-
albany plan of union
The plan is noteworthy in several respects. First of all, Franklin anticipated many of the problems that would beset the government created after independence, such as finance, dealing with the Indian tribes, control of commerce, and defense. In fact, it contains the seeds of true union, and many of these ideas would be revived and adopted in Philadelphia more than thirty years later. The royal counselors need not have worried; the colonists were not ready for union, nor were the colonial. -
second continental congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the thirteen colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun.When the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10, 1775 it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Continental Congress. -
shays rebellion
A wave of farm foreclosures in western Massachusetts swept the young republic to its first episode in class struggle.Opposition had coalesced around Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran -
virginia plan
The scope of the resolutions, going well beyond tinkering with the Articles of Confederation, succeeded in broadening the debate to encompass fundamental revisions to the structure and powers of the national government.The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers bicameral legislature with the dual principles of rotation in office and recall applied to the lower house of the national legislature. -
boston tea party
The Boston Tea Party was a key event in the growth of the American Revolution.On December 16, 1773, 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. -
first continental congress
The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and petitioned King George III for redress of those grievances.The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. -
articles of confederation
The Articles were created by delegates from the states in the Second Continental Congress out of a need to have "a plan of confederacy for securing the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the United States." Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national government -
boston massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British regulars on March 5, 1770.The first British troops arrived in Boston in October 1768 and from then onwards there was continuous antagonism between the people of Boston and the those trying to enforce the King's rule -
english bill of rights
Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of this kingdom.•That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal -
magna carta
John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings.The content of the Magna Carta was drafted by Archbishop Stephen Langton and the most powerful Barons of England.
