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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
This document helped secure natural human rights. King John was forced to sign this documents by the barons. -
Jamestown Settled
This town was settled by "gentlemen" with prospects of finding gold and a pathway to the Orients. The first few years were rough; these intellectual men had little experience in land foraging and building homes. -
Mayflower Compact
This document established the reason for the sails across seas. These reasons were: to glorify their God and government. It was also to establish that the journeymen had sovereignty over their own government. These rules were soon broken. However, this was seen as the first constitution. -
Petition of Right
This was an English constitutional document that protected human liberties; it put limitations on the king. It restricted soldiers from being within homes, restricted non-Parliamentary taxation, and enforced habeas corpus. -
English Bill of Rights
This document ensured basic rights for all free englishmen. Things like no royal interference in government, no taxation by royal members, and allowance to petition are included in this document. It is where the American Bill of Rights pulls much of its influence from here. -
Albany Plan of Union
This document was to calm the tensions between the English government and the colonies. Each coloniay sent a delagate to a continiental assembly that was led by a royal governor. -
American Revolution Begins
This came to be due to unhappiness of colonists with Parliament. They had no representation in the British government, but were being oppressed from a distance. Mayn things, especially the Stamp Act, urged on this event. -
Stamp Act
This was a direct tax placed upon all the newspapers, magazines, legal documents, and letters in the colonist society. This enraged them; they felt they were being taxed without representation. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers were guarding parliament-hired legislators, when a mob formed. The mob's bad intentions forced the armymen to react, killing 5 people. -
Boston Tea Party
This event was a protest of colonists against the British government. The Sons of Liberty threw the British imports of tea into the Boston Harbor. -
First Continental Congress
Leaders from 12 colonies attended this meeting. It occured in response to the intolerable acts. This influenced the boycott against British goods and the resistance against King George. -
Intolerable Acts
These are also known as the Coercive Acts. They were passed by British Parliament upon American colonies. Parliament hoped to reduce resistance from the colonists, but it instead added to the rebellion. -
Second Continental Congress
Delegates from 13 colonies came together to discuss the Revolutionary War and their strategies. This is where the Articles of Confederation were ratified. -
Declaration of Independence
This document claimed the colonies' freedom from Parliament. It made us a sovereign nation! It also pointed out the wrongdoings of King George. -
Articles of Confederation
This was the first "constitution". It made a weak central government and passed all the power to the states. This influenced the U.S. Constitution, and formed the anti-federalists. -
Shay's Rebellion
This event was one of the most widely recognized uproars in the new society. Farmers rebelled against merchants and other governmental figures due to the foreclosure of their farms and homes. -
Philadelphia Convention
This event goes hand in hand with the Constitutional Convention. It was to address problems with the Articles of Confederation, and was to revise them. Instead, the writing and adoption of the Constitution occured. -
Connecticut Compromise
This compromise came to be because of the disputes known as the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. This formed our Congress!
