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Jun 10, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta became the basis for the Englsih citizens rights. King John was forced into signing the charter because it greatly reduced the power he held as the king of England. The Magna Carta was a collection of 37 English laws, some copied, some recollected, some old, and some new. King John signed the Magna Carta in England. All free men would have their basic legal rights, trial by jury, a punishment fitting and not excessive to crime, and no taxation without representation. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact signed 41 English colonists on the Mayflower ship. The purpose of the Mayflower Compact was to prevent dissent among Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who has landed at Plymouth a few days earlier. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights is a major English constitutional document that sets out speciic liberties of the sunject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The rights granted to the subjects are non-parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricted use of martial law. This document was signed by Charles the first. -
English Bill of Rights
The purpose of the Enlgish Bill of Rights was to ensure certain freedoms and ensure a protestant political supremacy. William and Mary signed the English Bill of Rights. The Englsih Bill of Rights limited the power of the Englsih sovereign. The English Bill of Rights was also just like the Bill of Rights for the United States. It gave the people the same rights. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was adopted on July 10, 1754. It was a plan suggested by Benjamin Franklin to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. However, the Albany Plan of Union did not succeed because parliament did not want to set up and institutuion that would rival its own authority over colonies. Representatives of one colony did not neccessarily trust those of another. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian war lasted 7 years. It was fought between the colonies of British America and New France. Three important battles of the French and Indian war was the Battle at Fort Necessity, the Battle at Oswego, and the Battle at Fort William Henry. The British ultimately won the French and Indian war. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act is an act of the Biritsh Parliament imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents on all Americans. All printed paper were taxed in result of the Stamp Act ie, ship documents, newpapers, and magazines. The colonial leaders were offended because usually an act is viewed as measures to regulate commerce, but it seemed like an attempt by england to raise money.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/stampact.htm -
King Geroge III takes power
King George III took the throne on October 25, 1760. King George III had changed the relationshp with th colonists ater the French and Indian war becuse he had expected them to fund the war and pay for the costs. He had known already that they were low on money and didn't have much but he expected them to also pay for protection from the British soldiers. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a culmination fo tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax imposed by the Townshend Acts. Five colonists were killed by British regulars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRxJh9mcfmk -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was on December 16, 1773. A group of Massachusetts Patriots seized 342 chests of tea in midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into the harbor. The British responded to this by making the Intolerable Acts which closed the Boston Ports and destroyed the Maddachusetts government. -
Intolerable Act
The Intolerable Act is a series of five laws passed by the british Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America. The British passed them because the colonies rejected and foced Britain to repeal the stamp and tea acts. The most significant provision was the Boston port act which closed Boston's port until reparation was made for the Boston Tea Party. It also restricted town meetings.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/intolerable.htm -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from 12 of the 13 North American Colonies. It was called in repsonse to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. It was held at the Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. -
Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord was where the first battle of the American Revolution took place. They were fought on April 19, 1775 in Boston Massachusetts. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its 13 colonies in the mainland o Britsh North America. It is known as "the shot around the world" and it started the shooting was between the Birtish and the American Patriots. Colonel Smith was a major general involved. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress took place in the state house in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, now called Independance Hall. It declared America's independance from Britain. The congress later ratified the first national constitution, the article of confederation. Paul Revere was one of the colonial leaders involved with this event. -
Declaration of Independance
The Declaration of Independance was adopted by the continental congress on July 4, 1776. It announcd that the 13 American colonies regarded themselves as independant states and no longer a part fo the British Empire. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation is the orginal consitution of the United States ratified in 1781. It was then replaced by the United States constitution in 1789. Under the articles, John Hanson was the first president. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary war between Great Britain on one side and the United States and its allies on the other. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams represented the United States during the signing. The new boundries of the U.S. extended to west of Mississippi and south of Spanish Florida. After the Treaty of Paris, American Independance was finally recognized, -
Start of the Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention began in the year of 1786. The Constitutional Convention is the convention of the United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution. 12 delegates from five states, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia, met in Annapolis at the Annapolis Convention. The original purpose of the convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation.
