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Feb 11, 1215
Magna Carta
An Angevin charter originally issued in Latin in the year 1215. It required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary. -
Petition of Right
A major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. It 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 a restatement in statutory form of the Declaration of Rights.It lays down the limits on the powers of the crown and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in Parliament. -
Albany Plan of Union
A proposal to create a unified government from the Thirteen Colonies, suggested by Benjamin Franklin, then a senior leader of 48 and delegate from Pennsylvania, at the Albany Congress. More than twenty representatives of several northern and mid-Atlantic colonies had gathered to plan their defense related to the French and Indian War, the front in North America of the Seven Years War between Great Britain and France. -
Boston Massacre
An incident in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men and injured six others. These soldiers had been stationed in Boston since 1768 in order to protext and support crown-appointed colonial officials. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, a city in the British colony of Massachusetts. It was against the tax policy of the British government and the East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. -
First Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from twelve colonies, excluding Georgia, that met early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. -
Declaration of Independence
A statement adopted by the Continental Congress which announced that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead, they formed a new nation: The United States of America. -
Articles of Confederation
An agreement among the 13 founding states that established the U.S.A as a confederation of sovereign states. It served as the first constitution. -
Second Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from the twelve colonies that started meeting in May of 1775. It was a reconvening of the First Continental Congress. -
Shays' Rebellion
It was an armed uprising that took place in central and western Massachusetts. It was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and one of the rebel leaders. -
Philadelphia Convention
Addressed problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. The intention was the create a new government rather than fix the existing one. -
Virginia Plan
A proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. -
New Jersey Plan
A proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention. The plan was created in response to the Virginia Plan, which called for two houses of Congress, both elected with apportionment according to population.
