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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
Also known as the Great Charter.Established that the power f the monarchy was not absolute and guaranteed trial by jury and due process of law to the nobility. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin proposed the creation of annual congress of delegates from each of the 13 colonies. That body would have the power to rais militay and naval forces, make war and peace with Native Americans, regulate trade with them, tax and collect customs duties. -
Boston Tea Party
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. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia from Sept. 5 to Oct. 26, 1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. They also attempted to define America's rights, place limits on Parliament's power, and agree on tactics for resisting the aggressive acts of the English Government. -
Declaration of Independence
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. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation established "a firm league of friendship" among the States. In effect, the Articles created a structure that more closely resembled an alliance of independent states than a government "of the people." -
Shay's Rebellion
An armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts. The rebellion is named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolution who led the rebels, known as "Shaysites" or "Regulators". -
Philadelphia Convention
They met to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. Although the Convention was purportedly intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was from the outset to create a new government rather than "fix" the existing one.
