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1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was a charter of liberties due to the massive rebellion of citizens due to heavy taxation and unsuccessful foreign policies. The Magna Carta forced sovereign people to abide by the law. Moreover, the Magna Carta was a foundation for the English system of the common law. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Rights was a statement of civil liberties that was sent to Charles I. The Parliament refused the Petition of Rights in order to fund the king's unfavored foreign policy. This forced the government to give loans and quarter troops in people's houses for economic purposes. Anyone who defied these policies would be imprisoned. However, the Petition of Rights protected the citizens by saying that no citizen can be imprisoned without reason. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was passed by the English parliament. The bill limits the power of kings, queens, separates power and supports freedom of speech. King James II fled England during the Glorious Revolution and after when William and Mary became king and queen of England, they had to agree to the Bill of Rights. -
1st Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was formed due to the Coercive Acts that the British imposed onto the colonies due to resistance of new taxes. The congress was formed by delegates selected by each state except for Georgia. The main intent for this congress was to show the British Government that they were uniform, however, they were not uniform in their goals. This caused a divide between the colonies where the radical group wanted separation and the other wanted legislative parity. -
2nd Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress proceeded the mass shooting in Boston where the redcoats fired upon a crowd. This sparked high tension between the colonies and the British. During this congress, the main questions were, how would the colonies match the British army and how would the colonies pay for supplies. This led to the creation of the continental army and they would pay for the supplies by printing the money. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the first formal document that stated the separation between the British government and the colonies. This declaration was caused by the high tensions of war and it reflects the thoughts of the majority of the colonists. The three main people who wrote the document were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, their goal obviously: to write a formal document stating the intentions of separation from Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first rough draft of the constitution as it was not ratified for a long period of time due to war tensions. In this constitution, the states remained sovereign and independent due to concerns of central power. In addition, this constitution allowed the central government to control military actions, such as peace treaties and alliances. However, it lacked the power to levy taxes and regulate commerce. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion began with former ex-revolutionary war soldiers who became farmers and were not happy with their compensation for participating in the war. The major reason for Shay's Rebellion was to advocate for another constitution rather than the Articles of Confederation, as they felt it was too weak to govern the states. This new constitution they advocated provided federalists such as Alexander Hamilton with power to voice their belief that federalism was better for the states. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention was much needed due to previous events such as Shay's Rebellion that caused a great amount of tension. The main focus of this convention was to recreate the constitution and make the central government stronger than it was. This convention occurred in Pennsylvania and every state partook in it except for Rhode Island. Through this convention, the Great Compromise was born, where the upper house and lower house would have proportional representation. -
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers enforced the idea of ratification of the U.S. constitution. It consisted of eighty-five letters that were used to help ratify the constitution, these eighty-five letters were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. In order for the U.S. constitution to become ratified, they needed nine out of thirteen states to agree with it. The constitution set a system of checks and balances that would protect the states and people, similar to the Bill of Rights.
