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Period: to
Colonial Times
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Founding of Jamestown
A group of wealthy people made a new attempt to establish an English colony in North America. They formed the Virginia Company of London. Some founders hoped to discover gold or silver. Lumber could be cut, they could trade with Indians for fur, and farmers could plant vineyards. It barely survived it's first year. -
House of Burgesses
It could pass laws and set taxes . Shared power with Virginias appointed governor, who could veto its acts. The House of Burgesses was the start of representative government in North America. -
Mayflower Compact
About 100 pilgrims sailed for Virginia on a ship called the Mayflower, but a storm blew them off course.They landed in Massachusets.They called it Plymouth. They believed that they didn't have to go by the rules of Virginia Company. So they made the Mayflower Compact. 41 adult men signed it. It called for a governmennt that would make and follow "just and equal laws." -
Navigation Acts
The first Navigation Act was passed. The laws were designed to protect British economic interests in colonial trade and to prtoect its industry against the rapidly growing Dutch navigation trade. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon orginized a force of 1,000 westerners and began attacking and killing Native Americans. The governer declaired that Bacon and his men were rebels. He reacted by attacking Jamestown, burning it to the ground, and forcing the governer to run away. His Rebellion collapsed when he became sick and died. -
English Bill of Rights
It restated many of the rights in the Mgna Carta, such as trial by jury. It upheld habeas corpus. Finally required that Parliament met regularly an declared no monarch could levy taxes or raise an army without the consent of Parliament. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required that all colonists buy special tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities. The stamps had to be placed on newspapers, wills, licenses, insurance policies, land titles, contracts, adn other documents. -
The Boston Massacre
An angry crowd of workers and sailorssurrounded a small group of soldiers. They shouted and through snowballs and rocks at the soldiers. The soldiers got frightened and started shooting. They killed five of them and wounded six. -
The Boston Tea Party
A large crowd gathered in the harbor. A large group of men disguised as Native Americans boarded the tea ship. During the next three hours, they threw 342 cases of tea into the harbor. The raiders destroyed 90,000 pounds of tea worth thousands of dollars. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
There were three attacks. The first and second attacks failed. The third succeeded, only because Americans ran out of ammunition and had to retreat. -
Common Sense
A 50 page pamphlet was published in Philadelphia. The pamphlet stimulated broad support for independence. Thomas Paine wrote it. He ridiculed the very idea of rule by kings. 500,000 pamphlets were sold between January and July of 1776. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a docukment explaining why the colonists wanted to get rid of British rule. Thomas Jefferson wrote it. -
The Crisis
Another pamphlet by Thomas Paine. He urged Americans to support the army, despite hard times. Washington had the Crisis read sloud to his troops. -
Batle of Saratoga
The Batle of Saratoga marked a major turning point in the war. It ended the British threat to New England and destroyed British hopes of an easy victory. -
Treaty of Paris
Congress approved treaty. The war was officially over. Britain recognized the independence of the united states. New boundaries were set.
