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Jan 1, 1297
The Magna Carta
The Magna Carta, also known as the ‘Great Charter’ was a document which was forced onto the King of England to limit his power and protect the privileges of land owners. The rights listed in the Magna Carta, for example the English Bill of Rights, became the foundation of English constitutions, and the U.S constitution as well.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080115155116AAcgT10 -
Early American Settlers
Most settlers came to America in the pursuit of jobs, a new life, and religious freedom. When they first came, settlers had the idea of creating a government combining the church and state because of the settlers strong religious views. An ordered government is the establishment of regulations between all parts of a state, a limited government is the protection of civilian rights, and a representative government is the election of officials to speak for the general public.
American History Book -
Life in the Thirteen Colonies
Life in the Thirteen Colonies was filled with hardship, discovery, and labor. It was a time of when the colonists had to setting up their own system of living suited to the needs of their survival, which at first resulted in many casualties. However, the colonists were able to soon establish a stable society, and made their first civil government, called the Mayflower Compact. The pledged a loyalty to the King, and made relations between England and the colonies steady.
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The Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document in Plymouth. It created a civil government within the colony and promised loyalty to the King of England.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_Mayflower_Compact http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right was a major English constitutional statement of civil liberties sent to Charles 1 from the English Parliament. There are four certain principles that inspired the colonists in writing their own liberties, such as the policies of taxation and justice listed in the petition.
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0838617.html http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Petition+of+rights http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100925174316AAOvtak -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was a series of laws that did as much as limited sovereign power, religious liberty, etc. American settlers were not given the rights that were listed in these bills, so their desired liberties were apparent in America’s Bill of Rights as well.
http://www.milestonedocuments.com/documents/view/english-bill-of-rights http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/americapedia/americapedia-documents/english-bill-of-rights/ -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin first proposed The Albany Plan in anticipation of the problems that would soon come with the establishment independence within the nation. The goal of this plan was to form a strong, single united union in need for defense against the warfare, such as the French and Indian War. However, this plan was soon rejected by the British, as they saw it as a threat against the power of the royal government.
http://totallyhistory.com/albany-plan-of-union/ http://www.constitution.org/bc -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a call for tax on printed items, such as newspapers, cards, etc. This was the first act that had a direct effect on the colonists, and caused the creation of a resistance group called “The Sons of Liberty” which sparked boycott’s and tensions between the British and their colonies.
History Book -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a confrontation between colonists and British soldiers, which resulted in the murder of five colonial citizens. Hostilities over colonial protests lead to the massacre, like the Stamp Act and Sugar Act complaints. This bloody conflict eventually lead to the Boston Tea Party and passing of the Intolerable Acts, which further lead to the first battle of the American Revolution- The Battle of Lexington and Concord.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov; book -
The Tea Act & The Boston Tea Party
The Tea Act was a law that gave the East India Company the right to sell tea to the colonies without paying the taxes that colonial sellers were forced too. The unfairness of this act angered the settlers and in protest, a group of rebels dumped 18,000 pounds of tea into the British Harbor, known as ‘The Boston Tea Party”. This rebellion angered King George the 3rd and caused him to pass the Intolerable Acts, which further strengthened hostility between Britain and its colonies.
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First Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress called assembly to unite against Britain’s unfair action towards the colonies. It had the goal of drawing up a declaration of colonial rights to the wants and needs of the people, and a statement of defense against the British. This resulted in the creation of Minute Men, and soon led to the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/americanrevolution/firstcongress.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h650.html http://library.thin -
The American Revolution
The biggest factors that sparked the revolution were the protests and boycotts by the colonists in strike against the unfair tariffs that King George passed in the colonies. The goal of this rebellion against the British was for the colonists to gain independence from the British hands and become their own nation. The biggest change that resulted from these battles was the making of a new nation, The United States of America.
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Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was held as a way for the leaders of the Revolution to come up with a plan to defeat the British, after the battle of Lexington and Concord. The results of this meeting were the creation of the Continental Army, with George Washington as their appointed commander.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/10e.asp http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/ccs.htm -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a list of violations committed by parliament to the colonist’s rights, and a ‘declaration’ of independence from the British nation. The core foundational values listed in the declaration are rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are based mostly on the enlightenment ideas of John Locke.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html http://www.macomb.k12.mi.us/cc/cdv/cdv.htm -
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was an alliance among the thirteen states that set of laws outlining the new government, and had a government structure that divided power between the states and the national government. The strengths behind the constitution were its ideas, like equal power and distribution of land. However, its weaknesses outplayed its strengths, which for example were no establishment of an executive branch, no national court system, a lack of unity between the states, etc.
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The End of the Revolutionary War and the Critical Period of the 1780s
The Articles of Confederation were seen as an inadequate framework for America’s new government, because it created a weak central government, and caused there to be very few unity among the states. One problem that arose from these Articles was ‘Shay’s Rebellion’ in which 1,200 farmers protested against an increase in state taxes, just as the colonists had protested against the British Parliament in the Revolutionary War.
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Mount Vernon
The meeting was held to discuss the commerce, navigation, and fishing problems on the Potomac River. It was seen as a stepping stone towards the constitution because it is the first directly called meeting before the creation of the constitution, and leads to the 1787 Convention in Philadelphia.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Mount_Vernon_meeting_in_1785 http://hercules.gcsu.edu/~hedmonds/U.S.%20Constitution/Mount%20Vernon%20Conference.htm -
Annapolis
The Annapolis Convention was called to discuss the commercial problems that arrived in America, which were caused by the Articles of Confederation. The biggest milestone that occurred out of this meeting was the Constitutional Convention, which revised the Articles of Confederation completely and made way to creating the new Constitution of America.
http://www.cusdi.org/annapolis.htm http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0804110.html -
The Commerce & Slave Trade Compromise
The Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise was a law that allowed Congress to place tariffs on imports but not exports, and declared the system of slavery legal up until 20 years. This was done to protect slaveholders interests and to further control trade within the state.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080821145642AAfL2kO http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_Commerce_Slave_and_Trade_Compromise -
The Conneticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was a compromise between the small and big states, making it so that each state would have an equal number of representatives within the Senate occurring to population. This compromise was reached during the meeting at Independence Hall, but resulted in another issue called the Three-Fifths Compromise.
? http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h371.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_Connecticut_Compromise -
The New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey plan was an opponent to the Virginia Plan, because it called for a single-house legislature rather than a bicameral, and said that each state would have an equal representative vote. The North opposed this plan because they favored the Virginia Plan, for it benefited them better because of their big population. Still, this plan was a better alternative for the Articles of Confederation because it paved the road to creating a stronger central gov.
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The Three-Fifths Compromise
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a law which called for that 3 out of 5 slaves within a state would be counted as one person, giving one representative vote. This law was drafted into the constitution to give the North and South an equal number of representatives, since the South had such a big slave population. However, slaveholders could gain political benefits from this law, because essentially they could gain two votes rather than one depending on the number of slaves they owned.
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The Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan proposed a plan in which the number of members to legislature would be based off each state’s population. The people who opposed this plan were mostly the small states, since they had a less population then larger states and therefore fewer representatives. It was considered a better alternative than the Articles of Confederation because the articles caused America to have a weak central government, and the Virginia Plan paved the road to creating a stronger one.
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Constitutional Convention
The reason this meeting was first called was to revise the Articles of Confederation, The attendees were trying to figure out how to fix the downfall the Articles brought, and make a stronger central government. The ending result of this meeting was the Constitution, which has been the basis of our government ever since.
http://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/ConventionandRatification http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h368.html http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/constit.ht -
Ratifying the Constitution: The Federalists vs. the Anti-Federalists
To ratify means to make something valid. There was much controversy over the ratification of the constitution because of conflicting views the federalists and anti-federalists. The federalists wanted a balance of power between the states and the national government, while the anti-federalists were completely opposed to having a strong central government, so they did not want the Constitution ratified. However, the Constitution was eventually ratified, so the federalists won out in the end.
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The Constitution Goes into Effect
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
www.wikipedia.com
