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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Document giving certain rights to the English people. -
Mayflower Compact
Knowing life without laws could prove catastrophic, colonist leaders created the Mayflower Compact to ensure a functioning social structure would prevail. -
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
The fundamental orders describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers. They wanted the government to have access to the open ocean for trading. -
English Bill of Rights
The bill outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War began over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire. -
Albany Plan of Union
A plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. -
First Continental Congress
Comprised of delegates from the colonies. -
Second Continental Congress
After violence broke out between Britain and its American colonies in 1775, delegates from the thirteen colonies met in Philadelphia to plot the course of war—and soon, independence. -
Declaration of Independence
It was written to convince Congress to demand independence from Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. -
Shay's rebellion
An armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades -
Virginia Plan
James Madison's Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. -
Three-Fifths Compromise
A compromised agreement between delegates from the Northern and the Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. -
New Jersey Plan
William Paterson proposed the New Jersey, or small state, plan, which provided for equal representation in Congress.