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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta, drafted by British lords in 1215, was the first document to limit the power of a ruler. It stated that government was based on a contract between the ruler and the people to be ruled. -
Jamestown Settled
Jamestown was the first successful English settlement in the Americas. It was established in Virginia and was named after King James I of England. -
Mayflower Compact signed
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony, founded by fleeing religious persecution. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights is an act of Parliament put in place to establish rules and regulations for Parliament and to restate and update the Declaration of Right. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan was suggested by Benjamin Franklin to set up a union of the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary for defense and other general important purposes". -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a conflict between British soldiers and colonists that ended in 5 dead and 6 injured. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a poltiical protest by the Sons of Liberty in Massachusetts who were agitated by the unfair taxation on staples such as tea. In the middle of the night, the men, dressed as Native Americans, snuck onto ships and dumped boxes of tea into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of taxations on goods sent to the American colonies that the colonists found unjust because they were had no represenation. I.e. the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, Quebec Act. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. -
Americ an Revolution begins
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates that met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776. This document declared to the world and specifically England that the United States was now a free and sovereign nation. -
Articles of Confederation
Virgina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, the agreemen constructed by the Continental Congress between the 13 original colonies. The document wasn't ratified by all states until 1781. -
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a rebel leader and veteran of the Revolutionary War. It was an armed uprising that took place in Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. -
Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was the decision made by combining the Virgina Plan and the New Jersey Plan, creating a government consisting of equal and porportional representation. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss issues facing the new nation under the Articles of Confederation. The result of the convention was the Constitution of the the United States. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a tax imposed by the British Parliament in 1765 specifically on the American colonies. It was originally enacted to pay for troops stationed in America but it quickly outraged colonists and was considered one of the Intolerable Acts.
