-
Founding of Jamestown
The first perminent English colony in America was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London and chartered by King James I. -
House of Burgess
The first legislature in the English colonies. It had 22 members who were elected by white men over age 17 who owned property. -
Mayflower Compact
The first written framework for a government in the colonies. IT was designed to help keep the peace Puritans and the rest of the pilgrims. -
Founding of Plymouth
Around 100 men and women sailed across the Atltantic Ocean, mainly in search of religious freedom. They landed in want is now Cape Cod and about a month later, they finally settled in Plymouth. -
Fundemental Orders
Connecticut became the first colony to create any sort of constitution when they ratified the Fundemental Orders -
Albany Plan of Union
A plan adopted to place the British colonies under a more centralized government. It was never carried out, but it was the first plan to unite the colonies. -
French and Indian War
The war lasted 7 years. It was caused by territorial conflicts between the French and the British when the French began moving into the Ohio River Valley. The American Indians fought with Frnace and the colonists fought with Britain. -
Sons of Liberty
A highly secretiv organization that may or may not have included in its ranks political leaders of the time, Sons of Liberty protested various acts of the British government. -
Stamo Act Congress
A group formed at the suggestion of James Otis, who met to discuss the Sugar and Stamp acts. They were soon divided by political differences, and only 9 of the 13 colonies sent representatives. -
Boston Massacre
Several patriots of Boston clashed with English soldiers in the streets of Boston. This resulted in several of the patriots being killed. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty boarding English trade ships and dumped the tea into the Boston Harbor to protest unfair taxes. -
First continental Congress
A group comprised of representatives from the colonies, whose intent was to make the Englis governments understand the grievences of the colonies. -
Second Continental Congress
Tried the determine how the colonies should deal with the threats and intimidatation of the English army. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
Pamphlet that explained Paine's reasons for wanting the colonies to be independent of British rule and tried to convice other colonist to agree. -
Declaration of Independence
The Continental Congress offically adopted the Declaration of Independence, which listed the grievances of the colonies. It was written mostly by Thomas Jefferson -
Articles of Confederation
The first attempt at a constitution. It did not work well at all. The federal governemtn had to power to levy taxes, in addition of a lack of other powers that are expected for the government today. -
Annapolis Conventrain
A regional meeting designed to begin revisions to the Articles of Confederation. The delegates eventually called the meeting in Philidelphia that would result in the present federal constitution. -
Constitutional Convention
The convention, originally intended to create amendments for the Articles of Confederation, that would lead to the United States Constitution. Only Rhode Island failed to send delegates. -
Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 articles and essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madision, and John Jay. They wanted to convince people to ratify the constitution, and they published the articles in newspapers. -
Delaware Ratifies
Delaware became the first state to ratify the US Constitution. It did so by unanimous vote. -
New Hampshire Ratifies
New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify the consistutuion, which would subsequently take affect in march 1789 -
Rhode Island Ratifies
Rhode Island became the last of the 13 colonies to join the Union after the state ratified the US Constitution. -
Bill of Rights Ratified
The first 10 amendments, which spell out specific rights that US citizens have, were ratified.
