-
Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
King John's power became limited when he signed the Magna Carta. Parts of the Magna Carta is in the Constitution. An example is that in the Magna Carta there is the freedom of church listed and in the Constitution freedom of religion is in the 1st Amendment. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was made and signed on the Mayflower ship on November 11th, 1620. Forty one English colonists signed the compact. This is part of the Constitution because in the United States it was the very first written framework of government. -
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
It was the first written constitution in the U.S. which was written by Thomas Hooker. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut set up the government system of where the power was. It provided the government framework from 1639 to 1662. One of the laws were that no man could serve as governor more than once every two years. -
English Bill of Rights
It states the civil rights, it gives the people free speech, and it also limits power. The English Bill influenced the U.S. by having both the government and governed follow the same laws and regulations. The whole point of the English Bill of Rights was to limit the king's power. -
French and Indian War
This war, during the span between 1754 and 1763, began over disputes between France and Great Britain about land. Britain was the winner in the war but they ended up wracking up a enormous debt. To pay for this debt Britain added taxes to the colonists to help pay off the debt. This caused the colonists to become angry and then finally led to the American Revolution. The Revolution would then lead the colonists into breaking a part from Britain and being their own country. -
Albany Plan Of Union
This occurred in Albany, New York on July 10th, 1754. This plan was made to install a unified government for the thirteen colonies. Benjamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsylvania and another senior leader came up with this plan. This plan effects today's constitution because this was the first proposal to have everyone be united under on government. -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress occurred at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania early in the Revolutionary War. During this twelve of the thirteen colonies has their delegates meet. This is important to the constitution because in the signing of it the Continental Association was passed. -
Second Continental Congress
56 delegates whom had gone to the first continental congress came back to the second along with many new arrivals. The colonies that the delegates spoke for later became part of America. The second continental congress moved towards independence and adopted the Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The declaration of Independence symbolized the American Democracy. The whole point of the Declaration of Independence was to show why they left. A huge part that the Declaration is known for is the line "all men are created equal". We follow this even now, more so then during that time when it was written. It also contained that the people had the right to overthrow the government if it was oppressing them. -
Articles Of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation were first adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15th, 1777. They were not actually ratified until March 1st, 1781. The Articles of Confederation are important to the Constitution because it was the first thing that united the federal government, and defined the law of the United States. -
Shay's Rebellion
This rebellion began because Shay and many other farmers were angered over their debt and taxes. The rebellion exposed all of the things that the Constitution needed to fix and it showed that they had a weak government. This rebellion caused the U.S. to act and fix the issues that had been addressed and it made our government stronger . -
Three-fifths Compromise
African Americans would be worth three-fifths of a white person concerning population for taxes and legislative representation. The compromise had been suggested by James Wilson and Roger Sherman. The compromise does not affect the constitution directly but it affects it in a scholarly way, for example the requirement for taxes. -
Virginia Plan
The Virginia Plan was about having three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial and also having two legislative houses that would represent a state by the population. Madison created this plan which became what we use today. -
New Jersey Plan
It was also known as the small state plan or even the Paterson plan.The New Jersey Plan proposed that each state gets the same amount of votes no matter what population it had. The New Jersey Plan had influenced the constitution by making all states equal. The plan was just the Articles of Confederation in a different way.
