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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta effectively enforced the monarchy (King John) to grant his English subjects rights. The King was taxing his people crazy amounts of money, so Archbishop Stephen Langton and other powerful barons of England wrote this document. The Magna Carta included principles such as, no free man may be imprisoned, banished or destroyed without the due process of law, and that the law must apply to everyone, and free from the interference of bribery. -
Period: Jun 15, 1215 to
Early American Government
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Jamestown Settled
Jamestown was the first settlement of the Virginia Colony and served as the capital of Virginia until 1699. Virginia Company of London sent an expedition to establish a settlement in the Virginia Colony in December 1606. There were 3 ships on this expedition with a total of 105 men and boys and 39 crew-members. The settlers picked Jamestown, because it could be easily defended from attacks by other European states that were coming to the New World. -
Mayflower Compact Written
The Mayflower Compact was signed by 41 English colonists. It was the first written contract of government established in the New World. It was drafted to prevent dissent amongst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth. This compact bound all signers (males had to sign to get off boat) to accept whatever form of government that was established after landing. The compact created a Civil Body Politic to enact just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets of specific liberties that the king (King Charles) is prohibited from infringing. It restricts non-Parliamentary taxation, forced lodging of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and the use of martial law. The Petition remains enforced in the United Kingdom and also influenced the Constitution of the United States. -
English Bills of Rights
This is the Act of the Parliament of England that deals with giving people certain basic civil rights. It sets out the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular Parliament, free elections, and freedom of speech. It prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and reestablished the liberties of Protestants to have arms for their defense within the rule of law. It described and condemned several misdeeds of James II of England. It reflects the ideas of John Locke. -
Albany Plan of Union
It was a proposal introduced by Ben Franklin during the Albany Congress in 1754. It called for the formation of a permanent federation of colonies. It more effectively addressed shared colonial interests. It was rejected by King George II and by all of the individual colonial governments that considered its adoption. It marked the first official attempt to develop inter colonial cooperation among the American colonies. -
Stamp Act
It was the Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, and newspapers. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in north America. It was unpopular because many thought it violated their rights. -
Boston Massacre
It is described as the spark that ignited the Revolutionary war.The incident occurred on King Street. British Army soldiers shot and killed people while under intense attack by a mob. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry, who was subjected to verbal threats and harassment. The solders were repeatedly hit by clubs, stones, and snowballs. They fired into the crowd, without orders, instantly killing 3 and wounding others. -
Boston Tea Party
It was defiance as a protest against taxation. While consignees in Charleston, New York and Philadelphia rejected tea shipments, merchants in Boston refused to concede to Patriot pressure. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded 3 ships in the Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. this resulted in the passage of the punitive Coercive Acts and pushed the 2 sides closer to war. It took nearly 3 hours for more than 100 people to empty the tea chests. It was nearly $1,000,000. -
Intolerable Acts
These were the American Patriots term for a series of punitive laws passed by the British parliament after the Boston Tea Party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonies for their defiance of throwing tea into the harbor. The acts took away Massachusetts self-government and historic rights triggering outrage and resistance in the 13 colonies. They were key developments in the outbreak of the American Revolution. Many saw this as a violation of their constitutional and natural rights. -
First Continental Congress
This was a meeting of the delegates from 12 of the 13 colines that met at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelpia, PA early in the American Revolution. It is said to be the response to the Intolerable Acts. The Congress was attended by 56 delegates because they were hoping for Biritish assistance with Native American problems and did not want to upset the Birist. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade. -
American Revolution Begins
700 British troops on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal. The conflict came from growing tensions between people of Great Britain's 13 colonies and the colonial government. Fighting between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April caused the armed conflict. France entered the war that was happening, making this an international conflict rather than a civil war. The British surrender at Yorktown. The Americans won their independence. -
Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the 13 colonies. They mamged the colonial war effort and moved incrementally toward independence, adopting the U.S. Declaration of Independence by drawing armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties such as the Olive Branch Petition. -
Declaration of Independence
It was adopted by the Second Continental Congress which announced that the 13 American colonies, then at wars with Great Britain, regarded themselves as 13 newly independent sovereign states that were no long under British rule. John Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document. It is the formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2nd to declare independence from Great Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
It was an agreement among all 13 original states in the U.S. that served as its first constitution. Government under the Articles was superseded by a new constitution and federal formal of government in 1789. The Articles provided a system for the Continental Congress to direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomacy with Europe and deal with territorial issues and Native American relations. It contains a preamble, 13 articles, a conclusion, and signatory section. -
Shay's Rebellion
It was an armed uprising in Massachusetts. Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in an uprising against perceived economic and civil rights injustices. The rebels marched on the U.S. Armory at Springfield in an unsuccessful attempt to seize its weaponry and overthrow the government. The rebellion affected debates at the U.S. Constitutional Convention, and ultimately the shape of the new government. -
Connecticut Compromise
It was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the U.S. Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with lower house people, but required the upper house to be weighed equally between the states. This agreement allowed deliberations to contunie and lead to the 3/5 compromise. -
Philadelphia Convention
The convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, but James Madison and Alexander Hamilton was to create new government eather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected Geroge Washingron to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the creation of the U.S. Constitution, playing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the U.S. It laid out everything from proportional representation to how to elect the president.
