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Jun 19, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was signed by King John. It was a peace treaty agreeing to a charter of liberties that placed him and all of Englands future sovereigns within a rule of law. It was not sucessful at first so it was later reissued in 1216, 1217 and 1225. It eventually served as the foundation for the English system of common law. -
The Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower compact was the first written framework of government established in todays United States. The compact was a draft to prevent dissent amoungst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth a few days earlier. This ship usually carried goods but this time it carried passengers, 102 of them. This image shows several of the passengers writting the compact on the ship. -
Petition of Rights
This was a major English constitutional document that set out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.
1. Subjects no longer had to house soldiers, be imprisoned without cause and it restricted use of martial law and non-paliamentary taxation.
2. It was signed by Charles I. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was an act of Parliament. It was a restatement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right. It lays down limits on the powers of the corwn and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech: the requirement for regular elections to Parliament and the right to petion the monarch without fear of retribution. It reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for their defense within the rule of law. These ideas reflected those of John Locke. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin, at a meeting of colonial representives in Ablany, NY, proposed a plan for uniting the colonies under a national congress. The plan was rejected but it helped lay a groundwork for the Articles of Confederation. The wellknown political cartoon known as "Join or Die" was created also by Ben Franklin and first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. The Gazette was the earliest known pictorial representation of a colonia union produced by a British Colonist in America. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, which is also known as the Seven Years War, added a lot to the imperial struggle between Britian and France. The British military effort was low due to a lack of interest at home, rivalries amoung the American Colonies, and Frances greatest success in winning the support of the Indians. Britian formally declared war in 1756 but their new commander in America also struggled as his predecessors and met with little success against the French and their Indians allies. -
King George III takes power
George III became heir to the throne when his father died in 1751. He later became King George III in 1760 following the death of his grandfather. Britian had been fighting a colonial war against France since 1756. In 1762 King George III appointed Lord Bute to negotiate the Treaty of Paris to end the Seven Years War(French and Indian War.) -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America.
1. Colonists had to use special stamped paper in printing newspapers, pamphlets, almanacs, and playing cards and had to have a stamp embossed on all commercial and legal papers.
2. This caused an uproar in America over the issue that was a main cause of the revolution (taxation without representation). It was a direct tax on colonists. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre: America the Story of UsOn a snowy night in March, a mob of American colonists gathered together to taunt the British soldiers guarding the Customs House in Boston. The protestors, called the Patriots, were protesting about the British troops that were sent to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by Parliament that lacked American representation. Three people were immediatly killed and two died later. The British Captain Thomas Preston was arrested for manslaughter, along with eight of his other men. -
Boston Tea Party
The Patriots, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded 3 British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. This rebellion was due to the many taxes put on the colonists. Parliment was outraged about the destruction of British property so they enacted the Intolerable Acts in 1774. -
Intolerable Acts
- They were enacted after the Boston Tea Party and other American acts of destruction of British property.
- The port of Boston was closed until damages from the Boston Tea Party were paid off. Massachusets was restricted along with democratic town meetings. The governor's council was turned into an appointed body. British officials are now immune to criminal prosecution in Massachusets. Required colonists to house and quarter British troops on demand.
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First Continental Congress
The first session of the Continental Congress was held at Carpenters Hall In Philadelphia. This meeting was orginially called to consider a United American resistance to the British. 56 delegates from all the colonies except Georgia drafted and elected Virginian Peyton Randolph as the first president of Congress. Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Adams and John Jay were amoung these delegates. -
Lexington and Concord
Tensions were building in Massachusets and on April 18, 1775, hundereds of British troops marched from Boston to Concord to seize an arms cache.
1. The British hastily retreated.
2. Paul Revere was a major general.
3. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm. -
Second Continental Congress
It was a congress that was set up to solve problems during the war.
1. They met in Philadelphia, PA.
2. It was a monumentous step to declare America's independence from Britain.
3. The colonial leaders that were involved were Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. -
Declaration of Independence
It was written by Thomas Jefferson mainly and was adopted in Philadelphia, PA. A 5 man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin helped create it to dicuss indepence from Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
This link shows some of the major events leading to the Constitution with explanations of their significance.
These were created to satisfy Congress's need for a stronger union and a government powerful enough to defeat Great Britain.
1. John Hanson was the first president. -
The Treaty of Paris
- John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay represented the United States in the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
- As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the United States recieved the Grand Banks off the Coast of Newfoundland and other traditional fisheries in the Canadian Waters.
- Because of the Treaty of Paris, the British finally recognized United States independence.
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Start of Constitutional Convention
This link talks about why there was a need for a Constitution and was discussed in the creation of the document.
This was a meeting called by James Madison that was meant to discuss trade issues but later turned into something else.
1. The men were determined to overhaul the new American government as a whole without a single ballot being cast by the voting public.
2. The original purpose was to discuss trade issues.
