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Jamestown
The very first permanent English Colony was establsihed to provide profit for the mother country. -
House of Busrgesses
This colonial governing body allowed the colonists their first taste of self government. -
Mayflower Compact
The puritans from the Plymouth colony decided to create their own laws which established self governing principles. -
Fundamental Orders of Conneticut
First written constitution by a colony limited the power of government. -
Triangular Trade
New England merchants traded basic supplies with the West Indies in return for sugar, later Africa was added to the route. -
Maryland Toleration Act
Law granting religious freedom to all Christians living in the maryland colony. -
Navigation Acts
England felt that the American Colonies were gaining great profit through overseas trade and wanted a share of the profit. -
John Peter Zenger
Accused of sedition and libel by a royal official who took offense to the newspaper criticism of limits on free expression. -
Great Awakening
Many colonists began expressing their religious ideas through new churches and ways of life. -
French and Indian War
England and France had been warring on and off for hundreds of years, this time around the colonists wanted in on the action. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklins attempt to unite volunteers from all colonies to establish a common defense. The plan didnt work but it was the first time colonists chose to unite against England. -
Proclomation of 1763
In an attempt to settle the Natives along the frontier, England banned all the colonial settlement west of the Appalacian mountains. -
Stamp Act
Englands latest attempt to get money off of the colonists trading methods, a direct tax on goods regarding any form of paper. -
Boston Massacre
Tension between colonists and the standing army came to a breaking point when a riot came together outside of a military gathering and it ended with a shot fired into the crowd. -
Tea Act
A tax on tea set by England onto the colonists. -
Intolerable Acts
An effort made to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. They close the boston harbor and demand compensation for the lost tea. -
Quartering Act
Colonists had to house british soldiers when requested. -
Lexington & Concord
Fighting between colonial militias, caused the official beginning of the rivalry between the colonists and the british. -
Olive Branch Petition
A committee of colonists draft the letter to King George III to request a ceasefire. -
Common Sense
A popular pamphlet written by Thomas Paine states that it is obvious that England and her American colonies should not remain united. -
Decleration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson drafts a document that a list of complaints against Britian in order to rally the colonists.