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Period: Jan 1, 1200 to
Chapter 2 Timeline
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Feb 1, 1215
Magna Carta
Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. The charter was an important part of the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the English speaking world. -
Petition of Right
A major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The Petition contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. -
English Bill of Rights
It was enacted by the English Parliament and singed into law by King William III. It is a document of English constitutional law, and marks a fundamental milestone in the progression of English society from a nation of people under the authority of a monarch to a nation of free citizens with inalienable rights. -
Albany Plan of Union
It was an early attempt at forming a union of the colonies "under one government as far as might be necessary for defense and other general important purposes." The Plan called for the general government to be administered by a President General appointed and supported by the Crown, and a Grand Council to be chosen by the representatives of the colonial assemblies. -
Boston Massacre
Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the British soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry. The soldiers fired into the crowd, apparently without orders, instantly killing three people and wounding others. Two more people died later of wounds sustained in the incident. -
Boston Tea Party
It was a direct action by colonists in Boston against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. -
Second Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. -
First Continental Congress
It was a convention of delegates from twelve British North American colonies. It was called in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts which had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and petitioning King George III for redress of those grievances. -
Declaration of Independence
A statement adopted by the Continental Congress which announced that thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent state, and no longer a part of the British Empire. The Declaration was ultimately 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 War. -
Articles of Confederation
It was an agreement between the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. It provided for a much stronger national government with a chief executive, courts, and taxing powers. -
Shay's Rebellion
The rebellion was started over financial difficulties. It was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts. -
Virginia Plan
A proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. The resolutions proposed a new form of national government having three branches (legislative, executive and judicial). -
New Jersey Plan
The plan was created in response to the Virginia Plan's, calling for two houses of Congress, both elected with apportionment according to population. The New Jersey plan also gave power to regulate trade and to raise money by taxing all foreign goods. -
Philadelphia Convention
It was called to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States.
