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Jun 13, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was signed by King John I in England. The signing of the Magna Carta helped to regulate the judicial system, it abolished many abuses of fuedal tenures, granted foreign merchants freedom of commerce, and a system of standard weights and measures was established. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first written frameowrk of government for the United States. It was established to prevent dissent amongst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had arrived at Plymouth a few days earlier. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights was passed on 7 June 1628. The Petition stated that no freeman should be forced to pay any tax, loan, or benevolence, unless in accordance with an act of parliament. It also said, that no freeman should be imprisoned contrary to the laws of the land. Another right said commissions to punish soldiers and sailors by martial law should be abolished. Charles I signed the Petition of Rights. -
English Bill of Rights
The Englsih Bill of Rights was signed on December 16, 1689. The bill of rights limited the power of the monarch. King James II was abusing his power as king and the people didn't like it. The people were given the rights to petition the monarch, freedon of speech, freedom of unjust punishment and many more rights. -
Albany Plan of Union
Proposed by representatives of the seven British colonies of North America, the Albany Plan of Union was never carried out. The cartoon now associated with this plan reads "Join or Die" and is a cartoon of a snake cut into different states. -
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French and Indian War
A war between the French and Native Americans verses the British lasting from 1754-1763 became known as the French and Indian War. Some critical events that occured throughout the war was the battle at Ft. Duquense when the British were defeated and the battle at Ft. Henry. The war was ended the British soldiers captured Quebec. The result of this war ended in a peace treaty where the British got most of the French land in North America and Britain also taxed the colonists to pay for the war. -
King George III Takes Power
King George III's Rules After the War.King George III along with the Parliment decided that the colonies should pay for part of the French and Indian War. Furthermore, he also wanted the colonies to pay the costs for keeping British soldiers in North America to protect the colonies. Although angry about the taxes, the colonists had to agree. Then to furthermore anger the British, he decided that any British people living in land won by the French would have to leave. -
Stamp Act
Passed by the British Parliament, the Stamp Act was a new tax imposed on all American colonists which required them to pay tax on every peice of printed paper they used such as ship's papers, newspapers, licenses, and many others. Debates in the colonial legislatures, written documents, mobs, and even tarring and feathering of tax collectors were all things that occured as a result of the Stamp Act. -
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre British troops were sent to the Massachusetts Bay colony to stop demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep order, but instead they caused chaos and outrage. This massacre resulted in the death of 5 colonists. There were many things that led up to this event, but the 3 most imortant were mistrust among the British soldiers and Americans, the removal of two regiments and the revolt of the Townshend Acts. -
Boston Tea Party (continued)
This was a key event in the American Revolution. Parliament responded in 1774 with the Coercive Acts, or Intolerable Acts, which, among other provisions, ended local self-government in Massachusetts and closed Boston's commerce. The colonists didn't like this and responded in acts of protest and petitioned the British monarch for repeal of the acts. This escalated and eventually led to the American Revolutionary War in Boston. -
Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party Video This was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston against the tax policy of the British government. On December 16, 1773, when officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea and threw it in Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acrs (continued-2)
The second was the Massachusetts Government Act, which stated all positions in the colonial government were to be appointed by the govener or king. This act also limited the number of towns meetings allowed to only one per year. The next was the Administration of Justice Act. This allowed the governor to move trials of accused royal officials to another colony if he believed the official could not get a fair trial in Massachusetts. ( one more dot) -
Intolerable Acts (continued-3)
The final act that was passes was the Quartering Act. This caused the least amount of protest out of the four Intolerable Acts. This allowed a governor to house soldiers in other buildings if suitable quarters were not provided. The Intolerable Acts were seen as a violation of constitutional rights to many colonists and drew the revolting hate against Britain even further. -
Intolerabe Acts
These were laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. These acts were intended to punish Boston for what they did, and to restore order. The first act was the Boston Port Act. This closed the port in Boston until the East India Company had been repaid for the destroyed tea and until the king was satisfied that order was restored. The second was the Massachusetts Government Act. (more on a different dot) -
First Contiental Congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia on September 5 1774. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates to the congress. Some of the major colonists that were involved in the First Contiental Congress were Patrick Henry, George Washington, John and Samuel Adams. -
Lexington and Concord
In the American Revolutionary War, the battles of Lexington and Concord were the first engagements. Leading the British troops was Colonel Smith, Major Pitcairne, and Lord Percy, who attempted to seize supplies where they had believed to have been stored at Concord. Paul Revere notified everyone that the British were coming so they could be well-prepared. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. The meetings were now geared towards war efforts and moved incrementally towards independence, eventually we would adopt the United States Declaration of Independence. Just like the First Contiental Congress, delegates from each states were in attendence. One things the congress did was that they voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units in Boston and appointed George Washington as general. -
Second Contiental Congress (continued)
Congress also approved a Declaration of Causes which outlined the rationale and necessity for taking up arms in the Thirteen Colonies. The most important of all the things that this congress did was the creation of the Declaration of Independence. This was was approved on July 4 1776. -
Declaration of Independence
Mainly written by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence was written to serve as a document declaring America's freedom from the British. It was signed by numerous important members of society and a foundation' for America to be built upon. We now celebrate the 4th of July in rememberance of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. -
Aritcles of Confederation
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which was the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. The Articles of Confederation created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. It became evident that there was a need for a stronger Federal government. This eventually led to the creation of the Constitutional Convention. (continued) -
Articles of Confederation
The United Stated Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation in the end. There was no president during this time period. George Washington wasn't elected until 1789, so he would have been the first persident under the Articles of Confederation. -
Start of Constitutional Convention
In February of 1787, existing Confederation of States convinced the Constitutional Congress to have a convention for delegates to meet in Philadelphia. This convention was to ensure further provisions were made to render the constitution of the Federal Government.
