-
1200
Magna Carta
Angry nobles wrote this government document to try and take power away from the king and give it to the people. The big ideas were limited government and rule of law. -
Period: 1500 to
Mercantilism
This was the theory that countries depended on wealth. Selling more goods than buying. -
Mayflower Compact
Pilgrims wrote this agreement between individuals to create a government before they came to America -
English Bill of Rights
Parliament wrote this government document to expand rights and power to the people and parliament and limit the king. -
Catos Letters
Cato the Elder and Cato the Younger wrote this collection of newspaper articles to argue against the kings heavy-handed rule -
Period: to
French and Indian War
Trying to win French territory. Britain had to pay for these new lands so they began taxing American colonies -
Stamp Act
Britain was trying to tac American colonies -
Townshend Act
This was a series of laws passed by the British government on the American colonies. They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms. -
Boston Massacre
This was a confrontation in which British soldiers shot and killed many people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. -
Tea Act
The Britsh were trying to save their enterprise so they started the Tea Act, this allowed it so that when tea was being shipped it no longer had to pass through England, it could go directly to the American Colonies -
Boston Tea Party
This was a political and mercantile protest by American colonists because they were angry and frustrated about the taxation on tea. They dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Act
These laws were made to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Boston Tea Party protest -
1st Continental Congress
Delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies joined and met in reaction to the Coercive Acts/Intolerable Acts. -
Lexington and Concord
These were the first military engagements of the Revolutionary War. -
2nd Continental Congress
Delegates reconvened after the Revolutionary war had begun. -
Common Sense
Thomas Paine wrote this to convince colonists to break away from England/Britain -
Declaratory Act
Declaration by the British parliament that accompanied the repeal of the stamp act. -
Declaration of Independent
This was written to explain why the 13 colonies were seeking to become independent. There are many significant parts written by the founding fathers that we still follow today.
