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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
A group of barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. The critical idea of Magna Carta is that the monarchy's power isn't absolute. -
Petition of Right
The English Parliament proposed that King Charles is not allowed to imprison people or tax people with parliament's authorization. Charles continued to tax the people, however. -
English Bill of Rights
This limited the power of the monarchs. People had rights to fair trial and excessive bail from cruel and unusual punishment. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin proposed that the colonies come together and stay under one central government. Together, they would raise a military, make war and peace with the Native Americans, and enforce taxes. Unfortunately, it was turned down by the crown and colonies. -
Boston Massacre
A group of angry colonists marched in Boston and protested against England's laws and taxes. British troops opened fire on the crowd and killed five. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of men left Boston Harbor disguised as Native Americans. They broke open the chests and dumped all the tea into the sea to protest British control on tea trade. -
First Continental Congress
After the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed a set of laws for the colonies called the Intolerable Acts. Afterwards, the First Continental Congress sent a Declaration of Rights to King George III and urged the colonists to refuse all trade with England and boycott English goods. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress were known to be the nation's first national government. They served the nation for five years(1776-1781) and raised a military, borrowed funds, bought supplies, created a money system, and made treaties with other countries. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was signed by John Hancock on this day.This officially isolated the colonies from England and the colonies renamed themselves the United States. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were an attempt at making the colonies a more perfect union. Congress was the only body in the government and weren't allowed to tax people. Due to this, many debts arose. -
Shays' Rebellion
Many farmers and other people were having issues paying off their debts and supporting their families. Former war veteran Daniel Shays led 1,200 men to a federal arsenal in Springfield.Though his rebellion failed, it led to the revison to the Articles of Confederation. -
Philadelphia Convention
This was also known as the Constitutional Convention. The plan was to revise the Articles of Confederation, but many of the 55 delegates agreed that it couldn't be done, so they secretly rewrote the plan in the U.S. Constitution. -
Virginia Plan
The plan was written by Virginian James Madison. It was the outlines of what our Constituion would become. It suggested a national government consisting of three branches with checks and balances to prevent abuse of power. It also described two houses in which one would have the leaders elected by the people and would office for three years and the other with the leaders elected by state legislatures and would hold office for seven years. Both relied on population for division. -
New Jersey Plan
The plan suggested that small states got an equal share of representatives in the government. This idea was the model for the U.S. Senate.
