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Jan 24, 1225
Magna Carta
During the American Revolution, Magna Carta served to inspire and justify action in liberty’s defense. The colonists believed they were entitled to the same rights as Englishmen, rights guaranteed in Magna Carta. They embedded those rights into the laws of their states and later into the Constitution and Bill of Rights. -
Petition of Right
Parliamentary declaration of the rights and liberties of the people, assented to by Charles I in the beginning of his reign and considered a constitutional document second in importance only to Magna Charta. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights limited the power of the English sovereign, and was written as an act of Parliament. As part of what is called the “Glorious Revolution,” the King and Queen William and Mary of Orange accepted the English Bill of Rights as a condition of their rule.The Bill of Rights asserted that Englishmen had certain civil and political rights. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a proposal made at the Albany Congress aimed at a formation of a strong union of the colonies under one single government and direction. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and British soldiers. Several colonists were killed. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots, protesting the monopoly on American tea importation recently granted by Parliament to the East India Company, seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into the harbor. -
First Continental Congress
The congress convened to discuss their different options concerning British offences. -
Second Continental Congress
It was at the meeting of the Second Continental Congress that the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, Benjimen Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. -
Declaration of independence
It announced American freedom from Britain. It was signed by 56 men. -
Articles of Confederation
The first attempt at a constitution for the United States. -
Shays rebellion
The crisis of the 1780s was most intense in the rural and relatively newly settled areas of central and western Massachusetts. Many farmers in this area suffered from high debt as they tried to start new farms.local sheriffs seized many farms and some farmers who couldn't pay their debts were put in prison. So Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army led a rebellion. -
Virginia Plan
A plan unsuccessfully proposed at the Constitutional Convention, providing for a legislature of two houses with representation in each house and executive and judicial branches to be chosen by the legislature. -
Philadelphia Convention
Congress called a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation into a more powerful document. Each state appointed delegates to attend a meeting in Philadelphia to develop a more effective and unified constitution. -
New Jersey Plan
A plan unsuccessfully proposed at the Constitutional Convention, providing for a single legislative house with equal representation for each state.
