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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
It s list of 63 clauses drawn up to limit King John’s power
most of the charter's ideas were revised or have since been repealed, the Magna Carta's fundamental tenets provided the outline for modern democracies -
Jamestown Settled
Jamestown Settlement tells the story of 17th-century Virginia; from the arrival of English colonists in Jamestown in 1607 to the cultural encounters and events that planted the seeds of a new nation. The world of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English colony, comes to life through film, gallery exhibits and outdoor living history. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower, consisting of separatist Congregationalists who called themselves "Saints", and adventurers and tradesmen, most of whom were referred to by the Separatists as "Strangers". -
Petition of Rights
'The Petition of Right, 1628' was an English document that helped promote the civil rights of the subjects of King Charles I.
The Petition of Right contained four main points:
1. No taxes could be levied without Parliament's consent.
2. No English subject could be imprisoned without cause--thus reinforcing the right of habeas corpus.
3. No quartering of soldiers in citizens homes.
4. No martial law may be used in peacetime. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights is an act that the Parliament of England passed on December 16, 1689. The Bill creates separation of powers, limits the powers of the king and queen, enhances the democratic election and bolsters freedom of speech.
The English Bill of Rights, which was an act of Parliament, guaranteed certain rights of the citizens of England from the power of the crown. The Bill of Rights was later added on by the Act of Settlement in 1701 -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, suggested by Benjamin Franklin,
The American colonies lacked any true sense of union, and most colonists were still loyal to the British government. -
Stamp Act
The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -
Boston Massacre
The Massacre was the 1770, pre-Revolutionary incident growing out of the anger against the British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Acts. The troops, constantly tormented by irresponsible gangs, finally on Mar. 5, 1770, fired into a rioting crowd and killed five men: three on the spot, two of wounds later. -
Boston Tea Party
American colonists dressed as Native Americans throwing 342 trunks of the cargo that was on the British tea ships into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. The Boston Tea Party was a violent protest by American colonists against King George III's rule in America. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were the American Patriots' term for a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in throwing a large tea shipment into Boston harbor. -
First Continental Congress
On September 5, 1774, delegates from each of the 13 colonies except for Georgia (which was fighting a Native-American uprising and was dependent on theBritish for military supplies) met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress to organize colonial resistance to Parliament's Coercive Acts. -
American Revolution
The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America. Starting in 1765, members of American colonial society rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them and to create other laws affecting them without colonial representatives in the government. -
Second Continental Congress
On May 10, 1775, what became known as the Second Continental Congress was called into session as the British stormed Boston in an attempt to arrest the patriots that publicly voiced their grievances against the crown. With the bloody fights at Concord and Lexington fresh in their minds, the delegates of twelve of the thirteen Colonies came together in Philadelphia to draw up a statement of positions in regards to the actions of the British Parliament. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, states the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence in July of 1776. -
Articles of Confederation
This was an agreement among all thirteen original states in the United States of America that served as its first constitution
It was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789. -
Shays Rebellion
Shays’ Rebellion is the name given to a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. -
Constitution Convention
In September 1786, at the Annapolis Convention, delegates from five states called for a Constitutional Convention in order to discuss possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation. TheConstitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787. -
Connecticut Compromise
It was an agreement that large and small states reached during theConstitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained thebicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states. Each state would have two representatives in the upper house. -
Philadelphia Convention
Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madisonand Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.
