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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was a charter that challenged the monarch's authority and was part of the exstensive process that led to the rule of constitutional law. It inspired the United States constitution. -
Jamestown Settled
Three ships landed containing a total of 104 men and boys, all sponsored by the Virginia Company of London which hoped to expand English trade. Each of these early settlers was required to meet a financial obligation by sending back trade goods to the Company that sponsored them. -
Mayflower Compact Written
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony.Almost half of the colonists were part of a separatist group seeking the freedom to practice Christianity according to their own determination and not the will of the English Church. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right states the objectives of the 1628 English legal reform movement that led to the Civil War. It also later led to the American Revolution. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was a form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament. It stated peoples right to petition the monarch, as well as to have arms in defence. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union proposed that one general government should be formed in America, including all the colonies. It also stated that each colony may retain its present constitution. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London and carrying an embossed revenue stamp. -
Boston Massacre
A heavy British military presence in Boston led to a tense situation that eventually led to troops discharging their muskets after being attacked by a rioting crowd. The legal aftermath led to the rebellion in some of the British American colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists against the British government. After officials in Boston refused to return shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and threw the tea into the Boston Harbor -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of five laws passed by the British Parliament to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts triggered outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies th and were important developments in the growth of the American Revolution. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from North American colonies that met in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade. -
Second Continental Congress
Convention that met regarding warfare during the American Revolutionary War. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and inched towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. -
Beginning of the American Revolution
Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy American coastal cities, but control of the countryside largely eluded them because of the relatively small size of their land army. -
Decleration of Independence
Document that stated grievances with the British monarcy. The United States declared independence and freedom from the British. -
Articles of Confederation
The first constitution of the United States. The articles established the Continental Congress, but most authority rested with state legislature. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion was a series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by revolutionary war captain Daniel Shay's to block foreclosure proceedings. -
Connecticut Compromise
This compromise created the two house of Congress. The first, the House of Represenatives held representatives that share the population of the U.S. The second, the Senate was based on each state having two representatives. -
Philadelphia Convention
Convention that introduced the constitution.The convention took away coercive powers. -
Constitutional Convention
Convention that created a method of amending a state constitution. The state citizens then proposed and voted on what to amend in the states constitution.
