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Period: Feb 8, 1215 to
American Revolution
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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Also called the Great Charter, it included guaranteed of such fundamental rights as trial by jury and due process of law. Those protections against the absolute power of the king were oringinally intended for the privileged classes only. The Magna Carta established the critical idea that the monarchy's power was not absolute. -
Petition of Right
It limited the king's power in several ways. Most importantly, it demanded tha the king no longer imprisoned or otherwise punish any person but by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was an act declaring the rights and liberties of the subject and settling the succession of the crown. King James II came up with the Bill of Rights. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin offered what came to be known as the Albany Plan of Union in the meeting with the British Board of Trade. The plan proposed the creation of an annual congress of the delegates from each of the 13 colonies. That body would have the power to raise military and naval forces, make war and peace with the Native Americans, regulate trade with them and collect customs duties. -
Boston Massacre
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but frictions still mounted. New laws were passed making colonists show resentment and anger. Mob violence erupted at several ports, and many colonists supported a boycott of English goods. On March 5, British troops on Boston fired on a crowd killing five people. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of men disguised as Native Americans boarded three tea ships in Boston Harbor. They broke open the chests and dumped the ship's cargo into the sea to protest British control of the tea trade. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from every colony except Georgia met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. They discussed the worsening situation and debated plans for action. The meeting adjourned on Octobaer 26, 1774 with a call for a second congress to be convened the following May. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. By then the Revolution had begun. The battles of Lexington and Concord had been fought three weeks earlier. -
Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, it states that the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. -
Period: to
Chapter 17 Events
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Shay's Rebellion
A farmer named Daniel Shays led an armed uprising that led several State judges to close their courts. Early the next year, Shays mounted an unsuccessful attack on the Federal arsenal at Springfield. States forces then moved to silence the rebellion and Shays fled to Vermont. -
Philadelphia Convention
There, several of the Framers agreed with Roger Sherman of Connecticut, who, according to James Madison "considered the Executive Magistry as nothing more than an institution for carrying the will of the legislature into effect, that the person or persons ought to be appointed by an accountable to the Legislature only, which was the depository of the supreme will of the Society." -
Virginia Plan
Presented by Randolph, the plan called for new government with three seperate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislature would be bicaneral. Under the proposed Virginia Plan the Congress would choose a National Executive and a National Judiciary. -
New Jersey Plan
It retained the unicameral Congress of the Confederation, with each of the states equally represented. In addition to those powers Congress already had, the plan would add closely limited powers to tax and to regulate trade between the States.
