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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
First document to limit King of Englands powers by law and protect subjects privileges. King John was forced to sign it by feudal barons. -
Jamestown Settled
Colonists chose Jamestown Island for their settlement largely because the Virginia Company advised them to select a location that could be easily defended from ocean-going navies of the other European states that were also establishing New World colonies and were periodically at war with England, notably the Dutch Republic, France, and especially Spain. -
Mayflower Compact Written
First governing document of Plymouth Colony. Signed by 41 of the ship's 101 passengers, While the Mayflower was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor within the hook at the northern tip of Cape Cod. -
Petition of Right
A major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. It was restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. King Charles I signed it after House of Lords and Commons forced him. -
English Bill Of Rights
An Act of the Parliament of England passed. It limits on the powers of sovereign and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in Parliament, the requirement to regular elections to Parliament and the right to petition the monarch without fear of retribution. It reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for their defence within the rule of law, and condemned James II of Englan -
Albany Plan of Union
It was suggested by Benjamin Franklin at Albany Congress in Albany, New York. It was an early attempt to get colonies to form one government. But it was rejected by both sides which included loyalists. It was inspirational for writing the Articles of Confederation. -
Stamp Act
A direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War. -
Boston Massacre
It was killing of 5 colonists and injuring 6 more. British Army soldiers opened fire to the mob in British sentry. Caused the colonist to hate the British even more. One African American was killed and his name was Crispus Attucks. -
Boston Tea Party
It was a political protest by Sons of Liberity in Boston, Massachuetts with British Government and East India Company. The Sons of Liberity dressed as Indians and threw tea off Britishs' ships into Boston Habor. -
Intolerable Acts
Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party of December 1773; the British Parliament hoped these punished Acts make colonists become loyal again. This Consist of Boston Port Act, Massachuetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act, and Quebec Act. -
First Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from twelve British North American colonies at at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. The Convention was called together to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. Attended by 56 members of chosen legislature of 13 colonies. -
American Revolution Begins
About 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town's common green. -
Second Continental Congress
A convention of delegates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. The convention managed the colonial war effort, and moved towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Convention is as same as First Continental Congress. -
Declaration Of Independence
A statement adopted by the Continental Congress that the thirteen American colonies, regarded them as independent states and no longer part of British Empire. -
Articles Of Confederation
Articles of Confederation was for the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. These were 13 Colonies of Early America. This is first Constitution for United States. -
Shay's Rebellion
An armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts and was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and one of the rebel leaders. Caused by financial difficulties brought about by a post-war economic depression, a credit squeeze caused by a lack of hard currency, and fiscally harsh government policies instituted in 1785 to solve the state's debt problems. -
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Philadelphia Convention
Meeting that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. -
Connecticut Compromise
An agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. -
Philadelphia Convention A.K.A Constitution Convection
Meeting that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain.
