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Jul 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is a charter agreed by King John of England to make peace between himself and the rebel barons. The Magna Carta was the first major document that limited the power of the King. It inspired the United States Constitution by introducing such concepts as proceedings according to the law of the land. -
Settlement of Jamestown
In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower, consisting of separatist Congregationalists who called themselves "Saints", and adventurers and tradesmen, most of whom were referred to by the Separatists as "Strangers". -
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. The Petition of Right contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without case, and the use of martial law. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights lays down limits on the powers of the monarch and sets out the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was proposed by Benjamin Franklin that planned to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies. It proposed to Great Britain the colonies should have a President-General appointed and supported by the crown and a Grand Council chosen by the representatives of the Colonies. Great Britain ultimately rejected the plan because they thought it would give too much power to a unified group of colonial leaders. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British soldiers. It was the result of growing tensions between the citizens of Massachusetts and British troops sent over by Great Britain to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by Townsend Acts. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest conducted by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. The protesters boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea sent by the East India Company overboard. This protest was defiance act to the Tea Act of May 10, 1773. The British government responded harshly to this protest which eventually resulted into the American Revolution. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were the American Patriots' term for a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in throwing a large tea shipment into Boston harbor. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress composed of 55 colonial representatives from 12 colonies including John Adams, Samuel Adams, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. They met in Philadelphia and their job was to formulate a plan of action to deal with Great Britain. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was another convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met in Philadelphia that declared that the American Revolutionary War had begun. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties such as the Olive Branch Petition, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States. -
American Revolution
The American Revolution was a war between the 13 colonies and Great Britain that lasted from 1775 - 1783. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document written by Thomas Jefferson that formally stated America as a free state instead of under rule with Britain. It gave reason to why the United States left Great Britain and stated the unalienable rights every citizen has. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution for the United States. On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed three committees in response to the Lee Resolution. One of the committees was responsible for writing a constitution. This committee feared the power of a central authority based on previous experience with Great Britain, so they sought to create a republic based government with the Articles of Confederation. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays’ Rebellion is the name given to a series of protests in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt. Although farmers took up arms in states from New Hampshire to South Carolina, the rebellion was most serious in Massachusetts, where bad harvests, economic depression, and high taxes threatened farmers with the loss of their farms. -
Constitution Convention
This is also known as the Philadelphia Convention. -
Philadelphia Convention
The Philadelphia Convention took place from May 25 to September 17th 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the original intention of the Convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation, the result became the creation of a new document known as the United States Constitution. -
Connecticut Compromise
A plan proposed by Connecticut’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The Connecticut Compromise proposed a solution to the heated debate between larger and smaller states over their representation in the newly proposed Senate.
