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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
In 1215, a group of barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, Great Charter, at Runnymede. During this time, King's were allowed to govern the people and charge them with anything they want including changing taxes. What the Magna Carta did was that it created protection from the monarch's acts as well as establishing fundamental rights such as trial by jury and due process of law. Due to King John's ever demanding taxes the barons decided to rebel against the King and make him sign it. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a constitutional document that declared that even the monarch's had to obey the law of the land. In 1628, Parliament offered Charles I to sign the Petition of Right in order to obtain money from taxes. What this did was that it limited the King's power to imprison, impose martial law, and power to punish. This was done at the Parliamentary Archives in London for the protection of civilian liberties. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights, known as the Bill of Rights 1689, is an act of Parliament that limited the power of the monarchy to execute laws, levying money, and power to use cruel punishment. The document was signed by William and Mary of Orange at the National Archives of the United Kingdoms in order to obtain the crowns. Parliament did not want the new incomers to abuse the power so they decided to make a bill that prohibited most the right of monarchs. -
Stamp Act
In 1765, British Parliament established an act created revenue off of the American colonists by making a stamp that was to be used on newspaper, etc... British taxed American colonists to obtain revenue from the war they had called the French and Indian War. This act was passed after that war. -
The Townshend Revenue Act/Townshend Duties
In 1767, Britain taxed the colonies by using the Townshend Acts. Basically, the Townshend duties is an act created by Charles Townshend and was passed by the English Parliament to create revenue after the repeal of the Stamp Act. It was designed to tax American colonists on imports of glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. It was later protested because of violated rights. This act was issued because of Britain was in national dept and assumed that it will be safe to tax American colonists. -
Boston Massacre
After the issued Townshend duties came into place, revolts became less scarce and had concluded to the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre was an incident that took place in Boston, Massachusetts. It included the killing of 5 men and injury of 6 others due to tense relations with Britain and American colonist's. -
Tea Act
On May 10, 1773, Parliament issued the Tea Act in an attempt to prop up the East India Company because of unsold tea. The Tea Act was basically an act that sold tea at a bargain to the colonists that would eventually spark up a revolution. It was another way to make revenue off colonies but at lowered costs. -
First Continental Congress
In 1774, delegates from every colony except Georgia gathered in Philadelphia. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss the situation and debated plans of action due to the Intolerable Acts. This was only to come in effect once the colonies had agreed on doing something about British colonial policies and urged colonies to stop paying taxes. The meeting adjourned on October 26, with another congress to be conveyed. -
Second Continental Congress
After the First Continental Congress had adjourned, another meeting was placed in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 to discuss more issues. The meeting was called the Second Continental Congress. As the relationship between the colonies and Britain were collapsing, the meeting had reacted to the Declaration of Rights. It served as the first government for 5 years from the Declaration of Independence. This is what made America. -
Common Sense By Thomas Payne
After years of tension between colonies and Britain, Thomas Paine decided to write a pamphlet called "Common Sense". This pamphlet challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. This document was published in 1776 at the beginning of the American Revolution. -
The Declaration of Independence (signed)
The Declaration of Independence has to be one of the most famous documents ever to be written and is today the world's most treasured document. On July 4, 1776, the signing of this statement announced that the thirteen colonies were no longer in rule of Britain. This was because tension between these lands had created an outrageous amount of violations as well as rights being stripped away. Thomas Jefferson, along with others, created this document in order to seperate from Britain.
