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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
King John was forced into signing the charter because it greatly reduced the power he held as the King of England and allowed for the formation of a powerful parliament. The Magna Carta became the basis for English citizen's rights. Some of the rights included the right of the church to be free from governmental interference, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and to be protected from excessive taxes. It was signed in England. The image is of the historic document. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of the Plymouth colony. It was a document saying the colony would rule by majority and had their allegience to the king. It was in essence a social contract in which the settlers agreed to follow the compacts rules in order to survive. This image is of teh actual mayflower compact written for the first colony. -
Petition of Rights
The petition of rights a major English constitutional document that lays out specific liberties of the subjects the king cannot infringe upon. Some of the rights were restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. This was signed by King Charles I. The image is of the actual Petition of Rights signed into law. -
English Bill of Rights
Glorious revolution and bill of rights 1689 King william III and Queen Mary signed the English bill of rights. The bill lays down limits on the power of the crown and sets out the rights and rules of Parliament. Some specific rights given to the citizens were no royal interference with law, freedom to petition, no cruel and unusual punishment, and no royal interfernce in the election of parliament.The video explains reasoning behind bill. -
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French and Indian War
Despite the name the two biggest players in the war were the French and British. Some of the important battles were the battle of Fort Necessity, the battle of Fort William and Henry, the battle of Fort Ticonderoga, the battle of Quebec and finally the battle of Montreal. The British ultimately prevailed in this conflict, however this victory changed the relaitonship between the colonies and the British. The British began to tax the colonies and minimize their self-governing body. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin proposed the idea of a unified government of the thirteen colonies. This was proposed when the colonies were developing their strategy for the French and Indian War. Obviously later on after we got our independence we signed the Constitution which enacted the federal government he was talking about. This plan was represented in the cartoon "Join, or Die" which was created by Benjamin Franklin calling for a union between the colonies. -
King George III takes power
King George began to tax the colonies in order to pay for the French and Indian war. He also forced colonists to move in land from the Appalachian Mountains. Also he gave the govenor of each colony much more power. This changed the relationship between the colonies and Britain because the showed the colonies that they had no self-government but instead were being ruled by someone an entire ocean away from them -
Stamp Act
The stamp act was a tax on printed papers such as legal documents or even magazines. As expected the colonial leaders were incredibly angered and enacted the Stamp Act congress in New york and the Sons of Liberty performed demonstrations against the tax. This is what eventually got the tax repealed. The image is of the actual stamp placed on the paper for the tax. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happend when a mob of protestors were shot at by British military soldiers. Five colonists were shot and killed while six others were injured. This protest was caused by the many taxes put on the colonies by the British, but the Townshed Act which taxed common items that were made it Britain and shipped to the colonies was the one that started the protest. The image is of the British soldiers opening fire on the protesting colonists. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against the tax on tea and the East India Company which controlled all the tea imported to the colonies. The sons of liberty organized the event of dumping all the tea of three British ships. The British responded by passing the Intolerable Acts and Coercive Acts which ended local self-government and stopped commerce into Boston. The image is of the actual act of throwing the tea off the British ships. -
Intolerable Acts
The intolerable acts stripped Massachusetts of self-government and historic rights. This was in response to the Boston Tea party.The Boston Port Act closed the Boston port until the East India Company had been paid back. The Massachusetts Government Act put the government under direct British control. The Administration of Justice Act could move the trial of possibly corrupt British official elsewhere. The Quartering Act forced colonist to house British soldiers. -
First Continental Congress
First continental congressThe first continental congress was held in order to deal with the intolerable acts put on them by the British without going to war with the British. Some of the important people were John Adams, Samuel Adams, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. The outcome was a petition to King George III to remove the intolerable acts. This meeting took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The link puts the event in time. -
Lexington and Concord
These were the first military conflicts of the American Revolution and they resulted in an American victory. The British were lead by Colonel Smith, Major Pitcairne and Lord Percy and the Americans were lead by Barrett, Buttrick, Robinson. Paul Revere famously warned the colonists that the British were coming. The image is of the first shots of the American Revolution. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia and was in response to the start of the American Revolution. This is where the states managed the war and slowly but surely declared their independence from Britain. Many colonial leaders were involved like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock. The link describes the environment when passing the declaration of independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declarationof Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson at the Second Contintental Congress. This document declared the independence of the thirteen colonies from Britain and is to this day one of the most important documents in United States history. The image is of the famous declaration of indpendence. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation provided a blueprint for the government during the Revolutionary War. This provided legitimacy to the United States government which helped it conduct diplomacy with Europe during the war. The first president under the Articles of Confederation was John Hanson. The image is of the actual Articles of Confederation document. -
The Treaty of Paris
The treaty of Paris ended the war between England and the United States. The United States was represented by Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams. The boundaries for America were now from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from the 31st parallel to the 49th parallel. The Declaration of Independence was now recognized by the British. The image is of the actual treaty of Paris. -
Start of Constitutional Convention
The constitutional convention was called into place at the Annapolis convention where five states unanimously voted to have the constitutional convention. The original purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation, however what ended up happening was a completely new blueprint for the government was developed called the Constitution.
