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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta Signed
Is an English Charter that was issued in 1215. It was also reissued in the 13th century in a modified version which omit certain temporary provisions. The charter first passed into law in 11225. The 1297 version still remains on the statue books of England and Wales. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Iroquois Confederation
An association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America. After the Iroquoian-speaking peoples coalesced as distinct tribes, based mostly in present-day upstate New York, in the 16th century or earlier they came together in an association known today as the Iroquois League, or the "League of Peace and Power". -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Seperation of Powers
The separation of powers, is a model for the governance of both democratic and federative states. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the uncodified Constitution of the Roman Republic. -
Period: to
Colonial Legislatures
The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the 13 colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. -
Mayflower Compact Signed
First governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by colonists known as Pilgrims the crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. Signed on this date by 41 of the ship's 102 passengers. -
Period: to
Written Constitutions
A set of laws that a set of people have made and agreed upon for government—often as a written document—that enumerates and limits the powers and functions of a political entity. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. In the case of countries and autonomous regions of federal countries the term refers specifically to a constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of a government. -
Period: to
New England Confederation Approved
A political and military alliance of the English colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Established May 29, 1643. Its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan colonies against the Native Americans. -
Parliament Established
It was instigated by Simon De Montfort. It first me on January 20 1265, and dissolved on February 15 1265. The parliament agreed to a constitution formulated by De Montfort. -
Leviathan
Written by Thomas Hobbes which was published in 1651. It's titled after the Biblical Leviathan. Concerns the structure of society and Legit Government. It's one of the most infulential examples society contract theory. -
Two Treatises of Government
It's a work of political Philosophy and was published in 1689 by John Locke. The First Treatise attacks patriarchalism in the form of sentence-by-sentence refutation of Robert Filmer'sPatriarcha and the Second Treatise outlines a theory of political or civil society based on natural rights and contract theory. -
English Bill of Rights Established
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. -
On the Spirit of Laws
is a treatise on political theory first published anonymously by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in 1748 with the help of Claudine Guérin de Tencin. Originally published anonymously partly because Montesquieu's works were subject to censorship, its influence outside of France was aided by its rapid translation into other languages. -
Adopted Albany Plan of Union
Proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754, at the Albany Congress. It was an early attempt at forming an uniion of the colonies. Franklin's plan of union was one of several put forth by various delegates of the Albany Congress. -
The Social Contract
The notion of the social contract implies that the people give up sovereignty to a government or other authority in order to receive or maintain social order through the rule of law. It can also be thought of as an agreement by the governed on a set of rules by which they are governed. -
Period: to
Commentaries on the Law of England
Are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765-1769. -
Period: to
First Continental Congress Meets
It was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies. They met on September 1, 1774 at Carpenter's Halln in Philidelphia. -
Second Continental Congress Meets
Was a convention of Delegates from the Thirteen Colonies. They met on the Beginning on May 10, 1775 in Philidelphia. It managed the colonial war effort and moved towards independence. -
Enlightment
a term sometimes employed to describe the intellectual culture of the British North American colonies and the early United States (as they became known following the American Revolution). It was a part of a larger intellectual movement known as the Age of Enlightenment. Influenced by the scientific revolution of the 17th century, the Enlightenment took scientific reasoning and applied it to human nature, society and religion. -
Commom Law
also known as case law, is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action. A "common law system" is a legal system that gives great precedential weight to common law, On the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different occasions. -
Declaration of Independence Signed
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. -
Period: to
Articles of Confederation
First Constitution in the USA. Specified how the national government was to operate. Articles started being used beginning in 1777. Under articles states retained sovereignty over government functions. -
Constitutional Convention Meets
Constitutional convention is a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution. -
Period: to
Ratification of The Constitution
It was within the power of the old Congress to expedite or block the ratification of the new Constitution. The document that the Philadelphia Convention presented was technically only a revision of the Articles of Confederation. But the last article of the new instrument provided that when ratified by conventions in nine states, it should go into effect among the States so acting. -
Period: to
Bill of Rights
Name of the first ten amendments of the United States. Introducecd by James Madison ti the first United States Cngress meet in 1789. The Bill of rights are a series of limitations of power of the United States Federal Government.
