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Jun 1, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was written so the king, King John at the time, wouldn't abuse his power over the people. It was a series of promises that was signed by barons and King John. -
Jamestown settled
It was the first settlement of the Virginia Colony and served as capital of Virginia until 1699, when the seat of government was moved to Williamsburg. It is significant because it was the first settlement on American soil. -
Mayflower Compact
It was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the Separatists, who were fleeing for religious freedom. The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship by most adult men It is very significant because it is said to be the first known document for government. -
Petition of Right
A major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.the Petition contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights limited the power of the English sovereign, and was written as an act of Parliament. It asserted that Englishmen had certain inalienable civil and political rights. It is significant because the U.S. based the Constitution off of it and was similar to the first 8 amendments and it was the first step to democracy in England. -
Albany Plan of Union
Under this plan, each colonial legislature would elect delegates to an American continental assembly presided over by a royal governor. However, the plan was never carried out, but it was an important plan to conceive all the colonies under one government. -
Stamp Act
It was imposed as a direct tax by the British Parliament on the colonies of British America, and it required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. . Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War. -
Boston Massacre
It was nothing more than a street fight between a "patriot" mob and British soldiers. The riot began when almost 50 citizens attacked a British sentinal. 3 citizens were killed on the spot. The Boston Massacre was a signal event leading to the Revolutionary War. -
Boston Tea Party
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. It was all because officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain. -
Intolerable Acts
The British called their responsive measures to the Boston Tea Party the COERCIVE ACTS. Boston Harbor was closed to trade until the owners of the tea were compensated. Only food and firewood were permitted into the port. Town meetings were banned, and the authority of the royal governor was increased, and many troops were sent to Boston so the colonists could house and feed them. -
First Continental Congress
The main goal was to protest the Intolerable Acts. The American colonists were very angered by these forceful acts. In response to these actions and laws, the colonist banded together to fight back. Several committees of colonists called for a convention of delegates from the colonies to organize resistance to the Intolerable Acts. The Congress voted to cut off colonial trade with Great Britain unless Parliament abolished the Intolerable Acts. -
American Revolution
The thirteen colonies joined together to break from the British Empire to become the United States. Through the Second Continental Congress, the Americans then managed the armed conflict in response to the British. Our leader was George Washington, who helped us fight back and make allies to defeat the British. It is important because it became the right of people overthrowing the British government. -
Second Contential Congress
The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Congress was to take charge of the war effort. -
Declaration of Independence
announced that the 13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a union that would become a new nation, the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in this process. The significance is that we stood up for ourselves and we became a role model to other countries. -
Articles of Confederation
"The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy." Virginia was the first state to ratify it, but it wasn't ratified in all 13 states until March 1, 1781. -
Shay's Rebellion
The rebellion was named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and one of the rebel leaders. It was caused by several factors: financial difficulties brought about by a post-war economic depression, a credit squeeze caused by a lack of hard currency, and fiscally harsh government policies instituted in 1785 to solve the state's debt problems. Protesters shut down courts to stop judicial hearings for tax & debt collection. It affected debates on the new government -
Philadelphia Convention
Also known as the the Constitutional Convention, it was held to fix problems in governing the U.S. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, instead the meeting became to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. The result became the creation of the United States Constitution, making it the most significant event in U.S. -
Constituion Convention
To create a new government rather than fix the existing one, the delegates elected George Washington to preside over the convention. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States. -
Connecticut Compromise
It was an agreement that large and small states reached that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states. Each state would have two representatives in the upper house. It is clearly significant because it createad the legislative bodies.
