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Founding of Jamestown
The founding of Jamestown, America's first permanent English colony, in Virginia 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts – sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. -
House of Burgesses
Was the first democratically-elected legislative body in the British American colonies. Governor George Yeardley immediately gave notice that the Virginia colony would establish a legislative assembly. -
Mayflower Compact
Was the first written framework of government established in what is now the United States. A list of 41 male passengers who signed the document -
Founding of Plymouth
The Mayflower was blown off course by storms and did not land in at the Virginia colony. Instead it reached the shores of what is today known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims began a new colony in what is today known as the Town of Plymouth. -
The Sugar Act
Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses. But because of corruption, they mostly evaded the taxes and undercut the intention of the tax — that the English product would be cheaper than that from the French West Indies. This hurt the British West Indies market in molasses and sugar and the market for rum, which the colonies had been producing in quantity with the cheaper French molasses. -
Albany Plan of Union
Was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. On July 10, 1754, representatives from seven of the British North American colonies adopted the plan. Although never carried out, the Albany Plan was the first important proposal to conceive of the colonies as a collective whole united under one government. -
French & 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. -
Sons of Liberty
Was an organization of patriots that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies. The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight the abuses of taxation by the British government. -
Stamp Act Congress
Also called "First Congress of the American Colonies", was held in New York City, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America; it was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation. -
Boston Massacre
British Army soldiers killed five male civilians and injured six others. The incident was heavily propagandized by leading patriots, such as Paul Revere and Sam Adams to fuel animosity toward the British authorities -
Boston Tea Party
Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. This resulted in the passage of the punitive Coercive Acts in 1774 and pushed the two sides closer to war. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. -
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry Gave his famouse speech, " give me liberty or give me death" -
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. -
George Washington
On this date he was named commander in chief -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Written by Thomas Paine.Published February 14, 1776. In the first months of 1776, the Colonists still wanted to negotiate with the British to resolve the main problems.That inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776 -
Declaration of Independence
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Has 56 Signatures -
Articles of Confederation
After considerable debate and alteration, the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress.This document served as the United States' first constitution, and was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present day Constitution went into effect. -
Lord North
Resigns as the British Prime Minister -
Delaware Ratifies Constitution
On this day delaware, becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution, doing so by a unanimous vote. -
Constitutional Convention
To address problems in governing the unjited states. -
Federalist Papers
The Federalist 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. -
New Hampshire Ratifies Constituion
became the ninth state to ratify the document, and with its ratification, the Constitution was officially in effect. 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." -
Rhode Island Ratifies
Rhode Island became the 13th state to enter the Union after ratifying the Constitution. Rhode Island's ratification message is lengthy, with a list similar to that of New York's, listing a bill of rights and listing several proposed amendments. -
Bill of Rights Ratified
s 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. By three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.
