-
Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The purpose of this document was to give English noblemen rights that the king couldn't take away. It inspired colonists to believe they also deserved those rights from the king and they began to demand them. Some similarities with this document show up i the Bill of Rights. -
Jamestown Settled
Jamestown was America's forst permanent settlement. The colonists were hit very hard by environment and the old labor routine of the nobles refusing to do work. The settlement endured with the help of James Smith and established England's stand in the Americas. -
Mayflower Compact Written
The settlers of Plymoth knew that previous settlements had failed due to lack of government so they created the Mayflower Compact to give themselves structure. They decided that the colony would follow English rule, and this was a huge step forward because this government was set up byu the people to be governed for once. -
Petition of Right
This document was created by parliament to in response to King Charles's behavior in conductiong the Thirty Years War and incurring loans from various people for it without consent of the people. The document had four basic principles of no taxation without representation, no quartering soldiers in a time of peace, due process, and no martial law in a time of peace. These principles would be used by colonists in their protests and resistance. -
English Bill of Rights
Enacted by Parliament in cooperation with William and Mary to guarantee more rights to Parliament and the people. These rights included freedom of speech in Parliament, the right to petition the king, regular elections to Parliament, and the right of protestants to have arms in defence. -
Albany Plan of Unioin
Banjamin Franklin suggested this plan at the Albany Congress of 1754 and it was approved at the congress but shot down by Brittan and the colonial governments. This idea would form a type of council with appointed representative from each colony that would meet and be a central union for the colonies. When independence was declared, this idea gave much insporation into the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution and was also resuggested by loyalists. -
Stamp Act
This act taxed various types of printed papers such as newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents that colonists needed. The tax was imposed to recover money from the Seven Years War and it only affected teh colonies. People stood up because their right to no taxation without representation had been violated. -
Boston Massacre
Protesters formed outside a British government building in protest of the unpopular laws and began to be beligerent to a British sentry. Other soldiers formed up on the lone sentry to help and fired into the crowd out of fear. This incident incited hostility from the colonists from what they saw as mistreatment. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty protested the British tea taxes by dumping the tea from three British cargo ships into Boston Harbor after the ships had been held there by Boston officials in their protest. This marked a spark of resistance for the Revolution and inspired people to fight back. -
Intolerable Acts
These acts were issues by Brittan to help make the colonists cooperate. Four acts directly punished Massachusetts in response to the Boston Tea Party and there wre a few others that colonists grouped in because of timing. These acts incited colonists to host the First Continential Congress in response. -
First Continential Congress
Deleagtes from every colony except georgie (due to distance and wishing for Bitish help with Indians) came together to dicsuss the issue of the Intolerable acts. Here men came together to take a stand against Britan. -
American Revolution Begins
The war began with the Battle of Lexington when British troups killed 8 American minutemen on the green in Lexington and sparked the entire revolution. This all started with "the shot heard round the world" because revolutionists were defending an arsenal that the troops came to cease and sadly the troops won this short battle, but started a war they couldn't win. -
Second Continential Congress
This congress succeeded the first and was the one that accepted the Declaration of Independance as official and managed the war effort. It became known as the Congress of Confederation after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. This congress was essential to victory in the American Revolution. -
Declaration of Independence
This act taxed various types of printed papers such as newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents that colonists needed. The tax was imposed to recover money from the Seven Years War and it only affected teh colonies. People stood up because their right to no taxation without representation had been violated. -
Articles of confederation
This was the first constitution of the Unisted States and was adopted in 1777, but ratified by the states in 1781. It formed the United states, but made the states so much more powerful than the federal government that it could barely get anything done. -
Shay's Rebellion
This rebellion involved Revolutionary War vereans who were poor shutting down court houses to postpone tax enactments and other costs because of lack of money due to the war. This event helped influence the Constitutional Convention of how the nation was reformed for taxes and the economy. -
Connecticut Compromise
This compromise was the decision on how the Constitution would dictate for the Legislature to be run. It decided that there would be two houses of Congress with the upper being equal representation of each state and the lower being proportional representation of each state by population. -
Philadelphia Convention
This convention was called together to revise the Articles of Confederation. The assembly made Washington the leader of it and actually ended up dropping the Articles of Confederation for the American Constitution. -
Constitution Convention
This convention came out of the Philedelphia Convention when they decided to drop the Articles of Confederation and creat the American Constitution. It is basically the Philedelphia Convention renamed when the goal changed. These policies included the Three-Fifths Claus and the Connecticut Compromise. The Constitutioin went our for ratification after this convention.
