels, killing four and wounding 20. -
Constitutional Convention Begins in Philadelphoa, PA
On May 25, 1787, a week later than scheduled, delegates from the various states met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. Among the first orders of business was electing George Washington president of the Convention and establishing the rules--including complete secrecy concerning its deliberations--that would guide the proceedings. (Several delegates, most notably James Madison, took extensive notes, but these were not published until decades later.) -
Virginia Plan Proposed
On May 29, 1787, Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph proposed what became known as "The Virginia Plan." Written primarily by fellow Virginian James Madison, the plan traced the broad outlines of what would become the U.S. Constitution: a national government consisting of three branches with checks and balances to prevent the abuse of power. In its amended form, this page of Madison's plan shows his ideas for a legislature. It describes 2 houses: one with members elected by the people for 3-year te -
New Jersey Plan Propsed
The New Jersey Plan was a proposal for the US Constitution. It was focused on insuring that small states got an equal share of representation in the government. In the final compromise, the New Jersey Plan served as the model for the current US Senate, every state has the same representation, regardless of size and population. -
Connecticut Compromise Propsed
The Connecticut Compromise of 1787 in the United States, later known as the Great Compromise, was struck in the creation of legislative bodies. It joined the Virginia Plan, which favored representation based on population, and the New Jersey plan, which featured each state being equal. Roger Sherman, from Connecticut, played a large role in constructing the compromise.
The compromise proposed two houses: a lower house which was elected in proportion to population, and an upper house, where the p -
Northwest Ordinance
When the Revolution ended, the Articles of Confederation Congress made a decision on how the territory they got from the British would be governed. Called the Northwest Ordinance, it was originally the area north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. Now, all the territories west of the Mississippi River also are under the same system. Later, acts of Congress allowed people in some territories to decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty. Texas was the only independent -
3/5 Compromise
The 3/5 Compromise stated that a slave would count as 3/5 of a person in terms of both taxation and representation. It was called a compromise because it settled the ongoing arguments over regional power between the North and South. Then, they compromised that a slave would be counted as 3/5 of a person towards the total population. -
Compromise on Commerce and the Slave Trade
The two issues that the Commerce & Slave Trade Compromise dealt with were whether Congress should be able to regulate trade and whether the United States should continue with slave trading. The North felt that Congress should control trade and also that they should put an end to slave trading. The South was not sure of Congress regulating trade and, of course, wanted slave trade to continue. Again, the compromise was that Congress would be allowed to fairly control trade and the South would be a -
Delaware Ratifies Constitution
The first state to ratify was Delaware, by a unanimous vote. Delaware’s ratification was short, sweet and to the point. Delaware ratification was very important to the United States it showed the first sign of a revolution and is a good example to the other states. -
Pennsylvania Ratifies Constitution
Pennsylvania was the second state to make a ratification of the Constitution. They held this meeting at the Pennsylvania State House; now know today as Independence Hall. The twenty-one out of the twenty-three members of the state legislature who voted signed this constitution. -
New Jersey Ratifies Constitution
New Jersey was the third state to do so. New Jersey's message included several paragraphs describing the Constitutional Convention and several more paragraphs that described when the state legislature met to discuss the ratification and when the public was warned about deliberations on the Constitution. -
Georgia Ratifies the Constitution
George representatives unanimously vote 26 to 0 to ratify the constitution. Only two people out of the four delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention signed the constitution, Abraham Baldwin and William Few. This constitution says a little about each of the constitutions made before them and then it goes into how they are going to be governed. -
Connecticut Ratifies Constitution
This Constitution just like Delaware’s was short and sweet and to the point. It was signed and agreed to by one hundred and twenty-eight. The constitution says it wants to pursuant to an act of legislature have assented to and ratified and by this constitution make a better United States of America. -
Shay's Rebellion is Defeated
Shay’s Rebellion was the post-Revolutionary clash between New England farmers and merchants. It tested the new republic and threatened to plunge the states into a civil war. The rebellion began in Massachusetts and spread to other states. It came to an end with the election of a more popular govern and an economic upswing. -
Massachusetts Ratifies Constitution
Ratification of the Constitution by the State of Massachusetts, February 6, 1788. Massachusetts was the sixth state to do so. Massachusetts's ratification message was the first to include a list of desired changes to the Constitution, some of which were to protect states and some of which were to protect individuals. -
Maryland Ratifies Constitution
Maryland was the seventh state to ratify the constitution. The constitution written by a clergy. -
South Carolina Ratifies Constituion
South Carolina was the eighth state to do so. South Carolina's ratification message included several small suggested changes to the Constitution, including one to say "no other religious test" rather than "no religious test" in Article 6, an indication that the oath to the Constitution was considered by this body as a religious oath. -
New Hampshire Ratifies Constitution
New Hampshire was the ninth state to do so, and with its ratification, the Constitution was officially in effect. New Hampshire's ratification message included several suggested changes to the Constitution, including one which would said "Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion. -
US Constitution Ratifies by the Necessary 9 States
9 of the 13 states helped to ratify the US constitution -
Virginia Ratifies Constitution
Virginia ratified the Constitution in two steps. The first was the declaration of ratification. The second was a recommendation that a bill of rights be added to the Constitution, and that a list of amendments also be added in accordance with Article 5. -
New York Ratifies Constitution
New York was the eleventh state to do so. The assent of Virginia and of New York was seen as essential to the success of the Constitution, and though they were tenth and eleventh to ratify, it is generally agreed that until they both ratified, succes was in doubt. New York's ratification message is the longest by far, and includes a declaration of rights and many suggested changes to the Constitution. -
US Constitution Adopted/Constitution Day
On September 17, 1787, a majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention approved the documents over which they had labored since May. -
Constitutional Convention Ends
Following a signing ceremony on September 17, most of the delegates repaired to the City Tavern on Second Street near Walnut where, according to George Washington, they "dined together and took cordial leave of each other." -
Congress meets for the first time in Federal Hall in NYC
Congress of March 4, 1789, important is that it was the first to convene after the ratification of the Constitution,* and thus marks the beginning of modern American governance. The first meeting of Congress had 21 senators (representing 11 states – New York only had one senator until July 1789) and 58 members of the House of Representatives. -
George Washington takes his Oath of Office as the First President of the United States
On April 16, 1789 Washington began the journey from his home at Mount Vernon to New York City, then the nation's capital, where he would be inaugurated. Washington was reluctant to leave the serenity of his home and uncertain about his new position -
North Carolina Ratifies Constitution
North Carolina was the twelfth state to do so. North Carolina held a ratification convention in 1788, convening on July 21 and adjourning on August 4. At that convention, the convention drafted a "Declaration of Rights" and a list of "Amendments to the Constitution," but in the end, the convention voted "neither to ratify nor reject the Constitution proposed for the government of the United States." -
Rhode Island Ratifies Constitution
Rhode Island was the thirteenth state to do so. Rhode Island's ratification message is lengthy, with a list similar to that of New York's, listing a bill of rights and listing several proposed amendments. Most of the amendments were not original, having been suggested in prior ratification documents. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen states to ratify the Constitution. -
Bill of Rights Ratified
During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government.
