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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta signed
Magna CartaThe Magna Carta was signed my King John by force to reduce his matriarch power and to establish a strong Parliament. The Magna Carta consisted of 37 English laws, some new, some old, some adopted.Today the Magna Carta is considered the foundation of the English and then American liberty. Parts of the Magna Carta can be detected in the American Constistution -
Mayflower Compact signed
Mayflower CompactThe Mayflower Compact was written as soon as the First Settlers landed at New Plymouth. The compact contained fair laws for the good of the people. It was created to establish a new government in the settlement. 41 men signed the Mayflower Compact and it became the foundation of government for the settlers. -
Formation of the New England Confederation
New England ConfederationThe New England Confederation was formed to guarantee the territory of each colony in New England. It also drew up a bare bone government in which voting and representation was practiced. -
Albany Plan of Union announced
Albany Plan of Union The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to try and unite the colonies in 1754. Benjamin Franklin wrote the Albany Plan of Union to join the colonies together to fight and come out of the French and Indian War victorious. -
Congress Meets for the First Time
Congress Meets The first time Congress met, they were located in Philadelphia at Capernter's Hall. Excepting Georgia, every colony sent delegates to the meeting. The delegates were voted to go by the people. During the meeting, one of the main concerns was to converge the states into more of a nation, since they were independently functioning before. -
Articles of Confederation Signed
Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation were the first attempt in America to form a constitution. After five years of trying to get approval by the Congress and all the states, It gave all power of the Federation to a Central body, or the Confederation Congress. It was a huge step in creating a successful Constitution, but it had holes. It was not productive in keeping the states orderly. -
The Newburgh Conspiracy
Newburgh Address The Newburgh Conspiracy was the result of things left unfinished after the war ended, such as pay, food and clothing accounts, and many other things that the officers of the war wanted. An anonymous, who later turned out to be Colonel Warner Stewart, wrote an unsigned letter threatening to abandon the army if the requirements were not met. -
Treaty of Paris (1783) Signed
Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris ultimately ended the Revolutionary War. Britain agreed to remove all of its troops from America and also consider America as an independent nation. This treaty also rearranged the boundaries of the United States. It finished off the old relationship between Britain and America. -
Spain Closes Mississippi River
Spain Closes Mississippi RiverSpain closed the Mississippi River because they were claiming a lot of the land to the west and south of the river, and Spain wanted to prevent America from claiming their land. Spain had colonies set up around the Mississippi River, and they made Spain more powerful, which made them quite unwilling to give up the territory. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
Land Ordinance The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a law that the Congress passed to allow the sale of land in the Northwest. It became a basis on selling land. The Land Ordinance also helped to make education more of a mandatory policy. -
Ordinance of Religious Freedom
Ordinance of Religious FreedomThomas Jefferson wrote an Ordinance stating the no man should be forced upon any sort of religion or religious practice. It was first passed by the Virginia legislature and later became a basis for the first amendment of the Constitution. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's RebellionThis rebellion was led by Daniel Shay, a former Revolutionary War captain who was now a farmer in western MA. Because of a new law in MA, farmers had to pay taxes in silver and gold. Since the farmers didnt have any gold or silver, the state began taking their farms away. So, a group of rebels took over the armory in Springfield and threatened the state courts. They finally retreated after the MA militia was called out to end the rebellion. -
Annapolis Convention
Annapolis Convention The Annapolis Convention was a convention held be 12 delegates from 5 states (NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA) who called a constitutional convention. The delegates were upset that there weren't enough states represented in the meeting, so they had a hard time reaching an agreement. The only result of the convention was a report that requested a larger convention with more represented states. -
Constitutional Convention Opens
Constitutional ConventionThe Constitutional Convention, located at the state house in Philadelphia, met to make a Constitution for a federal republic. It lasted nearly three months and consisted of 55 delegates representing all of the states. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Northwest OrdinanceThe Northwest Ordinance is known for greatly explanding the United States into areas previously forbidden. It also helped in the advancements of education, civil liberties, and also the release of the slaves. The plan was originally created by Thomas Jefferson. -
The Great Compromise Agreed To
The Great Compromise The Great Compromise was a proposal that the Congress should contain two houses- the senate and the House of Representatives. Each state was to have 2 senators and the number of representatives would be based on population. This system satisfied all states, large and small. It combined two of the dominant proposals, which made it the greatest compromise. -
Constitution Sent to the States for Ratification
ConstitutionOn September 20, the Constitution was read out loud for the first time in front of the Congress of Confederation. Eight days later, it was aprroved to be sent out to the states to begin the process fo ratification. Two thirds of the states had to ratify the Constitution in order to put it into action. In other words, 9 states had to like the Constitution for it to work. Luckily, all 13 states ratified the Constitution, which began our government as we know it. -
Federalist Papers appear
The authors of the Federalist papers were to help the ratification of the Constitution. There was a total of 85 papers written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. The Federalists supported the Constitution and wanted the states to ratify it. Federalist papers continued to show in newpapers and journals from November of '87 to August of '88. -
Anti-Federalist Articles Appear
Anti-Federalist PapersAnti-Federalist papers started showing up in newpapers around America in November of 1787. These papers stressed their distaste of the Constitution. They were usually anonymous, but it was suspected that a man named Richard Henry Lee wrote most of the letters. Anti-Federalists were mainly concerned about the division of powers among the three branches of government. They apposed the aristocrats, and various other ideas that the Federalists supported. -
Delaware Ratifies the Constitution
Delaware Ratifies ConstitutionEarlier in the year(November 26), Delaware elected 30 delegates to a state convention to ratify the Constitution. They met in Dover at a tavern and unanimously became the first state to ratify the Constitution. -
Massachusetts Ratifies the Constitution
MA Ratification of the ConstitutionMassachusetts is the 6th state to ratify the Constitution, but the first to include a message which contains suggested changes made to the Constitution. Some of the changes Massachusetts wanted to make pertained to protecting the states and some protected the well being of the individual. -
New Hampshire Ratifies the Constitution
NH Ratifies ConstitutionNew Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, which in turn put it into official effect. New Hampshire also included changes they wanted to see in the Constitution. They say that Congress should have no right to disarm any citizen unless he has been actively rebelling. -
George Washington Elected President
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the first president of the United States of America. He remains the only president to recieve 100% of the electoral votes. On April 30th, Washington gave his oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York. He only ran for 2 terms, which established the guidelines as such. -
Bill of Rights Sent to the States for Ratification
Bill of Rights Sent for RatificationOn this day, George Wahington responded to the requests of the Congress to send out copies of the Bill of Rights to the states to begin the process of ratifying it. There were 12 amendments that were sent out to the states, and each amendment had to recieve approval from three quarters of the states to be ratified. -
Bill of Rights Ratified
Bill of RightsWithout this Bill of Rights, it is likely the United States of America would turn to tyranny and a central government that does not take any say from the people. The Bill of Rights is a compilation of amendments of the Constitution that met the arguments most brought up about it. 12 proposals for amendments were introduced, but only amendments 3 to 12 were approved by three fourths of the Congress, thus creating the first ten amendments.
