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Jun 1, 1215
Magna Carta
Date: June 1215
Description: Magna Carta was a document that King John of England was forced into signing. King John was forced into signing the charter because it greatly reduced the power he held as the king of England and allowed for formation of a powerful parliament. The Magna Carta became the basis for English citizens rights. -
Period: Jun 1, 1215 to
American Government
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The Virginia House of Burgesses
Date: July 30, 1619
The House of Burgesses enacted legislation for the colony of Virginia. Legislation passed by The House of Burgesses was subject to veto by governor, council and the directors in London. One of the most prominent laws passed by the House of Burgesses in the 1660s prior to this law. Africans were allowed only to be used as indentured servants. The law required that Africans and their off-spring were to be treated as life long slaves. The Virginia House of Burgesses was active u -
May Flower Compact
Date: November 11, 1620
The Mayflower Compact, signed by 41 English colonists on the ship Mayflower on November 11, 1620, was the first written framework of government established in the United States. The compact was drafted to prevent dissent amongst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth a few days earlier -
Articles of Confederation
Date: February 14, 1776
This first constitution was composed by a body that directed most of its attention to fighting and winning the War for Independence. It came into being at a time when Americans had a deep-seated fear of a central authority and long-standing loyalty to the state in which they lived and often called their "country." The Articles of Confederation were in force from March 1, 1781, until March 4, 1789, when the present Constitution went into effect. -
Declaration of Independance
Date: July 4, 1776
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this -
Constitution
Date: May 14, 1787
The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on May 25. Through discussion and debate it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention would draft an entirely new frame of government. -
Civil War
Date: April 12, 1861
Description: The civil war restored the union. The reason why the Civil War came about was because the United States was split into two; the Union and the Confederacy. The goal was to restore the Union, eventually it involved emancipation to the slaves. Reconstruction was a time period of rebuilding the southern states. -
Teddy Roosevelt and The Progressives
Date: August 31, 1910
Description: Over a hundred years ago, on August 31, 1910, Teddy Roosevelt gave his famous “New Nationalism” speech in Osawatomie, Kansas. In that speech the former president projected his vision for how the federal government could regulate the American economy. He defended the government’s expansion during his presidency and suggested new ways that it could promote “the triumph of a real democracy.” -
The Great Depression
Date: 1929
The Great Depression was a period of worldwide economic depression that lasted from 1929 until approximately 1939. The starting point of the Great Depression is usually listed as October 29, 1929, commonly called Black Tuesday. This was the date when the stock market fell dramatically 12.8%.the great depression was important because it kind of pushed the US into a better economic system. there were laws set afterward to attempt to prevent something like that from happening again. -
The 1960s and the shift in the political parties
