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Period: to
Colonial Era
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Founding of James town
In June of 1606, King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish a satellite English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. By December, 104 settlers sailed from London instructed to settle Virginia, find gold, and seek a water route to the Orient.about half of the group as "gentlemen," it was logical, indeed, for historians to assume that these gentry knew nothing of or thought it beneath their station to tame a wilderness. -
Founding of the Virginia House of Burgesses
was the first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America and to make conditions in the colony more agreeable for its current inhabitants.Its first meeting was held in Jamestown, Virginia,The House's first session accomplished little. It was cut short by an outbreak of malaria. The assembly had 22 members. -
Massachusetts bay founding
The Puritans wanted to create a colony where they would be free to practice their religion.John withrope gave his famous speeach "a city apon a hill" after they arrived in massachusetts the speech expessed the embody spirits of the Puritans who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony. -
First Great awakening
a religious revival swept through the British American colonies. there were people who refused to convert to the Church of England, became concerned that New Englanders were becoming far too concerned with worldly matters.There were 2 major groups that were apart of the great awakening the New and Old lights. -
Fundamental orders of connecticut
representatives from the towns of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor, meeting at Hartford. Thomas Hooker, John Haynes, and Roger Ludlow were most influential in framing the document. Its provisions for voting in what is now Connecticut reveal how far from democratic it actually was. However, this deficiency is no reflection on the importance or soundness of the document, for political democracy. -
Maryland Act of Toleration
a law mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. it was the second law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies and created the first legal limitations on hate speech in the world.The Act allowed freedom of worship for all Christians in Maryland, but sentenced to death anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus. -
Halfway covenant
was a form of partial church membership created in 1662. church of England felt that the people of the English colonies were drifting away from their original religious purpose. First-generation settlers were beginning to die out, while their children and grandchildren often expressed less religious piety, and more desire for material wealth. -
King Philp's war
was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants , New England and English colonists and their Native American allies .The war was the single greatest calamity to occur in seventeenth-century Puritan New England. In the space of little more than a year, twelve of the region's towns were destroyed and many more damaged, the colony's economy was all but ruined, and much of its population was killed, including one-tenth of all men available for military service. was end by a treaty in 1678 -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon, a young, wealthy Englishman who had recently settled in the backcountry of Virginia. The opinion that all Indians were enemies was also shared by a many other Virginians, especially those who lived in the interior. It was not the view however of the governor of the colony William Berkeley.Berkeley declared Bacon a rebel and charged him with treason and was arrested, -
Leisler Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion happened in New York City. It was between landholders and merchants. Jacob Leisler led this rebellion and gained control of lower colonial New York. This rebellion was very significant because it established resentment against British domination and increased tension between colonists and the British. -
Salem witchcraft Trials
The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts december 1692 More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft the Devil's magic and 20 were executed.christians had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain people known as witches the power to harm others in return for their loyalty. -
John Peter Zenger trial
was accused of libel legal term used when you published information that was opposed to the government. Truth or falsity were irrelevant. He never denied printing the pieces. The judge therefore felt that the verdict was never in question.hes attorney Andrew Hamilton which was the most famous attorney in the colonies at the time. -
Stono Rebellion
It was the largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies.They recruited nearly 60 other slaves and killed 22–25 whites before being intercepted by the South Carolina militia near the Edisto River. In that battle, 20 whites and 44 slaves were killed, and the rebellion was largely suppressed. A group of slaves escaped battling a week later with the militia. Most of the captured slaves were executed a few survivit. South Carolina legislature passed the Negro Act of 1740 restricting slave -
Period: to
Revolutionary Era
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The French and indian war
The war was fought primarily between the colonies of British America and New France, with both sides supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, who declared war on each other in 1754. In the same year, the war escalated from a regional affair into a world-wide conflict.it is also know as seven years war. both sides also had the help of the indians. -
Proclamation of 1763
it was end of the French and Indian War in 1763 was a cause for great celebration in the colonies, for it removed several ominous barriers and opened up a host of new opportunities for the colonists. The first thing on the minds of colonists was the great western frontier that had opened to them when the French ceded that contested territory to the British. the proclamation in effect closed off the frontier to colonial expansion. it also aloud the French in canda to move in the area. -
March of Paxton boys
a group of Paxton Boys began a march on the capital, the number of participants has been estimated to be between 600 and 1,500. As the mob neared Philadelphia, panic reigned. The strange spectacle of pacifists arming themselves with muskets and rolling cannon into public squares was observed. the "Remonstrance of Distressed and Bleeding Frontier Inhabitants," was delivered by Matthew Smith and James Gibson on behalf of the Paxton frontiersmen. -
Stamp Act
imposed a direct tax by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America, and it required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money.Was the first direct tax, -
Boston Massacre
was an incident in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men and injured six others. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry, who was subjected to verbal abuse and harassment. -
Boston Tea party
was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, a city in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the tax policy of the British government and the East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history, -
Lexington and Concord
was the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. 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.About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. -
Olive branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Continental Congress in a fortified attempt to avoid a full-blown war between the Thirteen Colonies that the Congress represented, and Great Britain. The petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated the king to prevent further conflict. However, the Petition succeeded the Declaration of Taking up Arms which made its efficacy in London dubious.the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion. -
common sense
written by Thomas Paine that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in. In clear, simple language it explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence. It was published anonymously at the beginning of the American Revolution to become an immediate sensation. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. . Washington had it read to all his troops, -
Declaration of Independence
a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on which announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a union that would become a new nation—the United States of America. A committee had already drafted the formal declaration, to be ready when congress The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III. -
writing of the AOC
was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution.Its drafting by the Continental Congress and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification. The formal ratification by all 13 states was completed.Nevertheless, the weakness of the government created by the Articles became a matter of concern for key nationalists. -
Writing of the constitution
The United States Constitution was written during the Philadelphia Convention. After ratification in eleven states, elected officers of government assembled in New York City, replacing the earlier Articles of Confederation government. Following its establishment, the original Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times. The meaning of the Constitution is interpreted and extended by judicial review in the federal courts.
