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Jun 10, 1215
signing of the Magna Carta
The magna carta was a charter that king john of england was forced to sign by barons who wanted protection from the king. The charter was meant to restrict the king, one of the first documents to keep a monarch from being all powerful. The document introduced some of the rights that we can't imagine living without today. The charter restricted the kings ability to imprison people, it called for due process and trial by jury, a trait that would later be used by the founding fathers. -
petiton of right drafted
The petition of right is yet another document representing The individual rights of the people. We see here again that people have the right to representation and shouldn't be taxed otherwise. It also restricts the king so that he can't arrest without cause, house troops in peoples houses, or establish marshal law. -
English bill of rights drafted
The english bill of rights was a glimpse at individual freedoms that we know today. It discussed the rights and restrictions of the king like not being able to make or execute laws without the consent of parliament. -
stamp act
After the seven years war britain was heavily in debt and atarted to tax the colonies a very large amount. The stamp act was Britains first show of authority in the colonies and of coarse raised tensions between the two. The act esentially forced people to put stamps on every peace of parchament increasing the amount of stamps needed depending on what is was for, which could get pretty costly -
Townshend Duties
After the stamp act came more taxes for oil, paint, glass and other materials. Angered colonists responded by raiding a customs office that had impounded a sloop owned by john hancock. -
boston massacre
The boston massacre was a great reason for the colonies to seperate themselves from england. The amount of troops being housed in boston was quickly increasing and the colonists resnted the troops more and more. On this day a few upset colonists attacked british troops. The unarmed civilians proved to be overwhelming for the troops and so they grabbed their rifles and fired into the crowd. They killed 5 colonists and wounded 6. -
Tea act
The Tea act put a tax on all imported teas. It wasn't used to raise money to pay off the countries large debt but was used instead to bail out the east india company which was an important part of englands' economy. This with the other tax hikes made the colonists extremely upset. These taxes provoked the boston tea party, an event when colonists boarded east india company ships and threw tea into the harbor. -
1st continental congress
The first continental congress was held in carpenters hall philadelphia. The congress was composed of delegates from each of the colonies except georgia. They met to find a solution to their rocky relationship with england wether they were to compromise or to rebel.They ended up sending a declaration to the king and agreed that if he did not accept they would meet again the following year. -
2nd continental congress
The congress again assembled in philadelphia after conditions worsened for the colonists. After lexington and concord, the boston massacre, and being forced to quarter troops, The colony delegates almost had enough. They decided to try for peace one more time with the olive branch petition. King George wouldn't see the petition though and declared the colonies were rebelling in august. The question was no longer whether or not they should rebel but how they would do it. -
Common sense is published
Common sense was a pamphlet published by Thomas Payne. It was handed out to americans and english a like showing Paynes support for the colonies independence. The pamphlet talked about america being a refuge from europe not just britain itself. Payne brought up taxation and claimed that britain could not successfully govern the colonies from across the atlantic. -
Declaration of independence
The Declaration of independence was the political leaders of the american colonies way of telling the world they were their own country with its own army and its own government. The document listed the laws off the land as acts of oppression from the king. This included quartering troops, taxation without representation, and refusal of elections. The declaration sets america apart from britain and show how america will be different.