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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta layed a foundation for the evolution of parliamentary government and declarations of rights in Great Britain and the United States. It provided the basis for the idea of a higher law. -
Jamestown Settled
In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America's first permanent English colony. -
Mayflower Compact Written
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. Almost half of the colonists were part of a group seeking the freedom to practice Christianity according to their own determination and not the will of the Anglican Church. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. It contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. -
Englsih Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights was a restatement of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689, inviting them to become joint sovereigns of England. It lays down limits on the powers of sovereign and sets out the rights of Parliament. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in 1754 in Albany, New York. It was an early attempt at forming a union of the colonies under one government. -
American Revolution Begins
The American Revolution was the political upheaval in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. It was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre, called The Incident on King Street by the British, was an incident in which British soldiers killed five civilian men. British troops had been stationed in Boston since 1768 in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials. After receiving much verbal abuse they fired into a crowd killing three people. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an action by colonists in Boston against the British government and the East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history, -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts are a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts triggered outrage in the Thirteen Colonies and were important developments in the growth of the American Revolution. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve British North American colonies that met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met between September 5, 1774 and October 26, 1774, also in Philadelphia. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress which announced the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Today, we celebrate this day as the "Fourth of July." -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution of the United States. It was put into forced from March 1, 1781 to 1789, when the present day constitution came into effect. -
Philadelphia Convention
It was held to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. -
Shay's Rebellion
The rebellion started over financial difficulties and by January 1787, over one thousand Shaysites had been arrested. A militia that had been raised as a private army defeated an attack on the federal Springfield Armory by the main Shaysite force and five rebels were killed in the action. -
Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It required the upper house to be weighed equally between states. -
Constitution Convention
The convention was held to discuss problems in governing the United States of America. Although the meeting was held to revise things, some wanted to create a totally new government.
