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Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects
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"Lost Colony" sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh was founded on Roanoke Island, off North Carolina coast; settlers found to have vanished,1590.
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First permanent English settlement in New World at Jamestown
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House of Burgesses, first reprepresentative assembly in New World, elected July 30 at Jamestown,VA.
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Mayflower Compact was signed on Nov. 11. It was an agreement to form a self-government.
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Roger Williams founded Providence,RI, in June, as a democratically ruled colony with seperation of church and state. Charter granted, 1644.
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British Parliament passed first Navigation Act Dec. 1, regulating colonial commerce to suit English needs.
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Nathaniel Bacon led planters against autocractic British Gov. Sir William Berkley, burned Jamestown, VA, Sept. 19. Rebellion collapsed when Bacon died
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William Penn signed treaty with Deleware Indians Apr. 23 and made payment for Pennsylvania lands.
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Witchcraft delusion at Salem, MA; 20 alleged witches executed by special court
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Benjamin Franklin published the first Poor Richard's Almanack; published annually until 1757
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Editor John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel Aug. 5 in New York after criticizing the British governor's conduct in office
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Famous sermon " Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," delivered at Enfield, MA, July 8, by Jonathan Edwards, a major figure in the revivalist Great Awakening
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Delegates from 7 colonies to Albany, NY, Congress, July 19, approved a plan of union by Benjamin Franklin
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Townshend Acts levied taxes on glass,painter's lead, paper, and tea.
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''Intoleralerable Acts'' of Parliament curtailed Massachusetts self-rule
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Patrick Henry addressed Virginia convention, Mar. 23, said, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
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Common Sense, famous pro-independence pamphlet by Thomas Paine, was pumblished Jan. 10; quickly sold some 100,000 copies
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Washington defeated Lord Cornwallis at Princeton Jan.3.
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George Rogers Clark took Vincennes in February
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Bank of North America incorporated May 26
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Britain, U.S. signed Paris peace treaty, Sept. 3
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Shay's Rebellion of debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts failed, Jan. 25.
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George Washington chosen president by all electors voting He was inaugurated Apr. 30.
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Bill of Rights, submitted to states, Sept. 25, went into effect Dec. 15
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Washington inauguarated for second term, Mar. 4
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Whiskey Rebellion , western Pennsylvania farmers protesting liquor tax of 1791
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Washington's farewell address as president delivered Sept. 17
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Alien & Sedition Acts passed by federalists June-July
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John Marshall named Supreme Court chief justice, Jan. 20.
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Supreme Court, in Marbury v. Madison, for the first time overturned a U.S. law
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Lewis and Clark expedition ordered by Pres. Thomas Jefferson to explore what is now northwest U.S.
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Embargo Act banned all trade with foreign countries, forbidding ships to set sail for foreign ports Dec. 22
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War of 1812 had 3 main causes; Britain seized U.S. ships trading with France; Britain had seized 4,000 naturalized U.S. sailors by 1810; Britain armed indians.
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Oliver H. Perry defeated British fleet at Battle of Lake Erie
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Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star-Spangled Banner" after the British burned the White House and the Capitol
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Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. Feb, 22
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Monroe Doctrine, opposing European intervention in the Americas, enunciated by Pres, James Monroe Dec. 2
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Famous debate Jan. 27 between Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne, on state right to nullify federal law
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William Lloyd Garrison began abolitionist newspaper '' The Liberator '' Jan, 1
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Cherokee Indians forced to walk the " Trail of Tears " from Georgia to Oklahoma starting in October.
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First message over first telegraph line sent May 24 by inventor Samuel F.B. Morse
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Mexican War began after James K. Polk ordered Zachary Taylor to seize disputed Texan land settled by Mexicans
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Gold discovered Jan. 24 in California
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Compromise of 1850 admitted California as 31st state Sept. 9
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Harriet Beecher Stowe's " Uncle Tom's Cabin " published
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Republican Party formed at Ripon, WI, Feb. 28
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Dred Scott decision by Supreme Court Mar. 6 held that slaves did not become free in a free state
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Abolitionist John Brown, with 21 men, seized U.S. Armony at Harper's Ferry
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Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected president Nov. 6
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seven southern states set up Confederate States of America Feb. 8
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Homestead Act, which granted free farms to settlers, was approved May 20.
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President Abraham Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation Jan. 1, freeing " all slaves in areas still in rebellion."
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Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered 27,800 Confederate troops to Gen. Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA, April 9.
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Pres. Johnson tried to remove secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton; he was impeached by the House Feb. 24
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15th Amendment, making race no bar to voting rights, ratified Feb, 8.
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Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross May 21.
