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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
Also known as the Great Charter, King John was forced to sign it on 1215. The Magna Carta established the princple of limited government, which is the power of the monarch or government. It provided protection against unjust punishment, loss of life, liberty, and property. -
Virginia House of Burgesses
It was the first legistlature in America with elected representatiives. It was established to encourage perople to settle in the North and make conditions more agreeable for the people already living there. The first meeting held on July 30, 1619 in Jamestown, Virginia. -
Mayflower Compact
Signed in in 1620, it stood as the first example of self-government. There were 41 men who drew up the compact in the cabin of the Mayflower ship. In order to survive on the new land they needed a way to govern themselves, so they chose their own leaders and made their own laws. -
English Bill of Rights
Passed on December 16, 1689, it was very important to the English Colonists. It set limits on what a leader could and could not do. It applied to American Colonists as well as the people of England. The key ideas of the English Bill of Rights are:
1. Monarchs don't have a devine right to rule.
2. They must have parliament consent to pass a law.
3. They cannot interfere with parliamentary elections/debates. -
French and Indian War
It started with a struggle between the French and British over lands in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Several other countries became invilved by 1756. In 1763 Great Britain won and gained control of the Eastern United States. The French being defeated meant that the Americans no longer needed the British to protect them from the French, but the British expected the colonists to help pay for the debt caused by war. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act levied taxes on tea, sugur, glass, paper, and other products. It was the first imposed tax on the colonists. They were required to pay taxes on documents, pamphlets, newspapers, dice, and playing cards. They passed laws to control trade that only benefitted Britain but not the colonists. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists dresses as Mohawk dumped 342 chests of British tea into the Boston Harbor. This was done to protest against the taxes on the tea. -
First Continental Congress
Philadelphia is where the first Continental Congress was held. Only the key colonial leaders attended to debate about what to do about the relationship with Great Britain. They concluded an embargo which stated they would pohibate trade with Britain and not use any of their goods. -
Lexington and Concord
George III announced that they needed to decide wheather of not the New England (America) Government was a part of the country or independent. On april 19, 1775 the redcoats clashed with Colonial Minutemen. They were independent and this clash was known as the first battle of the revolutionary was. "The Shot Heard Around the World". -
Second Continental Congress
In Philadelphia, all the delegates gathered for the second meeting. This congress had the power of a central government. They then appointed John Hancock as the president and George Washington as commander of the army. They voted and organized an army an navy and issued money towards both of them. -
Declaration of Independence
Congress appointed a committee of five men to compose a declaration of indepencence. Those men were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. After they came up with it, they asked Thomas Jefferson to write it because he was known for his writing skills. After approved, there were a total of 56 signatures of all the delegates on it and the colonys where finally broke free from Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
The articles continues to appoint and to build the government. The 13 free states wanted a "league of friendship" and so they approved the Articles of Confederation in March of 1781. There was a unicameral congress which states that it did not have a president, but it did have a Committee of the States. It is made up of one delegate from each state to manage the government when congress was not available. -
Peace Treaty with Great Britain
In the peace treaty, Britain recongnized American independence and aslo extended its boarderes from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes and Canada all the way down to the boundary of what is now known as Flordia. -
Shays's Rebellion
Economic troubles lead farmers on strike. They were protesting for congress to pass laws saying they could keep their farms through the depression. But that just wasnt cutting it. So Daniel Shays, who was a former revolutionary war captain, lead 1200 men to Springfield where they would advance on the federal arsenal. The Massachusetts militia brought the men down but that didnt stop Henry Knox from taking a stand. -
Constitutional Convention
The state legislature appointed 74 delegates to the convention but of those 74 only 55 attended and of those 55 only 39 took a leading role. There were many men who played important roles in the convention. They decided each state would have at least on vote on each matter that was being discussed and no meeting could be held unless there were delegates from 7 of the 13 states attending. The delegates of the convention eventually started a new form of government. -
Virginia Plan
James Madison had drafted 15 resolutions that Edmond Randolph presented. Known as the Virginia Plan it proposed 3 princliples of government.
1. A strong national legislature with 2 chambers.
2. Astrong national executive to be chosen by the national legislature.
3. A national judiciary to be appointed by the legislature.
After countless meetings, the Virginia Plan became the new basis of the Constitution. -
New Jersey Plan
Delegates from the small states proposed that they should keep the major features of the Articles of Confederation, so thay each state still gets one vote on the issues being discussed. But this would give great power to the Congress by being able to impose taxes and regulate trade. After discussing it the New Jersey Plan was thrown out and the Virginia Plan was still being considered. -
Connecticut Compromise
After a long debate, the Connecticut Compromise was adopted. The plan stated that the legislative branch have 2 parts.
1. A House of Representatives, where number of representatives for each state was based on population.
2. A Senate that contained 2 members from each state. -
3/5 Compromise
To settle the arguement of how to determine how many representatives each state would have in the house, the 3/5 Compromise was made. Becuase almost 1/3 of the Southern states were enslaves African Americans, the states wanted the slaves counted so they could recieve more representatives. But at the same time they didnt want them counted when levying taxes. So they decided to count 3/5 of the enslaved population to be counted for both tax purposs and for representation. -
Commerce/Slave Trade Compromise
To solve another dispute about how the Northern states wanted the government to have complete power over trade with nations and how the Southern states wanted to depend on agricultural exports, they used a compromise to settle the issue. They gave Congress power to control trade within the states as well as foreign commerce. They could not impose export tax so to this day the United States is one of the only nations with no tax on exported goods. -
Rhode Island Ratifies
Rhode Island finally ratified the constitution after the federalists finally promised to input a Bill of Rights into the new constitution, Rhode Island feared that without the Bill of Rights, people's freedom would be in jeopardy. However, once the Bill of Rights was added, they felt pleased with the equal representation in the new Senate. -
The Bill of Rights
Many people argues that the new consitution needed a Bill of Rights to ensure people's freedom. But many also argued that it wasnt necessary to have a Bill of Rights since it was already included in many of the states' constitutions. But to gain support the Federalist promised to put in a Bill of Rights. After doing so John Madison introduced a set of 12 amendments. Of these 12, 10 were ratified by the states and these became known as the Bill of Rights
