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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
A document drafted by Stephen Langton and signed by King John of England in 1215 to put limits on the British crowns authority,so to stop a full rebellion, and to stop illegal and unjust rulings made by royals, like raising taxes to unreasonable levels. It took place in England in the early 1200's. -
Jamestown Settled
In 1607 England established it's first permanent settlement in America, and it was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London. In 1608, Captain John Smith became the leader of the colony and established it's rules and laws. It's famous for being the first colony ever established in America. -
Mayflower Compact written
It was written by 41 colonists to establish a framework for government for the Pilgrim and Puritan settlers. It was made since the Pilgrims landed outside of British established lands and therefore felt no need to live under British law. -
Petition of Rights
A document sent to King Charles in 1628 by the British Parliament to set out the rights and liberties of the subject or individual over the crowns prerogatives. They refused to finance the kings unpopular foreign policy. It's famous for setting individual rights against the crowns power. -
English Bill of Rights
Signed after the deposition of King James the 2nd in 1988 it was the English Bill of Rights that set the rights and liberties of the people and putting the succession of King William the 3rd in order. -
Albany Plan of Union
A plan created by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 to create a unified government for the 13 colonies at the Albany Congress that took place Albany, New York. It set creation of the American government forward -
Stamp Act
The first internal tax put directly on the American colonists by the British Government.It was a tax put on all offical documents like birth certificates and stamps.George Grenville proposed the Stamp Act to British Parliament in 1765 and was passed without debate. It's was the start of a strained relations between Britain and the colonists. -
Boston Massacre
It was the shooting of five colonists by British soldiers and it was the the culmination of tensions that had been growing since the British soldiers arrival in 1768. -
Boston Tea Party
Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded 3 ships at night in the Boston harbor and threw 342 barrels of tea overboard in retaliation of the British high tax on tea -
Intolerable Acts
It was passed in 1774 to punish the colonist for the Boston Tea Party. It did not allow for British soldiers to be tried in the colonies and for them to be sent back to England for any crimes they might commit, and pushed for the banning of meeting between colonists, and it heightened tensions between the British and colonists. -
First Continental Congress
A meeting of 12 delegates from the 13 colonies that met in response to the British pressure on colonists after the Boston Tea Party. They met at Carpenter Hall, in Philadelphia and elected Peyton Randolph the first congress president. -
American Revolution Begins
The first armed confrontation between American colonist and British soldier at Lexington. It signaled the official start of the Revolutionary war. -
Second Continental Congress
The the second meeting of the colonial delegates to manage the war plans and to begin the the foundation of what would later be the Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence
This was a formal document made by Thomas Jefferson and signed by the members of congress and sent to King George the 3rd to declared the colonies independence from British rule and the creation of the United States. -
Articles of Conferderation
The Articles of Confederation was America's first constitution adopted by the Continental Congress to set a federal government by the colonies. -
Shay's Rebellion
The name given to a series of protests and attacks made by American farmers on state enforced tax collection. It was led by Daniel Shay's who was a captain in the Continental Army during the revolution. -
Philadelphia Convention
A meeting of George Washington and many other delegates with plans to peacefully change the Article of Confederation set as the constitution years prior. -
Connecticut Compromise
A plan proposed by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellesworth, Connecticut's delegates at the Constitutional Congress to set up a two-house legislature. In the House of Representative's the number of seats in the Senate for a state was counted by the state's population. Senate seat numbers were shared equally.
