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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta document limited the king of England's power. His barons wanted to limit his authority and establish a few basic rights for English citizens. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right was a document created by the English Parliament to limit some of the power of the king. The document allowed for prisoners to have the writ of habeas corpus. This enabled prisoners to come before a judge in a fair trial. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights further restricted the power of royal authority and gave Parliament more freedom. For example, the document allowed Parliament to have freedom of speech and the freedom of petition. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was created by Benjamin Franklin to create a confederation. The king did not alow this to happen. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union called for a royal governor to rule each colony. The plan was drafted by Benjamin Franklin as a result of the impending French and Indian Wars. -
Boston Masacre
Colonists were protesting the British government. The British soliders wanted to break up the protest, and in the end killing five colonists. -
Boston Tea Party
The King decided to tax tea, known as the Tea Act. Boston colonists refused to pay the tax, and dressed as indians and dumped the tea into the Boston Harbor. -
First Continental Congress
On September 5, 1774, soon to be my birthday several decades later, the First Continental Congress was held. They met in Philadelphia to pass the Intolerable Acts. -
Second Continental Congress
A year after the First Continental Congress they meet once again. This time a delegate from each colony attended to manage warfare, start working towards the Declaration, and making formal treaties. -
Declaration of Independence
The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration, which announced the independence from Britain. It was writen mostly by Thomas Jefferson, and first signed by John Hancock. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was a plan to unite the colonies. This created a unicameral congress, which ment each state had a delegate with one vote and could make war, treaties, ect. The Articles could not tax or regulate interstate commerce though. -
Shays Rebellion
Daniel Shays led an uprising in Massachusetts against the governor and a financial crisis in the colony. This uprising showed that, although the British had been defeated, several issues still remained for the new country. George Washington came out of retirement to push for a strong national government. -
Virginia Plan
James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan for the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The proposal called for a population-weighted voting system for legislature -
New Jersey Plan
William Paterson proposed this plan for the United States Government. His proposal was a response to the Virginia plan and call for two houses in the government. One house's delegates would be determined by the population of a state and the other house would have equal representation not based on population. -
Philadelphia Convention
The United States Constitutional Convention (also known as the Philadelphia Convention, the Federal Convention, or the Grand Convention at Philadelphia) took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America.
