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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Magna Carta The Magna Carta was signed by King John of England in a meadow at Runnymede in South England. The Magna Carta limited the king’s power, separated church from government, and created a universal measuring system, and stated that no taxes except federal dues were to be levied. This made sure that King John could not abuse his power as king. Magna Carta is Latin means Great Charter. -
Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact was created so after the Pilgrim landed at Plymouth, Cape Cod. The Mayflower Compact was created to prevent arguments between the Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights is considered the second most important document under the Magna Carta. Under the Petition of Rights no freeman is forced to pay taxes and no freedman should be imprisoned unless a law of the land was broken. It was signed by Charles I. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was written by Parliament and was signed by William and Mary, king and queen of England. It gave the people right to petition without fear of retribution, freedom of speech in Parliament, made regular elections, and set the right of Parliament. -
King George III takes Power
King George III put soldiers in the colonies to try to take control of them. He also started taxing the colonists to help pay for the damages caused by the French and Indian War (Seven Years War).This angered the colonists. -
French and Indian War (begins)
The French and Indian War is called the Seven Years war in Europe. The major players in the French and Indian war were Great Britain, France, and the American Indians. Some major battles were the Battle of Quebec in 1759, the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759, and the Battle of Fort Necessity in 1754. The British won the war. The damages from the war caused Britain to heavily tax the colonies and tensions grew between the colonies and Great Britain. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was suggested by Benjamin Franklin in a large meeting called the Albany Congress. He wanted to connect the colonies under on central government. The Albany Plan of Union never happened. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act taxed every piece of printed paper they used like licenses, newspapers, and playing cards. The colonial leaders did not like the Stamp Act and thought it was an attempt by England to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. -
Boston Massacre
Massacre Colonists threw snowballs at a group of Royalist soldiers because they were mad about the Townshend act. The soldiers became angry because they were hit by a snowball; they fired into the crowd. Five colonists in the crowd were killed when British troops fired on colonists. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of patriots organized an event to get back at British Parliament for putting a monopoly on tea importation in the colonies. The night of December 16, 1773 a group of patriots went onto a ship that was caring tea from Britain and they dumped the tea into Boston harbor. As a result of this the Coercive Acts of 1774 were created as a punishment to the colonists. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. The Congress created a pact for non-importation of English goods, regulate the resistance to Great Britain, and to keep in communication with each other unless Parliament took away Intolerable Acts. The major men involved were Colo. George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, Colo. Benjamin Harrison, and Richard Bland. -
Lexington and Concord
The Lexington and Concord situation turned into a lose win for both sides. The British easily stormed Lexington and moved on to Concord. On the way they lost over 250 soldiers due to the Americans picking them off one by one. They had to return to Boston for orders. Lexington and Concord were considered the first major battles of the Revolution. British Major John Pitcairn was a major general who was involved. Paul Revere went through towns and sound that the British were coming! -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the thirteen colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this meet different people were elected as representatives for the states and in jobs for the government. Some of those leaders that were elected were, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts of 1774 were four acts enforced on the Colonists from King George the Third, to punish them for the Boston Tea Party. 1774 Intolerable Acts- 1. The British closed all of Boston's Ports until the colonist's paid for the tea they destroyed during the Boston Tea Party. 2. British restricted colonist to have government/committees/town meetings. 3. British allowed themselves to house troops where ever, when ever, in the colonist's homes. -
Declaration of Independance
VideoThe Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by Congress in Philadelphia on July 4th 1776. July 4th is no America’s Independence Day. It was written mostly by Tomas Jefferson. It is the founding document of the American political tradition. It states that all men a created equal and have the same inherent natural rights. This separated the 13 colonies from Great Britain. It is still the basis of our government today. -
Start of Constitutional Convention
The Constitution Convention lasted for four months. It consisted of 55 delegates from the colonies states. This convention created the United States. They confronted the task of overthrowing the American government as defined by the Article of Confederation. The convention was supposed to begin on May 14 but there was poor attendance so they moved the date back to May 25. -
Articles of Confederation
John Handson was elected to be the first president under the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention the Federal Convention, took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject.
