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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
-a.k.a. the "Great Charter"
-barons who developed it were seeking protection against heavy-handed and arbritrary acts by the king.
-incuded rights like trial by jury and due process of law. -
Jamestown Settlement
-first English settlement in the "New World" -
Mayflower Compact
-an agreement made by the pilgrims to establish a government
-said that the pilgrims could live in their own civilized society with their own laws
-first written constitution in North America -
The Petition of Right
-stated the King's limitations
-enforced a representative government
-enforced a rule of law (states that no one is above the law) -
English Bill of Rights
-ensured individual rights
-included the right to petition
-prohibited a standing army in peacetime, excpet with the consent of Parliament. -
Albany Plan of Union
-written by Benjamin Franklin
-a proposal for a strong union of the 13 colonies; they were needed for defense against the threats posed from the French and Indian War. -
Stamp Act Congress
-colonists prepared strong protests and sent them to the King.
-"No taxation without representation!" was the initial cry.
-first time that the colonies officially protested -
Boston Massacre
-British soldiers arrived in Boston, as an attempt to establish order in the colonies.
-a group of 5 Bostonian protesters were killed after violently clashing with the soldiers -
Boston Tea Party
-a negative response to the Intolerable Acts
-colonists dumped boxes of tea into the water; a rebellious act against the British and their taxes. -
The Intolerable Acts
-Parliament passed laws to punish colonists for the troubles in Boston (also known as the Coercive Acts), which enraged the colonies
-Some examples include the sugar act, tea act, and quartering act -
First Continental Congress
-members of which included New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina
-members sent a Declaration of Rights, protesting Britain's colonial policies, to King George III demanding representaion of colonies in parliament. -
Second Continental Congress
-Revolution had begun by their first meeting (after British government had continued to refuse to compromise its colonial poicies, reacting with even stricter and more represseive measures)
-each of the 13 colonies sent representatives to Congress -
Battle of Concord/Lexington
-the first battles of the Revolutionary War
-marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between Great Britain and the 13 colonies. -
Declaration of Rights
-members of the 1st Continental Congress sent the Declaration of Rights to King George III, which demanded representation of colonies in parliament and protested Britain's colonial policies.
-made by the representatives of Virginia, a convention was assembled and they created the Declaration of Rights (which did pertain to their rights) as the basis and foundation of thier government. -
The Declaration of Independence
-main purpose was to officially declare the colonies' independence from the King and Great Britain.
-documentation proclaimed that:
1) all men are creaated equal
2) everyone was endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; (ife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)
3) governments are instituted among men, deriving thier just consent of the governed.
4) whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter/ abolish it. -
Articles of Confederation
-established a "firm league of friendship" among the States.
-ratification from 13 colonies was needed before it went into effect.
-it was one of the first attempts at establishing a lasting government for the new nation.
