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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
King John affixed his seal to the Magna Carta in order to avert the Civil War. Just ten weeks later, Pope Innocent III nulified the agreement, and England plunged into internal war. It failed to resolve the conflicct between King John and his barons, and it was reissued several times after his death. -
Petition of Right
It was initiated by Sir Edward Coke in 1682 and includes four principles. It stopped taxes from being levied, no one could be imprisoned without causes, soldiers could not be housed with citizens, and martial law could not be used in peace time. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights is an Enlgish precursor of the Constition. It limited the power of the English sovereign and was written as an act of Parliament. -
Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. The plan was adopted on July 10th, 1754, by representatives from seven of the British North American colonies. Although never carried out, it was the first importnat plan to conceve of the colonies as a collective whole united uder one government. -
Shay's Rebellion
This was named after Daniel Shay, Shay's rebellion was an armed uprising from 1786-1787 in western and central Massachusettes. It was considered the last battle of the American Revolution, and the rebels sought relief through lower taxes and the insurance of paper currency. They forced the closer of the courts in western Massachusetts in an effort to prevent the courts from seizing the property of indebted farmers. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre began with the killing of five colonists by British regulars. It was the cumulation of tensions in the American colonists that had been growing since royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October of 1768, their initial purpose was to enforce the heavy tar burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. This is also known as "the shot heard around the world." -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots protested the monopoly on American tea importation recently granted by Parliament to the East India Company, seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea shipd and threw them into the harbor. They snuck on the ships dressed as Native Americans. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress brought together representatives from each of the colonies, except Georgia, to discuss their responce to the British "Intolerable Acts." They met to discuss their relationship with Britian, and how assert their rights with the British government. -
Second Continental Congress
After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, a Second Continental Congress met. At the meeting, they decided to completely break away from Great Britian. On May 15, 1776, they decided to officially put the colonies in a state of defense. -
Declaration of Independence
The Americans were fighting a war in order to gain freedom from Great Britian. By the following summer, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, the delegates of the Continental Congress were faced with a vote on the issue. In mid June of 1776 a five-man committee was tasked with drafting statement of the colonies' intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. -
Articles of Confederation
The Continental Congress wrote the Articles of Confederation during the Revolutionary War. The articles were written to give the colonies some sense of a unified government. It established a firm league of frinedship between the states. The United States first attempt at a national government. -
Philadelphia Convention
The Philadelphia Convention took place to address problems in governing the United States of America. Although the convention was intended to revise the Aricles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents was to create a new governmnet rather than fix the existing one. -
Virginia's plan
It was drafted by James Madison, and presented by Edmuund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787. The Virginia Plan proposed a strong central government composed of three branches: legistlative, executive, and judicial. -
New Jersey Plan
The New Jersey delegates to the Constitutional Convention proposed an alternative to the Virgina Plan. The New Jersey Plan was designed to protect the security and power of the small states by limiting each state to one vote in Congress, as under the Articles of Confederation. Its acceptance would have doomed plans for a strong national government and minimally altered the Articles of Confederation. -
2nd Amendment Ratified
This provides U.S. citizens the right to bear arms. This means citizens are allowed to have guns for means of protection. With this in place, more crimes may have been committed; yet citizens felt more comfortable as they can protect themselves and do not have to rely on just the government. -
4th Amendment Ratified
This right allowed people to be secure with their personal belongings against unreasonable search and seizures without probably cause. This transformed the government's abilities and inabled them to do whatever they wanted; however this aided in keeping citizens treated the right way. -
13th Amendment Ratified
This abolished slavery and involuntary servidtude, except as a punishment of a crime given by a court. This changed the country as a whole and freed many of the Aferican American citiznes. The South was a different culture after this was passed and their were no longer able to hold slaves. However, racism was still a severe problem at this time. -
17th Amendment Ratified
This modified a section of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. Prior to this amendment, Senators were chosen by state legislatures. This allowed citizens to have even more of a voice in their government. -
19th Amendment Ratified
This granted women the right to vote. With this, presidents now had to campaign to both sexes. Women now had a voice and could make decions for their country, just as men have had the ability to do. -
9/11
This was a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. These attacks occured in the U.S. in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. This resulted in many casulties and the government to be on high guar with terrorism and enforcement for the U.S.
