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Jun 6, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was a charter of liberties that would place King John and England's future sovereigns within a rule of law. King John signed this document in England. It gave people liberty from the English crown. It was intended to be a peace treaty. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact is the first framework of government within the United States of America. The purpose of this document was to prevent dispute among Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims that arrived days earlier, and it was a plan in which the Pilgrims agree to govern themselves. while establishing their colony. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties to the subject that the King is prohibited from infringing. It contains restrictions on non-parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. King Charles I finally signed this document when both houses joined together and demanded it. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights Text The English Bill of Rights limited the power of the monarch and increased power in Parliament and to the people. Monarchs William and Mary signed this document. People were given new rights; they could petition the monarch without fear, and had freedom of speech in Parliament. There were also regular elections for Parliament. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a proposal made in Albany, New York to suggest that the thirteen colonies should have one unified government. Benjamin Franklin proposed this plan. Although this plan was intitially rejected, it helped establish the Articles of Confederation which later became the constitution of the United States of America. The political cartoon "Join, or Die" is closely associated with the Albany Plan of Union, this was also created by Benjamin Franklin. -
French and Indian War
This video describes the events of the French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War The French and Indian war was a war fought over seven years between Britain and France. During the war, the French were greatly outnumbered, so they made use of their Indian allies. The Battle of Jumonville Glen is what started the war. British soldiers ambushed French patrol. Then the two forces met at the battle of Lake George which ened inconclusively -
The French and Indian War Continued
In the battle of Fort Bull, the French destroyed the fort along with a large quantity of supplies. Some other major battles are the battle of Fort William Henry, Battle of Carillon, Batlle of Sainte-Foy and the Battle of Signal Hill. In the end, the British ultimately won this conflict when the French had to give up their North American land in the Treaty of Paris. The high cost of war created a strain on Britain's relationship with the colonies. -
King George III Takes Power
King George III won the French and Indian War. As a result of this win, he imposed the Stamp Act which gave America more revenue. This angered the colonists so the relationship between America and Britain became worse. King George III is known for losing the American colonies after the American Revolution, which resulted in him going insane. -
Stamp Act
This act was the first tax that the British government made on American colonists. All paper products, like documents, licenses, newspapers, pamphlets, and cards, were all taxed. The colonists thought this act was unconstituional so they created violent mobs and intimidated stamp collectors to the point of resigning. -
Boston Massacre
Colonists formed a mob, verbally abusing the soldiers. A soldier became enraged and when snowball and hit him in the head, and he opened fired. Five colonists were shot and killed. The acts that led to this event were the Townshend Acts and the Stamp Act. These acts put more taxes and tariffs on the colonists which enraged them. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest on the increase of taxes on the imporation of American tea from Britian's East India Company. 3 ships were raided and 342 chests of tea were thrown in the harbor. The Sons of Liberty organized this event. As a result of this resistance, the British created the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts of 1774 which punished Boston and the rest of the American colony. Massachussets lost all of its rights to a self-government -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were set in place to maintain order in Boston and Massachussets., Boston lost their imports at their port and lost their right to a self-government. All British officials in Massachussets were immune to criminal prosecution, and colonists had to house British troops on demand. There were 5 Acts within the Intolerable Acts. The Intolerable Acts were set in place because of the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a meeting of representatives from 12 of the US colonies, excluding Georgia, as a result of the Intolerable Acts and the Boston Tea Party. Some major personalities involved were George Washington, John Adams, John Jay, and Peyton Randolph. The Declaration of Rights and Articles of Association were created as a result of this meeting, which declared loyalty to the British Crown, but they did not want their goods to be taxed. This meeting was held in Philadelphia, PA. -
Lexington and Concord
The battles at Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of conflict between the thirteen colonies and Britain. Joseph Warren had learned from a source that the British were going to attack and dispatched two couriers to warn residents. Paul Revere being one of them who uttered the famous phrase "The British Are Coming." Then general John Burgoyne launched the attack against general Horatio Gates and this led to the American Revolution. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the thirteen colonies in Philadephlia. It managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Hancock of Massachusetts, and Thomas Jefferson of Viriginia. -
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence TextThe Declaration of Independence was a statement that announced that the thirteen american colonies, then at war with Britain, regarded themselves as an independent state. John Adams was a leader in pushing for Independence. Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which congress would edit to produce the final version. The link attached is the transcript for the declaration of independence. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were an agreement between the thriteen founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The first president that was under the articles was John Hanson. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War between America and Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris was signed by Adams, Franklin, Jay and Henry Laurens for the US. The United States obtained all the territory between the Allegheny Mountains on the East and the Mississipi River on the west. The British finally reconized the Declaration of Independence. -
Start of Constitutional Convention
The conference was called to discuss ways to facilitate commerce and establish standard rules and regulations. Although, only five of the thriteen states sent delegates. Unable to do much of anything, the delegates decided that another convention was needed to dicuss the problem and recommend changes to the Articles.
