-
Period: Jan 29, 1200 to
chapter 2 timeline
-
Jun 15, 1215
The Magna Carta
In a field at Runnymede, King John affixed his seal to Magna Carta. Confronted by 40 rebellious barons, he consented to their demands in order to avert civil war. Just 10 weeks later, Pope Innocent III nullified the agreement, and England plunged into internal war. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Rights was established in June of 1638, by King Charles I. It stated four principles: no taxes would be given without Parliament consent; no imprisonment without a shown cause; soldiers cannot be put in private houses; and martial law cannot be used in times of peace. The Petitions were supposed to be a safeguard, but they were soon violated by Charles I, the very person that agreed to them. He continued collecting taxes without Parliament consent. -
English Bill Of Rights
The 1689 English Bill of Rights was a British Law, passed by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1689 that declared the rights and liberties of the people and settling the succession in William III and Mary II following the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when James II was deposed. The date of the English Bill of Rights is referred to as either dated as March 1689 or as February 13, 1688 in Old Style dating -
New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey delegates to the Constitutional Convention, led by William Paterson (1745–1806) proposed an alternative to the Virginia Plan on June 15, 1787. The New Jersey Plan was designed to protect the security and power of the small states by limiting each state to one vote in Congress, as under the Articles of Confederation. -
The Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. The plan was adopted by representatives from seven of the British North American colonies. -
The "Boston Massacre"
The "Boston Massacre" as it is called, was really not a massacre in the sense that a lot of people were slaughtered (because only five people were killed), it was a massacre in the sense that the British government's authority was not going to be tolerated. This incident marked the beginning of the end for England and its presence in the United States of America. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots, protesting the monopoly on American tea importation recently granted by Parliament to the East India Company, seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into the harbor. -
The 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. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress started on May 10, 1775. The delegates of the 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia to discuss their next steps. -
The Declaration of Independence
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument -
Articles of Confederation
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, The Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. -
Shays Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion, the post-Revolutionary clash between New England farmers and merchants that tested the precarious institutions of the new republic, threatened to plunge the "disunited states" into a civil war. The rebellion arose in Massachusetts in 1786, spread to other states, and culminated in the rebels' march upon a federal arsenal. -
The Philadelphia Convention
The Philadelphia Convention, now often referred to as the Constitutional Convention, was a meeting held in 1787 by delegates from the 13 states that then comprised the United States. At first, the purpose of the convention was to address the problems the federal government was having ruling the states and staying fiscally sound under the provisions of the Articles of Confederation, which had been the prevailing code for the government since 1777. -
The Virginia Plan
Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph proposed what became known as "The Virginia Plan." Written primarily by fellow Virginian James Madison, the plan traced the broad outlines of what would become the U.S. Constitution.
