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Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was was developed in 1215 by barons who were seeking protection against heavy-handed and arbitrary acts by the king. The significance of The Magna Carta was, over time, the rights of life, liberty, and property, became the rights of all English people and were incorporated into other documents. It also established the principle that rulers are subject to law. The Magna Carts was the first step to individual rights and the constitutional government. -
The Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was deviesed to set up a government from within themselves and was written by new settlers from New Plymouth and was written by those to be governed. The Mayflower Compact established that the colony was to be free of Engilsh law. It set up a government that was devised of the people. -
Petition of Rights
The document was established in 1628. It demanded that the king no longer imprison or otherwise punish any person but by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. The Petition of Rights challenged the idea of the divine rights of the king, declaring that evan a monarch must obey the law of the land. -
Navigation Act of 1651
The Dutch was excluded from all trade with Britain because the Netherlands were produing few goods. In 1660, the rules that;only English ships could transport goods from outside Europe and goods from inside Europe could only be shipped by English ships, were expanded to cover exports too. All foreign shipping was banned and the colonies were not allowed to export their products to non-English consumers. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Rights prohibited a standing army in peacetime, except with the consent of parliamnet and required all parliamentary elections to be free. Also, it said that the pretended power of suspending the laws, with out consent of parliament is illegal. Our nation has built on, changed, and added to the ideas that everybody has the right to a fair trial, freedom from excessive bail, and from cruel and unusual punishment. Much of the politics today are based on these early English ideas. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was originally written in 1733 and then modiefied on April 5, 1764. The act reduced the rate of taxes on molasses, and more foreign goods were to be taxed. It disrupted the colonial economy by reducing the markets in which the colonies could sell, and the amount of currency available. The Sugar Act set the stage for the revolt at teh impostiton of the Stamp Act. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was orginally established by the King to put a stop to conflicts that had arisen between the Native Americans and the colonists due to the French and Indian War. However, it didn't work for long and it caused just the begining of rising tentions between Great Britain and the colonies. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 required the use of tax stamps on all legal documents, on certain business agreements, and on newspapers. The new taxes were widely denounced and casued protests against the new Britain policies, the botcott of English Goods, and the famous Boston Tea Party. Britain's tax policy was too high which led to a revolt in the colonies and led to the American Revolutionary War. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773 when men boarded three tea ships in the Boston Harbor and dumped the cargo into the sea to portest British control of the tea trade. The Boston Tea Party was one of the first protests of the colonies against Britain. It was one of the first insidences where the colonies realized they no longer wanted to be under British Rule. -
Coercive Act of 1774
The Coercive Acts succeeded in uniting the colonies to take action against the crown. The immediate result was the First continental Congress. -
The First Continental Congress
In the Spring of 1774, members of the First Continental Congress discussed the worsening situation partly caused by the Stamp Act, and debated plans for action. The First Continental Congress incouraged protests against Britain's colonial poloicies. Colonies refused all trade with England untill the taxes and trade regulations were appealed. The meeting adjourned on October 26, with a call for a Second Continental Congress to be convened. The was one of the first steps to gaining freedom. -
First Shots Fired at Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the American Revolution. It proved to Britain that the colonies could stand up against them and declare their own independence. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress became by force of circumstance, the nation's first national government for 5 years from the Declaration to the Articles of Confederation went into effect on March 1, 1781. The Second Continental Congress raised an army, borrowed funds, bought supplys, created a money system, and made treaties. -
Declaration of Independence
Due to the Declaration of Independence, all 13 colonies became free and independent states. The Untied States was born and ceratin unalienable rights that all humans posess. These rights include: that all men are created equal and have unalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and happiness.
