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Founding of Jamestown
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Established by the Virginia Company of London. -
House of Burgesses
The first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. Established by the Virginia Company -
Founding of Plymouth
he first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the Separatists, sometimes referred to as the "Saints", fleeing from religious persecution by King James of England. They traveled aboard the Mayflower in 1620 along with adventurers, tradesmen, and servants, most of whom were referred to, by the Separatists as "Strangers". -
Sweden vs Russia
King Charles XII of Sweden defeats Russia at Narva. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was the North American theater of the worldwide Seven Years' War. The war was fought between the colonies of British America and New France, with both sides supported by military units from their parent countries of Great Britain and France, as well as Native American allies. -
Stamp Act Congress
It was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation. Parliament had passed the Stamp Act, which required the use of specially stamped paper for virtually all business in the colonies, and was coming into effect November 1. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre, known as the Incident on King Street by the British. British Army soldiers killed five male civilians and injured six others. -
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was an organization of dissidents that originated in the North American British colonies. The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to take to the streets against the abuses of the British government. -
Tea act
The Tea Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its principal over objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party (initially referred to by John Adams as "the Destruction of the Tea in Boston") was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston. The demonstrators, some disguised as American Indians, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company, in defiance of the Tea Act -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve colonies. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts. -
Second Continental Congress
he second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties, the Congress acted as the de facto national government of what became the United States. -
Phomas Paine's Common Sense
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. In clear, simple language it explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the usual name of a statement adopted by the Continental Congress. Announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was a document signed amongst the 13 original colonies that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. -
Constitutional Convention
Adressing 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 the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. -
Federalist Papers
The Federalist (later known as The Federalist Papers) is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven were published serially in The Independent Journa -
Delaware Ratifies
This event occurred exactly one year after the Hampshire Herald published a statement by Thomas Grover listing the demands made by the participants in Shays' Rebellion. The post-war economy left farmers of western Massachusetts and throughout the 13 states in distress. -
New Hampshire Ratifies
New Hampshire was the ninth state to be ratified. New Hampshire's ratification message included several suggested changes to the Constitution, including one which would said "Congress shall never disarm any citizen, unless such as are or have been in actual rebellion." The following text is taken from the Library of Congress's copy of Elliot's Debates. -
The Bill of Rights Ratified
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed to assuage the fears of Anti-Federalists who had opposed Constitutional ratification, these amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. -
Rhode Island Ratifies
Rhode Island became the 13th state to enter the Union after ratifying the Constitution. Ironically, the new state’s late arrival came after the new federal government commenced on April 1
