-
Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was created by the citzens of Great Britain to take away some of the power held by the king. It gave the citzens more rights of freedom. Though the king did not want to sign it, in the end he was forced to. -
Jamestown settled
Jamestown, Virginia, was the first English colony to survive into a lasting settlement in what later became the United States. The colony, privately funded by the Virginia Company and led by English mercenary John Smith, suffered staggeringly high death rates in the early years. However, it flourished after John Rolfe introduced improved tobacco seed varieties from Trinidad after 1610. -
Mayflower Compact written
This was the first governing document of Plymoth Colony. It was signed by 41 of the ships and 101 passengers while the Mayflower was anchored in Providence Harbor. -
Petition of Right
This document stopped the king from infringing the colonist. The petition validity the Magna Carta. -
English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights guaranteed various individual liberties, including freedom of speech in Parliament,trial by jury, and an end to excessive bail and unreasonable fines. The Bill of Rights also added a number of clauses to the original Declaration. -
Albany Plan of Union
It was a plan by Benjamin Franklin to bring the 13 colonies together. He thought it would be important for defenses before the war but it was rejcted in the end. It was a good start to create the final constitution. -
Stamp Act
A direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on
the colonies of America .The act required that many printed
materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper
produced in London. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre is the killing of 5 people and the wounding of 6 people. The soldiers fired on the people without orders from the king. They did fire though because stuff was being thrown at them and there were verbal threats. -
Boston Tea Party
The Tea Party is the destroying of tea on Britain ships and throwing it in the Boston Harbor. The colonist destroyed the tea bcause of the tax the king put on tea. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable acts was a series of laws passed by the British in an attempt to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
It was called in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts because Britain had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. The Congress was attended by 56
members appointed by the legislatures
of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies -
American Revolution begins
Thirteen Colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. They first rejected the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them from overseas without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-impose direct rule. -
Second Continental Congress
The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence, by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties -
Declaration of Independence
This was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, would go to war with Great Britain, to regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. -
Articles of Confederation
This made the 13 states of America a Confederation. It was the first type of document leading the government in a specific manner but it was not the best. -
Shay's Rebellion
This armed uprising took place in central and western Massachusetts. It was named by Daniel Shay, one of the rebel leaders. It was precipitated by several factors: financial difficulties brought about by a post-war economic depression, a credit squeeze caused by a lack of hard currency, and harsh government policies. -
Philadelphia Convention
The chief James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were trying to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. -
Constitution Convention
This was to address problems in governing the United States which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. (Same as Philadelphia Convention) -
Connecticut Compromise
This is an agreement that large and small states reached during the constitutional convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislation structure and representation that each state would have been under the US constitution.
