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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is the "great charter" of English liberties, forced from King John by the English barons. It was sealed on this date. -
Jamestown settled
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
Mayflower Compact written
The Mayflower Compact was an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right was a legal petition asserting a right against the English crown. Parliament sent to Charles I complaining of a series of breeches of law. Also referred to the procedure by which a subject could sue the crown. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was an English statue confirming the Declaration of Rights, declaring the rights and liberties of the subjects and settling the succession in William III and Mary II. It was passed on this date. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Congress was a meeting of delegates from seven American colonies, held at Albany on this date, at which Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union for unifying the colonies. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act of the British Parliment for raising revenue in the American Colonies by requiring the use of stamps for official documents, commercial writings, and various articles. The Stamp Act was to go into effect on this date, but was met with intense opposition and repealed in March of 1766. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a riot in Boston on this date that rose from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troups quartered in the city. The troops fired on the mob and killed several people. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor on this date. Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of laws passed by the British this year (no specific date) in an attempt to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve colonies that met on this date early in the Americnan Revolution. -
American Revolution begins
The American Revolution was the war between Great Britain and its American colonies, by which the colonies won their independence. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on this date, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the public act by which the Second Continental Congress, on this date, declarated the Colonies to be free and independent of England. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the 13 American states, adopted on this date. -
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising that took place in Massachusetts in an attempt to seize weaponry and overthrow the government. The Rebellion started on this date. -
Philadelphia Convention
The Philadelphia Convention (Constitutional Convention) was the convention in Philadelphia of representatives from each of the former Colonies, except Rhode Island, at which the Constitution of the United States was framed. The Philadlephia Convention started on this date. -
Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was a compromise adopted at the Constitutional Convention (Philadelphia Convention), providing the states with equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives.