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Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is a document that established the principle that everyone is subject to the law. It also guarantees the rights of individuals the, right of of justice. -
Jamestown Settled
This was the first successful permanent English settlement in what became the United States. This is now known as Virginia. -
Mayflower Compact
The first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower. -
Petition of Rights
An English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state. This has equal value to the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights. -
English Bill of Rights
A landmark Act in the constitutional law of England that sets out certain basic civil rights. It clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown. -
Albany Plan of Union
This was a plan to create a unified government for the thirteen colonies. This plan was suggested by Benjamin Franklin. -
Stamp Act
An act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America. It required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. The event included some leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest where American colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. They were angry at Britain for imposing taxation without any representation. -
Intolerable Acts
Laws passed by the British Parliament after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were to punish the colonists of Massachusetts for their protest. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from each of the 13 colonies except for Georgia met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress to organize colonial resistance to Parliament's Coercive Acts. The presidents of this were Peyton Randolph and Henry Middleton. -
American Revolution begins
The American Revolution began because British attempted to impose greater control over the colonies and make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War. It occurred in North America. -
Second Continental Congress
A meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America which united in the American Revolutionary War. The presidents of this were Peyton Randolph and Samuel Huntington. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is basically the colonist's motivations for seeking independence. Today we celebrate this every year on July 4. -
Shay's Rebellion
An armed fight in Western Massachusetts in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry. It was also in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades. -
Philadelphia Convention
An event that took place to decide how America was going to be governed. May-September 1787. This took place in the old Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. -
Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It was created by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth.
