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Period: Sep 6, 1200 to
Colonial America
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Sep 8, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was a document that King John of England was forced to sign that required him to proclaim certain liberties. It established that his power wasn't absolute and a trial by jury. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is an English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. It challenged the kings divine rights and stated that the monarchy is subject to the laws of the land. -
English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights laid out certain basic rights for all Englishmen. The Act stated that there should be no royal interference with the law, no taxation by Royal Prerogative, and only civil courts, not Church courts, were legal among many other things. It was designed to prevent abuse of power by the monarchy. -
Albany Plan of Union
In June 1754 delegates from most of the northern colonies and representatives from the Six Iroquois Nations met in Albany, New York. There they adopted a plan of union that was drafted by Benjamin Franklin. It aimed to unite the 13 colonies trade, military, and other purposes. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was an incident in which the redcoats killed five civilian men. The incident started when a mob formed around around a British sentry, who was eventually supported by a small company of troops that fired into the crowd without orders. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an action by colonists in Boston against the British government and the East India Company in reaction to the Tea Act. After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists dressed as Indians boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament that had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. During the meeting the delegates consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; publishing a list of rights and grievances; and petitioning King George III for redress of those grievances. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the13 colonies. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress that announced that the 13 American colonies regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution or plan of government of the US and specified how the national government was to operate. The Articles legitimized the Congress in its supervision of the American Revolution, its diplomacy with Europe, and its handling of territorial issues. Nationalists complained that it was too weak, and after extensive debate it was replaced by the current Constitution. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts. There was a lack of an institutional response to the uprising, which energized calls to reevaluate the Articles of Confederation. -
Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan was a proposal by Virginia delegates, for a bicameral legislative branch. The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. -
New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government at the Constitutional Convention. The plan was created in response to the Virginia Plan. The less populous states were opposed to giving most of the control of the national government to the larger states and proposed an alternate plan that would have given one vote per state for equal representation under Unicameral Legislature. -
Philadelphia Convention
The Philadelphia Convention took place to address problems in governing the United States of America. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution.
