Cont covn

Early American Government

  • Magna Carta
    Jun 15, 1215

    Magna Carta

    The Magna Carta is a charter agreed upon by King John of England. It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons
  • Jamestown settled

    Jamestown settled

    Jamestown was the first settlement of Virginia. It served as the capital of Virginia until 1699. The seat was then moved to Williamsburgh.
  • Mayflower Compact

    Mayflower Compact

    This was the first governing document of the Plymouth colony. It was written due to religous prosecution by King James of England.
  • Petition of Right

    Petition of Right

    This major English document sets liberties that the king cannot infringe. The Petition contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and the use of martial law.
  • Albany Plan of Union

    Albany Plan of Union

    This plan was a proposal to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, suggested by Benjamin Franklin. It took place in New York on 1754.
  • Stamp Act

    Stamp Act

    A British Parliament act that imposed a stamping duty on newspapers and legal and comercial documents, The money was used to help defend the American frontier.
  • American Revolution

    American Revolution

    The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783. This is when the Thirteen American Colonies rejected British monarcy.
  • Boston Massacre

    Boston Massacre

    The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770. It was between a mob and a British soldier squad. The mob was throwing snowballs, sticks, and stones at the soldiers.
  • Boston Tea Party

    Boston Tea Party

    The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty. They threw 340 chests of tea overboard.
  • First Continental Congress

    First Continental Congress

    This was a meeting of the twelve of the thirteen colonies in Philadelphia. It was in response to the Intolerable acts.
  • Intolerable Acts

    Intolerable Acts

    This was a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea party. They were meant to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party.
  • Second Continental Congress

    Second Continental Congress

    This convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775 took place in Philadelphia.The Congress helped by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties.
  • Declaration of Independence

    Declaration of Independence

    The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776. It announced that the thirteen colonies regarded themselves as sovereign states.
  • Articles of Confederation

    Articles of Confederation

    This document was the United State's first constitution. It was in force from 1781 until 1789, when the present day Constitution took effect.
  • Shay's Rebellion

    Shay's Rebellion

    Shay's Rebellion was a series of protests by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections. It was based in Massachusettes.
  • Connecticut Compromise

    Connecticut Compromise

    This was an agreement between large and small state over the legislative size and representation under the Constitution. This was proportional representation in the lower house and equal in the upper house.
  • Philadelphia Convention

    Philadelphia Convention

    The purpose of this convention was to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. It resulted in the United States Constitution.
  • Constitution Convention

    Constitution Convention

    The purpose of this convention was to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. It resulted in the United States Constitution.
  • English Bill of Rights

    English Bill of Rights

    The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments. These amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public