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Mar 1, 1215
Magna Carta
The agrrement was signed by King John of England and his barons. It was signed in England and it stated the rights the Barons had and was a way to ensure the Barons Loyalty. The rights given to the people were: all free citizens can own and inherit property, be protected by excessive taxes, established principles of due process and equality before the law, and it forbid bribery and official misconduct. The image is of the original Magna Carta which is in the British Library in London. -
Mayflower Compact
The purpose of this document was to prevent dissent amongst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrams who had already landed at Plymouth. -
Petition of Rights
The Petition of Rights condemed unlawful imprisonments and stated there should be no tax "without common consent of parliament". It was signed by Charles I and Parliament. This link explains the documents that influenced the Bill of Rights and the Petiition of Rights is included in the list of influences.http://www.history.com/topics/bill-of-rights The image is of King Charles I who was king when the Petition of Rights was created. -
English Bil of Rights
Parliament, King William and Queen Mary all signed the English Bill of rights. The people were given the freedom of speech in Parliament, it was a requirement for regular elections to be held for Parliament, and they were also given the right to petition the monarch without fear of retribution. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin suggested the Albany Plan of Union although it never happened. The "Join or Die" political cartoon, which was created by Benjamin Franklin, is associated with this meeting. The image is of the "Join or Die' cartoon created by Benjamin Franklin in which he tried to depict that the colonies would only survive if they joined together as one. -
French and Indian War 1756-1763
The major players in this conflict were the British, led by Edward Braddock; the French, led by Marquis de Montcalm; and the Native Americans, such as the Iroquois, Lenape, Shawnee, and the Algonquin. Some of the major battles were the massacre at Ft. William Henry, the Battle of Quebec, and the French surrender at Montreal. The British won the war and this resulted in tension between the colonists and England because the King expected the colonies to pay back the war debts but they refused. -
King George III takes power
King George III wanted to retain a military presence in North America in order to govern their new French subjects and manage the Indian tribes. The King and Parliament expected the Colonists to pay back the war debts in taxes but the Colonists saw an oppertunity to enlarge their political and economic liberties and refused to pay back the debts. The image is of King George III in his coronation robes. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act taxed all paper documents, and the colonists found this unconstitutional and resulted to mob violence to intimidate stamp collecters to resign. The image is an original stamp that would be put on any of the products that had the tax from the Stamp Act on them. This link describes why the Stamp Act was put in place and describes what happened after it was enacted. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/parliament-enacts-the-stamp-act -
Boston Massacre
The Townshend Acts led to the death of five colonists during the Boston Massacre. The image , which was drawn by Paul Revere, depictis in cartoon form of what happened at the Boston Massacre. This link is a video which has a reenactment of the Boston Massacre and shows what led to shots being fired http://www.history.com/topics/boston-massacre/videos#boston-massacre -
Boston Tea Party Cont.
prosection in Massachusetts), and the Quartering Act (required colonists to house and quarter British troops on demand in their homes). -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was organized by the Sons of Liberty. In response to this event the British enfoced the Coercive Acts which isssued the following 4 main points that affected the colonists in Massachusetts: Boston Port Act (closed port of Boston until damages from tea party were paid back), Massachusetts Government Act (restricted democratic town meetings and turned governor's office into an appointed body), Administration of Justice Act (made British officials immune to criminal -
First Continental Congress
This meeting took place at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with important people such as Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington in attendence with the result of the Declaration of Resolves. The image is a modern photo of Carpenter's Hall. -
Intolerable Acts Cont.
Lastly was the Quartering Act that stated that all colonists were required by law to house/quarter British troop members upon demand. -
Intolerable Acts
Upset by the Boston Tea Party, the British passed the Intolerable acts or the Coercive Acts to restore order and punish the people of Boston. The act consisted of four other acts. The first was the Boston Port act that closed off all the ports in Boston. The second was the Massachusetts Act that turned the government council into an appointed body. The third was the Administration of Justice Act that made all British officials immune to criminal prosecution in Massachusetts. -
Lexington and Concord
Tensions between the British and the members of the 13 colonies had risen and so on April 18, 1775 British troops marched from Boston to Concord. Paul Revere knew the British were preparing to fight so he rode on horse back to Lexington shouting, "The British are coming!" to warn the colonists. Then on April 19th the British and Colonists had met and the fighting began. The results of this conflict led to the Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders such as George Washington, Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They faced the task of having to create an official army out of untrained men of Boston. The image shows the men who made up the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. -
Declaration of Independence
A year after the Revolutionary War had already begun, the Second Continental Congress had written and adopted the Declaration of Independence as the final step to a written break from Great Britain, thus creating our own free and independent country. The Declaration was mostly authored by Thomas Jefferson. The image shows the signing of the Declaration of Independence. -
Articles of Confederation
It wasn't until the fourth version written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania that provided the basis for the Articles approved by Congress. Dickinson prepared his draft in June 1776 and it was revised by a committee of Congress and discussed in late July and August. In November 1777 the final Articles, much altered by this long process, were approved for submission to the states. The first president to abide by this Constitution was John Hanson. The image is an original copy of the Articles. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was a negotiation between the United States and Great Britain, and ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and John Adams signed for America. With the Treaty came new territory, Florida north to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River was given to the free nation. Due to the Treaty Great Britain finally recognized The Declaration of Independence -
Constitutional Convention
On this day in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention begin to assemble in Philadelphia to confront the issue of a peaceful overthrow of the new American government that had been defined by the Article of Confederation. Although the convention was originally supposed to begin on May 14, James Madison reported that a small number only had assembled. Meetings had to be pushed back until May 25 when a sufficient amount of the participating states could attend.
