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Period: Feb 2, 1200 to
Government Timeline
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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
It required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" (in the sense of non-serf) could be punished except through the law of the land, a right which is still in existence today. -
Petition Of Right
a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.the Petition contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. -
English Bill Of Rights
It was a restatement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689 (or 1688 by Old Style dating), inviting them to become joint sovereigns of England. -
Albany Plan Of Union
Nations met in Albany, New York. There they adopted a "plan of union" drafted by Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. Under this plan each colonial legislature would elect delegates to an American continental assembly presided over by a royal governor. -
Boston Massacre
Was an incident in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men. -
Boston Tea Party
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 the Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history, and other political protests often refer to it. -
First Continental Congress
was a convention of delegates from twelve British North American colonies that met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. -
Second Continental Congress
It managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States. -
Declaration Of Independence
Document written by Thomas Jefferson. Declare our independence from England. -
Articles Of Confederation
The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. -
Shay's Rebellion
was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War. -
Philadelphia Convention
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. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one -
Virginia Plan
It was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Virginia Plan was notable for its role in setting the overall agenda for debate in the convention and, in particular, for setting forth the idea of population-weighted representation in the proposed national legislature. -
New Jersey Plan
This was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government proposed by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention
