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Sep 18, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was the first document forced onto a King of England by his subjects in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary. He accepted that no freeman could be punished except through the law of the land. King John signed his seal on the document at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. This is a picture of the Magna Carta. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the Separatists fleeing from religious persecution by King James of Great Britian. The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship on November 11, 1620. This is a picture of the signing of the Mayflower Compact. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. King Charles officially ratified the petition on June 7th. This is a picture of the Petition of Rights. -
English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rigts is an act of the Parliament of England passed on December 16,1689. It las down limit on the power of the crown and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in Parliament. It reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have arms for their defence within the rule of law. The Bill of Rights were presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary. This picture is of the English Bill of Rights. -
Alabany Plan of Union
This link will explain in further detail about the importance of the plan.You will also be able to find more information on why the plan did not work. The Albany Plan of Unionwas a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. Although never carried out, it was the first important plan to conceive of the colonies as a collective whole united under one gorvernment. Benjamin Franklin had written to friends and colleagues proposing a plan of voluntary union for the colonies. Franklin's newspaper the Pennsylvania Gazette published the political cartoon "Join or Die". -
French and Indian War
The final colonial war was the French and Indian War.This name was given to the American theater of a massive conflict between Austria, England, France, Great Britian, Prussia, and Sweden called the Seven Years War. The English and the French, who were allied with Sweden and Austria, battled for colonial power in North America, the Carribbean, and India. The Englsih did ultimately come to dominate the colonial outposts, but at a high cost. This caused hostilities between the colonies and Britian -
King George III
After the French and Indian War, the colonies suffered at the hands of King George iii. King George established a tyrannical authority in place of representative government. King George rejected legislation proposed by the colonies, dissolving colonial bodies of represtation, replacing colonial governments with his appointed ministers and interfering with the naturalization of citizens in new regions. This picture is a self portraitn of King George iii. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act was passed by thre British Parliament in 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper. The colonists feared that this would open a door for more taxiation in the future. The taxes were imposed on things such as ships papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, and even playing cards. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British Troops. The Royal Troops had arrived in October of 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. The Boston Massacre is also known as the Incident on King Street. This link has a reenactment video of the Boston Massacre. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place when a group of Partriots, protesting the monopoly on American Tea importation, seized 342 chests of tea during a midnight raid and threw them into the harbor. Under pressure from the Partriot groups, the consignees in Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia refused to accept the tea shipments. The Coercive Acts of 1774 were intended to punish the colony in general both for the Tea Party and for the resistance. -
First Continental Congress
Here you can read about the Intolerable Acts and also who the delegates were from each colony. The First Continental Congress met in Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia from Sept.5 to Oct. 26. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. The colonies were united in a determination to show authority to Great Britian, but they were divided on what to do. George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, Colo. Benjamin Harrison, and Richard Bland carried out the core set of tasks. Because of this meeting the Intolerable Acts came into effect. -
Intolerable Acts
<ahref='http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/laws/intolerable.htm' >This website explains the five acts. </a>Intolerable Acts, also known as Coercive Acts, are the titles referring to the laws that the British Parliament passed in 1774. These laws were passed in result to the Boston Tea Party. The British were hoping these acts would stop the resistance.
This picture is showing all of the acts on a colonist. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was delegates from the thirteen colonies that started meeting in Philadelphia soon after the Revoluntionary War. The second congress managed the colonial war efforts, and started to move towards independence adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. At the meetings there was Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Middleton.
This is a picture of the meeting hall in Philadelphia were the second congress met. -
Lexington and Concord
The first shots starting the Revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts on April 18, 1775. British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy the colonists guns and ammunation. Paul Revere was supposed to report back to John Hancock and Samuel Adams when the British soldiers started to march. He decided to alert people by putting lanterns in the Old North Church. There would be one lantern if the British were coming by land, and two lanterns if the British were coming by sea. -
Lexington and Concord
Paul Revere was able to warn the rest of the colonists before the British soldiers arrived. They were able to move the guns and ammunition. The British soldiers were only able to collect a small portion of it. This picture is the Old North Church where Paul Revere put the lanterns to warn the colonists. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress that announces that the 13 American colonies regard themselves as independent states and are no longer part of the British Empire. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence. He then selectedThomas Jefferson to composed the original draft. 56 delegates from the continental congress signed the bottom. This is a picture of the actual Declaration of Independence. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. Seven presidenta served under the articles of confederation. Each president served for one year. The first president would be John Hanson. The president at this time had little power and were mainly figureheads. This is a picture of John Hanson, the first president under the articles. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783 ending the American Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams represented the United States. France ceded all of its territories in mainland Norht America. This document help Great Britian realize Americas independence.
This picture shows where the United States gained territory. -
Start of Constitutional Convention
This is a picture at the signing of the constitution. -
Start of Constitutional Covention
In Sept of 1786,at the Annapolis Convention, 5 states called for a constitutinal convention.The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia to address problems in governing the United States. The convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, some delegates wanted to change the government instead of fixing the one in place. George Washington was elected to preside over the convention. The results of the convention was the creation of the United States Constitution.
