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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta/ Great Charter
Document that listed rights that even the Englsh nobles wouldn't have the right to take away; English nobles forced King John to sign this. -
Jan 1, 1500
Mercantilism
Belief in the benefits of profitable trading. -
Jamestown colony
First permanent English settlement. -
House of Burgess (est.)
The lower house of legislature in colonial Virginia. -
Plymouth Colony
Formed by the Pilgrims when they arrived at Plymouth Rock. -
Mayflower Compact
The Agreement to establish a government by the pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower. -
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
The first written constitution. -
Culpeper's Rebellion
When the rebels of John Culpeper and George Durant, imprisoned the deputy governor and other officials, and assembled a legislature governed bu Culpeper for two years. -
Glorious Revolution
The overthrow og King James II by a union of English Parlementarians; this conferred the sovereignty on William III and his wife, Mary II. -
English Bill or Rights
Declared the rights and liberties of the subjects and giving William III and Mary II the succession. -
Salem Witch Trails
Held in Salem, Massachusetts which lead to the execution of twenty people for allegedly practicing witchcraft. -
First Great Awakening
A period of religious awakening and reform in New England; this movement swept the Atlantic world and the American colonies. -
French and Indian War
The North American War between France and Great Britian. (1754-1763) -
Albany Plan of Union
A meeting of delegates from seven colonies held at Albany, New York where Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for unifying colonies. -
Proclamation Line of 1763
The British crown's attempt to separate white settlement from Indian country after the French and Indian War. (1754-1763) -
Pontiac's Rebellion
Indian uprising against the British after the French and Indian war; lead to the Proclamation Line of 1763. -
Sugar/ Revenue Act of 1764
Revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament. -
Sons of Liberty
Organization of American colonials who opposed British measures against the colonists; initially formed to protest the Stamp Act. -
Stamp Act
The new tax being imposed on all American colonists and it required them to pay a tax on evry piece of printed paper that they used. -
Virginia Resolves
Virginia's response to the British Parliament's Stamp Act of 1765. -
Townsend Act
Laws passed by Parliment placing duties on certain items imported by the American colonists. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired on a crowd of civilians, killing five men; this sparked the rebellion of the American colonies. (The Revolutionary War). -
Committees of Correspondence
Organized by Samuel Adams in Massachusetts to keep colonists informed on the ant-colonial actions of the British and to plan resistance by the colonies. -
Gaspee Incident
The chase of a ship believed to be smuggling goods; a group of men boarded the Gaspee (lead by John Brown) they wounded the lieutenant of the ship and set it on fire; the British ordered a full investigation and offered a reward; no one confessed. -
Tea Act
British Parliment created a monopoly unfair to American tea merchants; caused the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
Raid of three British ships in the Boston Harbor; colonists dressed as Indians, threw tea into the harbor in order to protest against the British taxes on tea. -
Intolerable Acts
A series of laws passed by the British to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
Lasted until October 26, 1774; held because colonists were upset by the Intolerable Acts and taxes; 12 colonies represented. -
Edenton Tea Party
When fifty-one ladies from Edenton met and publicly resisted not to drink tea or wear any cloth made from England until th tax acts were repealed. -
Mecklenburg Resolves
When Mecklenburg County gathered and signed a declaration of independence from Britain; Mecklenburg Resolves were a series of radical resolutions; this document was supposedly burned in a fire in 1800. -
Halifax Resolves
A resolution adopted by the Fourth Provincial Congress of the Province of North Carolina during the American Revolution; this helped pave the way for the U.S. Declaration of Independence. -
Second Continental Congress
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord; they decided to break away from the British; met in the State House in Philadelphia (Independence Hall). -
Declaration of Independence
Established by the Second Continental Congress, which declared the American colonies to be free and independent of England. -
Articles of Conferderation
The orginal constitution; replaced by the U.S. Constitution in 1789. -
Treaty of Paris
Ended the United states War for Independence. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
Adopted by the U.S. Congress; this divided much of the country into townships and ranges to facilitate the sale of land to settlers. -
Shay's Rebellion
The armed uprising in central and western massachusetts- Springfield- 1786-1787. -
Land Ordinance of 1787
The Congress of Confederation adopted this for the government of the Western territories ceded to the U.S. by the states. -
Constitutional Convention
The convention of United States statesmen who drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787. -
Federalist/ Anti-Federalist Papers
A collection of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, by the name of "Publius." Its puropse was to persuade New Yorkers to ratify the Constitution. -
Whiskey Rebellion
Western Pennsylvanian settlers revolted against the tax on whiskey.
