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Sep 3, 1215
Magna Carta
It established the critical idea that the monarchy's power was not absolute. It also guaranteed of such fundamental rights as trial by jury and due process of law. -
Jamestown settled
Jamestown was the first successful English settlement. The Virgina Company landed there because the deep water channel let their ships ride close to shore; close enough to moor them to the trees. -
Mayflower Compact written
The Mayflower Compact is a written agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. They had traveled across the ocean on the ship Mayflower which was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. -
Petition of Rights
It limited th kings power. It demanded that th eking no longer imprison any person but by the lawful jugdement of his peers or by the law of the land. -
English Bill of Rights
It prohibited a standing army in Peacetime witn the consent of Parliament. It was created by William and Mary of Orange. -
Albany Plan of Union
Franklin proposed the creation of an annual congress of delegates from each 13 colonies. It also raised the power to make war or peace with Native Americans. -
Stamp Act
It allowed the use of tax stamps on all legal documents. This marked the first time a significant number of the colonies had joined together to oppose the British government. -
Boston Massacre
british troops in Boston fired on a jeering crowd killing 5 citizens. Committees soon spread throughout all the colonies, providing a network for cooperation and the exchange of information among the patriots. This caused the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
Native Americans boarded 3 tea ships in Boston Harbor. They dumped the ships cargo into the sea to protest British control of the tea trade. -
Intolerable Acts
Parliament passed yet another set of laws, this time to punish the colonists for the troubles in Boston and elsewhere. This called for the First Continental Congress. -
First Continental Congress
The first all the delegates except for one from Georgia got together and discussed the worsening situation and debated plans for actions. They sent a Declaration of Rights, protesting Britian's colonial policies, to King Geogre III. The delegates urged the colonies to refuse all trade with England. -
American Revolution begins
The battle of Lexington and Concord spark the Revolution. The Revolution was between America and the British. A year after the Revolution started the delegates got together to form the Declaration of Independence. -
Second Conteninal Congress
By this time the Revolution had begun. A continental army was created and Geogre Washington was appointed commander-in-chief. Became the nation's first national government. -
Declaration of Independence
It is composed of four parts: preamble, declaration of natural rights, list of grievances, resolution of independence. Thomas Jefferson was the primary author. -
Articles of Confederation
It established a "firm league of friendship" among the States. It didn't not go into effect immediately, it had to get approval by all 13 states delegates before it coould go into effect.. -
Shay's Rebellion
Economic conditions worsened, property holders, many of those small farmers, lost their land and possessions for lack of payment on taxes and other debts. Daniel Shay, led an armed uprising that forced several State judges to close their courts. -
Philadelphia Convention
Every state but Rhode Island sends delegates to the Philadelphia convention. Most delegates have been told to make only minor changes to the Articles. Any changes must be approved by the legislature of every state. -
Constitution Convention
The existing Articles of Confederation had proved to be too weak to keep the states actually united. The Constitutional Convention was supposed to revise the Articles, but, thanks to Madison, it did much more than that. Madison arrived in Philadelphia for the convention three weeks early, and he was loaded for bear. Jefferson, who was in Paris at the time, had sent Madison. -
Connecticut Compromise
Agreed that Congress should be made up of two houses. In the House, the representation of each State would be based upon its population.
