Major Events for Early American Government

Magna Carta

Jun 15, 1297

Due to years of unsuccessful foregin policies and heavy taxation demands, the king of England King John was facing down a rebellion by the country's powerful barons (a member of the lowest order of the British nobility).

Jamestown settled

May 14, 1607

A group of about 100 members called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was located on the banks of the James River. The first couple years disease and conflict with local Native American tribes brought Jamestown to fail before a new group arrived in 1610.

Mayflower Compact written

Nov 11, 1620

Signed by 41 English colonists on the ship Mayflower was the first written framework of government established in what is now the United States. It was drafted to prevent dissent amongst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth a few days earlier.

Petition of Right

Jun 7, 1628

A refusal by Parliament to finance the King's foregin policy had caused his government to exact forced loans.

English Bill of Rights

Dec 11, 1689

Since King John agreed to the Magna Carta in England in 1215, the people of England had came to an agreement that the king or queen couldn't just do what they want they would also have to obey the law. The late 1600s the rich lords who were in Parliament wanted more rights than just the ones stated in the Magna Carta. Their goal was to make sure the kings or queens didn't have complete power like Louis XIV (14) in France. So the rich lords added new rules.

Albany Plan of Union

Jul 10, 1754

A proposal to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, it was suggested by Benjamin Franklin who was a leader and was a person sent from Pennsylvania, at the Albany Congress in New York.

Stamp Act

Mar 14, 1765

Prime Minister Grenville thought that the colonist should take on a higher tax load. An average tax payer in England paid 26 shillings per tax year. Parliament passed the Stamp Act to end this. This act required the Americans to buy special watermarked paper for the newspapers and all legal documents.

Boston Massacre

Mar 10, 1770

Was the killing of five colonist by British regulars. The tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since Royal troops showed up in Massachusetts to enforce the heavy tax burden.

Boston Tea Party

Dec 16, 1773

An act of American colonial defiance served as a protest against taxation. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded ships in the Boston harbor and threw about 342 chests of tea overboard.

Intolerable Acts

Mar 24, 1774

Passed by the British Parliament as a result of punishment for the destruction during the Boston Tea Party and many other events. The relationship between Great Britain and the Americans had became tense.

First Continental Congress

Sep 5, 1774

Sep. 5 - Oct. 26, 1774
A meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies that met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. The things discussed where about the situation with Britian the Intolerable Acts.

American Revolution begins

Apr 19, 1775

Around 5 a.m., 700 British troops where on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town's common green. A British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment's hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. When the battle ended eight Americans laid dead or dying and 10 others were wounded.

Second Continental Congress

May 10, 1775

Started with the battle of Lexington and Concord fresh in their memories. A New England military were camped outside of Boston to drive the British out of Boston.

Declaration of Independence

Jul 11, 1776

Was written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress. Has the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence. It describes why the colonies overthrew their ruler.

Articles of Confederation

Mar 1, 1781

First written constitution of the United States. It stemmed from wartime urgency, the progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states before was it was ratified on March 1, 1781. While under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes.

Shay's Rebellion

Feb 27, 1787

American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt protest. Farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina but the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. They named the rebellion after the leader Daniel Shays of Massachusetts, he was a former captain in the Continental army.

Connecticut Compromise

Mar 11, 1787

Provided states with equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Respresentatives. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth are the reason why it is called the Connecticut Compromise. Without this compromise the Constitution would have not been passed.

Philadelphia Convention

May 25, 1787

Each state appointed delegate to attend meeting in Philadelphia to develop more effective and unified constitution.

Constitution Convection

May 25, 1787

Representatives from every state but Rhode Island met at the State House in Pennsylvania. The meeting was a secret at first. No member of press were able to be there. Ben Franklin had to be watched to make sure he wouldn't talk publicly about the meeting.