-
jamestown settled
The Jamestown Colony in Virginia was settled on Jamestown Island on May 14, 1607. Jamestown is commonly regarded as the first permanent English settlement in the United States. It was the capital of the Virginia Colony until 92 years later -- in 1699 -- when it was relocated to Williamsburg. Current historical attractions include Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement, and nearby Colonial Parkway, Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown -
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. The Mayflower Compact was drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The Mayflower’s passengers knew that the New World’s earlier settlers failed due to a lac -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The Petition of Right was produced by the English Parliament in the run-up to the English Civil War. It was passed by Parliament in May 1628, and given the royal assent by Charles I in June of that year. The Petition is most notable for its confirmation of the principles that taxes can be levied only by Parliament, that martial law may no -
english bill of rights
The Act containing the Bill of Rights declared that King James II by illegal actions had attempted to overturn the laws and customs of the country and to destroy the Protestant religion. For this reason, the Bill of Rights declares explicitly that specific activities are illegal, and makes clear that the king is subject to the law, and that laws are instituted by Parliament. -
albany of union
It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies, within and under which government each colony may retain its present constitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the said act, as hereafter follows. -
stamp act
On June 8, 1765 James Otis, supported by the Massachusetts Assembly sent a letter to each colony calling for a general meeting of delegates. The meeting was to be held in New York City in October. Representatives from nine colonies met in New York. Though New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia did not send delegates, the Assemblies of those missing colonies nonetheless agreed to support the works of the Congress. The meetings were held in Federal Hall in New York, and the delegates -
boston massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
Boston Tea Party
three ships loaded with tea sailed into Boston harbour. During the night of the 16th, 150 men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded the boats by force. They broke open 342 chests of tea, and dumped all the contents overboard into the harbour. The value of the tea is estimated to have been around 10,000 pounds. Similar incidents took place all along the coast, as ships of tea arrived. -
Intolerable Acts
The government spent immense sums of money on troops and equipment in an attempt to subjugate Massachusetts. British merchants had lost huge sums of money on looted, spoiled, and destroyed goods shipped to the colonies. The revenue generated by the Townshend duties, in 1770, amounted to less than £21,000. On March 5, 1770, Parliament repealed the duties, except for the one on tea. That same day, the Boston massacre set a course that would lead the Royal Governor to evacuate the occupying army fr -
First Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774. Carpenter's Hall was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. These were elected by the people, by the colonial legislatures, or by the committees of correspondence of the respective colonies. The colonies presented there were united in a determination to show a combined authority to Great Britain, but their aims were not uniform at -
Second Continental Congress
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, a Second Continental Congress met. Colonists were still thinking about the two battles. The Congress met on May 10, 1776, in the State House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is now called Indepence Hall. This second Congress had a few delegates that hadn't been at The First Continental Congress. Some of those new and returning delegates included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and the new president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock. The -
American Revolution
The American Revolution, also known as the Revolutionary War, was one of the most significant events in American history. Without it, the United States of America may not have come into existence. -
Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary -
Articles of Confederation
-
Articles of Confederation
After Independence from Great Britain was declared on July 2, 1776 the United Colonies needed to form a new Confederation to govern and conduct the war against England. The Continental Congress, after painstaking debate, passed the Articles of Confederation of the United States of America on November 15, 1777. Unlike the Constitution of 1787 this confederation charter required the ratification of all 13 states before it would become the first "Constitution" of the United States of America. -
philedelphia Convention
The Articles gave Congress virtually no power to regulate domestic affairs--no power to tax, no power to regulate commerce. Without coercive power, Congress had to depend on financial contributions from the states, and they often time turned down requests. Congress had neither the money to pay soldiers for their service in the Revolutionary War or to repay foreign loans granted to support the war effort. -
Constituion Convention
the State House in Philadelphia, the same location where the Declaration of Independence had been signed 11 years earlier. For four months, 55 delegates from the several states met to frame a Constitution for a federal republic that would last into "remote futurity." This is the story of the delegates to that convention and the framing of the federal Constitution. -
conneticut compromise
The Compromise was submitted to the constitutional convention to break the deadlock created by the New Jersey Plan and The Virginia Plan. The convention decided, after months of debate, that the legislature will be bicameral, meaning there will be two houses, one house will have equal representation, while the other is based on population of the state. After further argument, the delegates agreed to what is really a great compromise also known as The Connecticut Compromise. It is known as The Co -
Shays Rebellion
armed insurrection by farmers in W Massachusetts against the state government. Debt-ridden farmers, struck by the economic depression that followed the American Revolution, petitioned the state senate to issue paper money and to halt foreclosure of mortgages on their property and their own imprisonment for
