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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna carta was a charter that King John I was forced to sign that stated that proclaimed certain liberities and stated that King John's was not arbitrary. It was the first dccument that was forced upon the King of England by a group of his subjects. It was forced upon him to limit his powers and to control their privleges. King John never had intentions of sticking to the charter but signed it to avoid civil war. A few weeks later the Pope nullified the charter. -
Jamestown Settled
When 104 men began a settlement on the bank of the james river in virginia. They were sponsored by the virigina company of London whose stockholders had hoped to make a profit off of the new world that they were set out to discover. They suffered hardships at first but then began to get better and survived up until the point of the first colony. -
Mayflower Compact Written
The Mayflower compact was written stating that in essence is was a social contract stating which lines were the territory and declaring their loyalty to the king and other rules and regulations that had to be followed. -
Petition of Right
The petition of right was a major consitutional document that sets out specific rights for a person that the king can not infringe upon.The rights that are protected through this includes no non-parlimentary taxation, imprisionment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. The right was fully ratified by King John and went through everyone. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was an act of the parliment asking them to become joint sovereigns of England. It lays down the limimts and sets the rights of parliment down and the rules for freedom of speech for parliment as well. It also says they have the right to elect the parliment and to challenge the monarch. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was suggested by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress. It was an attempt to form a union of the colonies during the French and Indian War. The plan that was presented was one of many. It was quickly regjected by both sides of the Congress along with the many plans that have come before that. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was an incident in which British army soliders killed 5 civilians and injured six others. The British troops were there to protect and support officials that are trying to enforce the legislation that was unpopular with the citizens. A mob formed around a British sentry because of the tensions. When citizens started using verbal threats the soliders fired into the crowd without orders and killed three instantly but later two died after wounds were uncontrolable. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty, in Boston, against the tax policy of the British government that controlled all the tea that was imported into the colonies. After officials refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea from the harbor a group of protestors boarded the ships and threw all of the tea overboard therefore destroying it. It was a key event in the growth of the American Revolution. -
First Continental Congress
The first continental congress consisted of 56 delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies. Many of the delegates that were included in this group went on to later become presidents including George Washington. Benjamin Franklin had to tried to have this meeting a year but no one would, until they put a blockade up after the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts
The intolerable acts are a name used to describe a series of laws that were passed by the British government. Four acts were issued in response to the Boston Tea Party. Many of the people saw these acts as a violation of their rights and formed the First Continental congress to protest the things that were being enforced. As things got worse the American Revolutionary War began and led to the independent Untied States. -
Second Continental Congress
While the battles of Lexington was raging on the Second Continental Congress was trying to make its way to Philadelphia. John Hancock was elected the president of the assembly. They adopted a strategy where the colonies would prepare for war while waiting for reconciliation. They petitioned the king to get this approved. On July 4, 1776 congress issued a declaration of independence! -
Stamp Act
The Stamp act was a tax that was imposed on the British colonies that forced every printed thing that was needed be printed on stamped paper that was embossed from the city of London.The printed documents included legal documents, magazines, newspapers, and many other types of paper. The tax had to be paid in British currency not on printed colonial paper. -
American Revolution Begins
The American Revolution was when the 13 colonies joined together to break up the rule of the British Empire combining to make the United States of America. Starting by rejecting the parliment and then moving on to other things like taxes. This all grew into a war later known as the American Revolutionary War. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement that announced that the thriteen colonies were independent from England and were classified as their own country. The United States of America was the name. After many ratifications the Congress issued it in many forms. The main person that headed it up was John Adams. -
Articles of Confederation
An agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as confederation of sovereign and served as its first constitution. The articles were drafted by the Continental Congress and were later approved in mid 1781. The articles included the stating of the name, the sovereignty of the states, equal rights of all people, expenditures of the United States will be payed for by state legistlatures. Many other things that are found in today's constitution are in it. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's rebellion was when a group of people head up by Daniel Shay's that was angry about the depression and what had happened to some of their leaders. They formed a group and protested, but when they did so they ended up killing almost 20 people and harming many others -
Philidelphia Convention
The philidelphia convention was also known as the constitutional convention. It was held to adress problems that the United States of America which was operating under the Articles of Confederation. It was set to revise the Articles, but instead a lot of the leaders would rather make a new government than try to fix all the problems the old one had. The election of the Senate was the most addressed issue. During the convetion the Constitution was born after many accounts of ratification. -
Connecticut Compromise
Otherwise known as the great compromise consisted of an agreement that stated what representation large and small states would have in the legislature.
