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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The magna carta was also known by "The Great Charter of the Liberties of England". The Magna Carta was the first document that was forced ontp King John of England by his subjects because they wanted to protect thier rights. Only 10 weeks later, Pope Innocent III voided the agreement and England plunged into internal war. -
Virginia house of burgesses
This was the first legislative assembly in north america, founded by the Virginia Co. it was established to have more English settle in North America. This would be known now as "The House of Representatives. The first assembly had only 22 house members, compared to the 435 that we have now. -
Mayflower Compact
This was a written document on the first laws of the colony of Plymouth. The document was only written because the Mayflower had gone off course and instead of landing in the colony of virginia they landed in current day Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The reason for this governing document was so that they could have a system heading into a new area. -
English Bill Of Rights
These bills layed down the limits of power from the crown. It established the liberty of persons to bear arms for the uses of defence. This bill of rights was the basic layout for ours which was constructed later, but still takes on many of the same concepts. -
French and Indian war
Also known as "The Seven Years war" was declared in 1756 between New France and British America. It was called the French and Indian war because the French did not have enough troops so they made allies with the indians to help fight off the British. The war was fought on the current day United states and Canadian border up in the area of Maine. The British ended with the victory more or less, because there really want an end exept for the Treaty of Paris which was the conclusion of the war. -
Stamp act
The stamp act imposed a direct tax by the british parliment specifically on the colonies. Parliment taxed most printed goods. Some examples were, printed documents, magazines and newspapers. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for the troops who were stationed in north america. This was very unpopular amoung the colonists, many considered it to be a violation of their rights -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the sons of liberty protesting the taxation on tea. They went onto the East India Trading Companys ship and dumped all their tea. They were so upset with the taxation of tea because they realied on tea very heavily. This is also much of the reason that so many other countries drink mostly tea and we now are known to drink coffee. -
First Continental Congress
A convention of delagates from twelve colonies since Georgia was not present. They came to agreement to boycott british goods, this was the start of the fight for independence. They also set a date for the next time they were going to meet with was about a year later. -
Lexington and concord
This was the first military battle of the Revolutionary War, which took place in Middlesex County. The Britishwere given orders to capture the colonists supplies, but the colonists heard of this about a week before so they were prepared. The first shots were fired at sunrise, but the minute men were ready and ran the British out of Concord. The first shot is now known as "The shot heard around the world." -
Second Continental Congress
This was a convention of delages from all the thirteen colonies. They were gathered after the start of the Revolutionary war to discuss management of the war effort and further actions. The congress voted to create the first continental army. -
Declaration Of Indipendence
This announced that the 13 colonies had become independent from Britain and no longer a part of the British Empire. Thomas Jefferson was chosen by the comittee to write the Declaration of Independence. Adams persuaded the comittee to chose Jefferson for this task. -
Articles of confederation
This served as the first constitution to the United States. It addressed territorial disputes between the Native Americans. Provided a much stronger government with a chief executive, courts and taxing powers. -
Peace Treaty With Great Britain
More commonly known as the treaty of paris. This ended the revolutionary war between great britain and the thirteen colonies. This involved many american representatives including Ben Franklin and John Adams. The treaty was signed in Paris, France. -
Shays Rebelion
Shays rebelion took place in Centeral and Western Massachusetts. The rebelion was named after Daniel Shays who was a Veteran of the American Revolutionary War. The rebelion was brought on by many factors including a post- war depression, lack of hard currency, and harsh policies that were broguht on due to combat debt related problems. -
Constitutional Convention
This was a convention of U.S staesmen who drafted the U.S constitution. Delegates from different states had a meeting to think up a plan for a structered Government. This meeting also resulted in the election of President George Washington. -
Virginia Plan
The Virgina Plan was also known as the Randolph plan or the Large-state plan. It was thought of by James Madison and was a plan proposing that a legislative branch had to consist of two chambers. It was also to improve the articles of confederacy that the U.S had already been operating under. -
New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey plan was also known as the small state plan or the patterson plan and was a proposal for the U.S constitution. It was presented by William Patterosn and the constitutiional convention. This plan was created mearly because of the Virginia plan. The plan was basically focused on making sure that small states recieved and equal share of representation in the Government. -
3/5 Compromise
The 3/5 compromise was between the northern and southern states and was proposed by James Wilson and Roger Sherman. The compromise was to change the determening wealth for each state and to only allow 3/5 of the slaves to be counted for purposes regarding the taxes. -
Connecticut Compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Shermans Compromise. It was an agreement in which the states reached during the Constitutional Convention. The compromise was discussing the establishment of a new federal Government to replace the system that happened under the articles of confederation. -
Rhode Island Ratifies
Rhode island was the last state of the 13 to ratify the constitution and put it in place. No one knows exactly why they waited so long to ratify with the other colonies but it ended well with the ratification and now we have the united states constitution. -
Bill of Rights
These were the first amendments to the constitution. These were the first 10 freedoms of the american people and citizens of the united states. These amendements were introduced by James Madison. They were put in place to establish a feeling of security fot the people.
