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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Latin for "the Greater Charter". Grant of rights agreed by King John of England. It was to make peace between the King and a group of rebel barons. It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, and access to swift justice.
It's important to us because that the Founding Fathers used many of the principles first codified in the Magna Carta. -
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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was the North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years' War. The war was fought between the colonies of British America and New France, with both sides supported by military units from countries of Great Britain and France, as well as Native American allies. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. -
Proclamation of 1763
It was issued by the British Board of Trade under King George III of England after the French and Indian War in order to accomplish several main goals. The goals were to establish governments for their new territories gained after the war, to encourage peace between colonists and remaining Indians tribes and to keep colonists confined to the coasts for purposes of easier taxation and trade with the mother country. -
Sugar Act
Also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was the first tax on the American colonies forced by the British Parliament. Its purpose was to raise revenue through the colonial customs service. -
Stamp Act
An act of the British Parliament in 1756 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents. Colonial opposition led to the act's repeal in 1766 and helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown.
It was important because the colonist got mad. The whole taxation without representation thing. Eventually, they declared independence. -
Declaratory Act
Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act. It reaffirmed Parliament's unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies.
An attempt by Britain to regulate the behavior of its colonies. It angered the colonists in America, and was one of the reasons leading up to the War of Independence in 1776. -
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Townshend Acts
The townshend acts were passed to put taxes on a variety of goods including glass, lead, paper, tea, and paint.
The acts posed an immediate threat to established traditions of colonial self-government, especially the practice of taxation through representative provincial assemblies. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry.
Important because it helped calls for ending the relationship between the American colonists and the British. It was also crucial in galvanizing colonial society against the British, which led to the Revolutionary War. -
Tea Act
It was designed to bail out the British East India Company and expand the company's monopoly on the tea trade to all British Colonies, selling excess tea at a reduced price.
It was a contributing factor to the Americcan Revolution. Colonists did not not like the idea of taxation without representation, and the tax on tea was a lightning rod for their grievances. It led to the Boston Tea party, British retaliation and eventually Revolution, which in turn led to the founding of the USA. -
Boston Tea Party
A raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor in which Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company.
The Boston Tea Party gave the colonists the motivation to stand up for their rights and to ultimately risk their lives by going to war for their independence. It is also important for its inspiration, not only to America. -
Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts were known as the Intolerable Acts in America and were passed by England after the Boston Tea Party. The acts included the Boston Port Act, Quarting Act, Administration of Justice Act, and the Massachusetts Government Act.
Probably the most important significance though is that these acts would lead to the summoning of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September of 1774. -
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1st Continential Congress
Was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to "The passage of the Coercive Acts" (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost.
The main importance of the Battle of Bunker Hill was that it made it clear that the Revolution was going to be a long and drawn-out war that could not be easily ended. -
Publication of Common Sense
Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in January 1776, but it was not published as a pamphlet until February 14, 1776.ommon Sense[1] is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence in clear, simple language. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776. -
Independence Day
Also known as Fourth of July or July Fourth. It is a federal holiday to show respect to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
It is important to us because we celebrate the values that the country was founded and the United States officially becoming a country. -
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Battle of Saratoga
After Burgoyne had captured Fort Ticonderoga in July 1777 his troops ran into trouble and became exhausted, supplies ran short, etc. He then sent an expedition to Bennington to capture American supplies but a force of New England militia met them and defeated them. his men were surrounded near Saratoga by the Continental Army, he surrendered. This battle was the turning point of the war and convinced France to aid the American cause. -
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Articles of Confederation
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781.
This document is important because it made the union of the thirteen colonies legal and identified them as sovereign states. -
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Valley Forge
Valley Forge was the military camp in southeastern Pennsylvania, where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 during the American Revolutionary War. Starvation, disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed over 2,500 American soldiers by the end of February 1778.
The American "Continental" Army suffered great physical hardships at Valley Forge, but it emerged from the ordeal as a trained force for the first time capable of defeating the British Army in a European-style battle. -
Federalist Papera
Appeared in three New York newspapers: The Independent Journal, the New-York Packet, and the Daily Advertiser, beginning on October 27, 1787. Between them, Hamilton, Madison and Jay kept up a rapid pace, with at times three or four new essays by Publius appearing in the papers in a week.
They remain important today as a guide to understanding the founders' intent for each Article of the Constitution, and are sometimes factored into judicial decisions. -
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Shays' Rebeliion
An uprising led by a former militia officer, Daniel Shays, which broke out in western Massachusetts in 1786. Shays's followers protested the foreclosures of farms for debt and briefly succeeded in shutting down the court system. Although the rebellion was easily overcome, it persuaded conservatives of the need for a strong national government and contributed to the movement to draft the Constitution.
Its important, because it scared American elites enough to make a new Constitution. -
Great Compromise
A compromise adopted at the Constitutional Convention, providing the states with equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives.
It was important because it led to the creation of the senate and the House of Representatives. It settled the balance of power between large and small states. -
Constitution
United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America.
It was important because the Constitition is important because it outlines all of our rights as citizens. It gives a complete list of all the things that we can do, and the rights that we have. It established America's national government and fundamental laws. And its ammendments protects us, it protects us from each other, and it protects us from our own governement, etc. -
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Whiskey Rebellion
When a federal marshal came to PA to serve papers on people who had not paid the whiskey tax. The news of this prompted some 500 men to arm and attack the home of the federal tax inspector. It ended in October ,1794 after federal troop arrived.
Its important becuase it showed that the constitution was strong after George Washington send out troops to end it before during the articles of confederation the americans had no military to end such a rebellion.
