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Sep 20, 1215
Magna Carta
This document required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties. It is the first document forced onto the King of England in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. -
Jamestown Settled
In June of 1606, King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish a satellite English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America. On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company explorers landed on Jamestown Island to establish the Virginia English colony on the banks of the James River, 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. -
Mayflower Compact
It was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. It set forth principles of tolerance and liberty for the government of a new colony in the New World -
Petition of Right
It was an English constitutional document produced by the English Parliament that declares specific liberties. It is most notable for its confirmation of te principles that taxes can be levied only by Parliament, that martial law may not be imposed in time of peace, and that prisoners may be able to challenge the legitimacy of their detentions through the writ of habeas corpus. -
English Bill of Rights
It limited the powers of sovereign and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in Parliament, the reauirement to regular elections to Parliament and the right to petition the monarch without fear. The ideas reflected those of the political thinker, John Locke: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. -
Albany Plan of Union
It was proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in Albany, New York. It was an early attempt of forming a unio of colonies. It called for the general government to be administered by a President General apointed and supported by the Crown, and a Grand Council to be chosen by the representative of the colonial assemblies. -
Stamp Act
In order to help cover the cost of the war between Great Britain and France, British officials began to establish new taxes in the Colonies. This law required all colonists to pay a tax to Great Britain on all of the printed materials that they used, newspapers, magazines, and even playing cards. All of these materials were required to have a stamp placed on them, in order to show that the tax had been paid. -
Boston Massacre
British troops were stationed in Boston. A mob formed and the soldierd fired into the crowd. British redcoats killed five civilian men. -
Boston Tea Party
It was a direct action by colonists in Boston against the British government that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. -
First Continental Congress
It was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was called in response to the Intolerable Acts that had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts
They were a series of laws passed by teh British Parliament relating to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts triggered outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies. Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the British Tea Party. -
Second Continental Congress
It was a convention of delegates from the thirteen colonies that started meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It managed teh colonial war effort and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. -
American Revolution
The thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. It was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government -
Declaration of Independence
It was adopted by the Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson composed the original draft. It announced that the thirteen American colonies declared themselves as independent states and no longer party of the British Empire. The declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted to declare independence from Great Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
It was drafted by the Continental Congress in 1776-1777 and ratified in 1781. It was an agreement among the 13 states and served as the first constitutional for the US. This document covered the army, foreign policy, taxation and commerce, and accomplishments of the confederation. -
Shay's Rebellion
It occured in central and western Massachusetts. Debt-ridden farmers, struck by the economic depression that followed the American Revolution, petitioned the state senate to issue paper money and to halt foreclosure of mortgages on their property and their own imprisonment for debt as a result of high land taxes. The farmers fought and protested against the government. -
Constitution Convection
It took place at the State House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their main goal was to revise the Articles of Confederation. -
Philadelphia Convention
It took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to address problems in governing the United States of America. It was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation. Delegates elected George Washington to preside over the convention. -
Connecticut Compromise
It was an agreement between large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. Thus, our modern day House of Representatives and Senate were formed.
