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The House of Burgesses was the first representative legislature in the American colonies. It was located in Virginia and modeled on English legislatures. -
Compact that established the first form of direct democracy in the American colonies. -
John Locke is born in Wrington, England. Locke's enlightenment ideas of natural rights would serve as the basis for many of The United States' founding principles -
A series of British parliamentary acts that aimed to restrict trade between England and its American colonies. -
In colonial Virginia, royal governor William Berkeley denied Jamestown residents' requests to eliminate a nearby Native population. In response, Nathaniel Bacon gathered a large group of colonial Virginian farmers to torch Jamestown. -
An intense period of religious revival in colonial America. Spearheaded by preacher George Whitefield
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War fought between the English and the French over land in the colonies. The French had strong native American support, while the English had strong colonial support. The impacts of this war helped spur the revolution.
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A colonial plan to join the 13 colonies into a sovereign government. Headed by Benjamin Franklin in Albany, New York. -
Proclamation issued by the King of England, prohibiting colonists from settling west of the Appalachian mountains. -
Act placed upon colonists by the British government, taxing paper goods like stamps. -
A series of acts placed on the colonists by the British government, taxing goods like glass, lead, paint and tea. -
The killing of 5 colonists by British soldiers in Boston. The British soldiers felt threatened by a provocative group of colonists, and shot into the crowd. -
4 laws passed by the British government in response to the demonstrations of colonists in the Boston Tea Party. These laws served to punish the colonists for their acts of rebellion. -
The first significant battle of the American Revolution. The first shot fired is known as the "shot heard around the world." -
The Declaration of Independence served as the document formally announcing the intent of the American colonies to form a sovereign nation separate from Great Britain. -
The Articles of Confederation served as the first outlining document/constitution for the American colonies. The articles gave States more powers, but were viewed as weak and later led to the creation of The Constitution. -
The modern US constitution is ratified. This document serves as the outline for our government, and was made after deliberation at the Philadelphia Convention between federalists and anti-federalists.