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1215
Magna carta
A book about how the principal of how the king can not abuse his power. This was used in the constitution to help to stay away from a strong government. -
Mayflower compact
The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. -
fundamental Orders of Connecticut
It describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers. They wanted the government to have access to the open ocean for trading. -
English Bill of Rights
The bill outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy. -
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The French and Indian Wa
It was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various American Indian tribes -
Albany Plan of Union
It was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America that united in the American Revolutionary War -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification. -
Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence is the pronouncement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. -
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Shay's Rebellion
It was an uprising in western Massachusetts in opposition to high taxes and stringent economic conditions. In September 1786 Daniel Shays and other local leaders led several hundred men in forcing the Supreme Court in Springfield to adjourn. -
Virginia Plan
Drafted by James Madison, and presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan proposed the foundation of what would become the U.S. Constitution: a strong central government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. -
Three-fifths compromise
Three-fifths compromise, compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and the Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. -
New Jersey Plan
William Paterson's New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral (one-house) legislature with equal votes of states and an executive elected by a national legislature. This plan maintained the form of government under the Articles of Confederation while adding powers to raise revenue and regulate commerce and foreign affairs.