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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is a charter of rights agreed to by King John of England and drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons. It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. -
Jamestown Settled
On December 6, 1606, 104 English men and boys set sail on three boats: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. On May 14, 1607, they settled in Jamestown, Virginia, which was named after their King, James I. This settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was a set of rules for self-governance established by the English settlers who traveled to the New World on the Mayflower. When the pilgrims set out in 1630, they were intending to lay anchor in northern Virginia, but after their ship got drove off course, they ended up in Massachusetts. Knowing life without laws could prove catastrophic, colonist leaders created the Mayflower Compact to ensure a functional social structure would prevail. -
Petition of Right
The petition of right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The petition contains restrictions or non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and the use of martial law. The petition is seen as "one of England's most famous constitutional documents", of equal value to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689. -
English Bill Of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was an act signed by William III and Mary II, who became co-rulers in England after the overthrow of King James II. The bill outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the Monarchy. Many experts regard the English Bill of Rights as the primary law that set the stage for a constitutional monarchy in England. It's also credited as being an inspiration for the U.S. Bill of Rights. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. On this date, representatives from 7 of the British North American colonies adopted the plan. Although it was never carried out, the Albany Plan of Union was the first important proposal to conceive of the colonies as a collective whole united under one government. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first internal tax levied directly on American colonists by the British Parliament. The act, which imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, came at a time when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Years' War(1756-1763) and looking to its North American colonies as a revenue source. -
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American Revolution
The American Revolution arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775, kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing "taxation without representation", dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over colonists. It showed Great Britain that Americans wouldn't take taxation and tyranny sitting down. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of four acts established by the British Government. The aim of the legislation was to restore order in Massachusetts and punish Bostonians for their Tea party. The four acts were: The Boston Port Act, The Massachusetts Government Act, The Administration of Justice Act, and The Quartering Act. -
First Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, which was also the great seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. These were elected by the people, by the colonial legislatures, or by the committees of correspondence of the respective colonies. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia shortly after the war with the British had begun. They had gotten together to plot the course of war, and soon independence. The Congress appointed George Washington as commander of the Continental Army, and authorized the raising of the Army through conscription. -
Declaration Of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the first formal statement by a nation's people asserting their right to choose their own government. As Jefferson drafter it, the Declaration of Independence was divided into five sections: an Introduction, a preamble, a body (in two sections), and a conclusion. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. Its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states. Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. -
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Shay's Rebellion
Shay's rebellion was a series of violent attacks on courthouses and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full-blown military confrontation in 1787. The rebels were mostly ex-Revolutionary War soldiers-turned farmers who opposed state economic policies causing poverty and property foreclosures.The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a farmer and former soldier who fought at Bunker Hill and was one of several leaders of the insurrection. -
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Philadelphia Convention
The Philadelphia Convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of it's proponents, chief among them James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. -
Connecticut Compromise
A plan proposed by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, Connecticut's delegates to the Constitutional Convention, established a two-house legislature. The Connecticut Compromise proposed a solution to the heated debate between larger and smaller states over their representation in the newly proposed Senate
