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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was written by barons of the 13th century, who were searching to protect their rights. The Magna Carta was a collecting of 37 English Laws. This document was forced upon King John to sign, because it greatly reduced the power he had at that time. The Magna Carta limited the king's power by no taxation without representation, allowed for fair and non excessive punishment, and a trial by jury. -
Mayflower Compact
This was created to instill order within the first pilgrims, especially between Puritans and non-separatists. It was the first order of government created for what is now the United States. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights is the declaration of the rights and liberties of the people, assented to by Charles I. The rights that were granted by this document are:
1. That no freeman should be forced to pay any tax unless in accordance with an act of parliament.
2. No freeman should be imprisoned contrary to the law of the land.
3. That soldiers and sailors should not be billeted on private persons
4.commissions to punish soldiers and sailors by martial law should be abolished. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was accepted and signed by the King and Queen of Orange (William and Mary) as a condition to their rule, thereby giving the people many rights, including freedom from royal interference, for Protestants to bear arms, to elect members of parliament, of speech, and of having a fair trial. -
Albany Plan of Union
This was a plan, proposed by representatives of the British North American colonies, to unify the colonies under one government. It was, however, never carried out. A cartoon famously related to this event depicts a snake broken up into parts, and a caption that says, "Join, or die." -
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French and Indian War
The French and Indian war was primarily fought between the colonies of British America and New France. Some of the major battles include; Battle of Fort Necessity, Fort Duquesne; where the first blood was shed, brought upon by the French. After the British left the American colonies to fight \in Europe, they pretty much left the colonist to defend for themselves, which eventually led to the American Revolution and the freedom the colonist gained. -
King George III takes power
Ater the French and Indian war, King George and parliament decided that the British citizens should help pay for the war. The King angered colonist even more by telling them that they had to stop making settlements in and beyond the Appalachian Mountains. Any British citizen living in land that was won by the French had to leave. -
Stamp Act
This was a new tax imposed by the British Parliament that taxed all printed paper in order to fund the protection of the frontier at the Applachian mountains. This taxed all types of paper documents, including Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards. Leaders were outraged and deemed the act unfair, for they were being taxed without proper representatino in parliament. -
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre ReadingThe Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British regulars. This was caused by the tensions in American colonies that had been growing since Royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. After the killings an investagitor named Hutchinson immediately began investigating the affair, and by morning the eight British soldiers were arrested. -
Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party VideoThe Sons of Liberty organized a protest against the monopoly on American tea imports by invading a ship, dressed as natives, and dumping out the tea stored in it. Britain reacted through the Coercive Acts of 1774, punishing the colony. -
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Intolerable Acts
The British were angered by the colonies' acts of defiance against the crown, and so a series of acts were released in order to affirm Britain's supremacy over the colonists. Among these are the Boston Port Bill (closed this port), Administration of Justice Act (permission to go to another colony/mainland for a trial), Massachusetts Government Act (outlawed freely called town meetings), Quartering Act (British soldiers could be housed in colonist houses without permission), and Quebec Act. -
First Continenetal Congress
The First Continental Congress took place in Carpenter Hall, united to display a united resistance against Great Britain. The most prominent members of this meeting include George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, Benjamin Harrison, Richard Bland, and Peyton Randolph. Here they put down a declaration of rights and greivances against British rule. -
Lexington and Concord
The battles at Lexington and Concord are basically what kicked off the revolutionary war. After tensions had been building up, Brtish troops marched to seize an arms cache in Concord. At this point, Paul Revere made his well-known ride sounding the alarm, "the Regulars are Coming!" The British were led by General Thomas Gage. -
Second Continental Congress
Only a year after the battles at Lexington and Concord, a second continental congress convened in the State House in Philladelphia, Pennsylvania, to deal with issues that had been left in the air. Some of the people who came include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock, the new president of the Continental Congress. In short, they decided to break away from Great Britain once and for all, improve militia, and print paper money. -
Declaration of Independece
Declaration of IndependenceIn mid-June 1776, a five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin was tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies' intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence--written largely by Jefferson--in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence. This document was signed and published July 4th 1776. -
Article of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of soverign states, and served as its first constitution. John Hanson was the first president under the Articles of Confederation and Cyrus Griffin was the last, this was when the U.S. Consitution became our main document. -
Start of Constituional Convention
Delegates from various states met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. This is where a long debate over the proposed Constitution took place. This debate was to be kept a secret between all delegates. The Constitutional Convention begin to assemble in Philadelphia to confront a daunting task: the peaceful overthrow of the new American government as defined by the Article of Confederation.
