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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Magna Carta was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. -
Jamestown House of Burgess
The House of Burgesses was the first democratically-elected legislative body in the British American colonies -
Mayflower Compact
A legal agreement signed by 41 of the 50 male passengers on the Mayflower -
The Petition of Right
The Petition of Right was a document created in 1628 that limited the power of King Charles I and established important constitutional law in England -
English Bill of Rights
The Bill established the principles of frequent parliaments, free elections and freedom of speech within Parliament -
Albany of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a proposal to establish a centralized government for the British North American colonies. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence states the principles on which our government, and our identity as Americans, are based. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by representatives of the United States and Great Britain to end the American Revolutionary War. -
The Seventh Amendment
The Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to a jury trial in civil cases and prohibits judges from overturning a jury's findings of fact. -
The Second Amendment
The right to bear arms -
The Fourth Amendment
Protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. -
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise -
The Third Amendment
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. -
The Fifth Amendment
Guarantees the right to a grand jury, forbids “double jeopardy,” and protects against self-incrimination. -
The Sixth Amendment
Protects the rights of defendants in criminal trials. -
The 8th Amendment
Protects citizens from excessive bail , fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. -
The 9th Amendment
The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution addresses rights, retained by the people, that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. -
The 10th Amendment
Powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. -
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review -
Louisiana purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a conflict between the United States and Great Britain that lasted from 1812 to 1815 -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is a foreign policy position of the United States that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. -
The Oregon Territory
The Oregon Country was a historical region that included the present-day states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. -
Freedman's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a U.S. government agency that provided assistance to formerly enslaved people and impoverished whites in the years following the Civil War -
Plessy v. Ferguson
A case in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregated, "equal but separate" public accommodations for blacks and whites did not violate the 14th amendment. -
The Spanish- American War
The Spanish–American War began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. -
Dollar Diplomacy
Dollar diplomacy is a foreign policy that uses economic power to promote a country's financial interests abroad. -
The Chinese Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. -
Radio
Radio became the first form of electronic media. -
The League of Nations
The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. -
The Washington Naval Conference
The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, D.C. -
the Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, was a restrictive US immigration law that limited the number of immigrants allowed into the country and excluded immigrants from Asia -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939 that affected many countries across the world. -
Wartime Conference
The major wartime conferences during World War II were the Tehran Conference, Yalta Conference, and Potsdam Conference, where the Allied leaders (Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin) met to discuss military strategy and post-war plans for Europe, with the most significant decisions made at Yalta regarding the division of Germany and Eastern Europe after the war's end. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine, announced by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, was a U.S. foreign policy that pledged to provide military and economic aid to countries threatened by communist forces -
Marshall Plan
President Truman signed the Economic Recovery Act of 1948. It became known as the Marshall Plan, named for Secretary of State George Marshall, who in 1947 proposed that the United States provide economic assistance to restore the economic infrastructure of postwar Europe. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. -
The Evolution of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has evolved over time in response to changing security threats and geopolitical currents -
Television
Television replaced radio as most influential electronic media -
The East German Uprising
The East German Uprising of 1953 was a series of protests and riots that took place in the German Democratic Republic -
Brown v. Broad of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality -
Sputnik
Sputnik 1 successfully launched and entered Earth's orbit. . The successful launch shocked the world, giving the former Soviet Union the distinction of putting the first human-made object into space. -
The Laos Crisis
This was the first foreign policy crisis faced by President-elect John F. Kennedy. The crisis was caused by a number of factors. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military operation in 1961 to overthrow Fidel Castro's Cuban government -
The Berlin Crisis
The Berlin Crisis was a series of events that took place during the Cold War and involved the divided city of Berlin, Germany -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in October 1962 that brought the world close to nuclear war -
Detente and Arms Control
Arms control was a key aspect of détente, a period of reduced tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War -
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protected a right to have an abortion. -
Oil Embargo
An oil embargo is a political tool that limits the transportation of petroleum to or from a specific area to force a desired outcome -
The Gulf War
The Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The war was fought between a coalition of 35 nations led by the United States and Iraq, after Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait.