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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Charta
The first document written by the people for King John of England to sign. He was practically forced to sign it to give the people more rights. Mostly fought against the King’s power and ability to put anyone to death whom he pleased. -
Jamestown settled
Jamestown was founded by the London Company and was a business venture. It was the first permanent settlement in the New World. John Smith was the first governor of Jamestown. It was a failure at first because they brought no women and came after planting season, however it got better once they brought women and were established. -
Mayflower Compact written
First document written in the New World. Written by the pilgrims who left Britain for religious freedom. It was the first governing document that in anyway opposed the King’s rule in the New World. -
Petition of Right
A petition to the King against unfair taxation and trials without knowledge. This lead to people having to be in the courtroom when they were tried. Before people were often put in jail without knowledge of what they had done. -
English Bill of Rights
Written for Great Britain to limit the powers of the monarchs and to create a separation of powers. This helped with individual rights. It created freedoms of religion and speech. -
Albany Plan of Union
Ben Franklin wants to create a unified government for the colonies, so he and the Albany Congress propose this plan. It was going to levy taxes, make a regulation of Indian trade, and establish an army and navy for the colonies. -
Stamp Act
Britain said that almost all printed materials (such as playing cards, legal documents, newspapers, ect.) must be printed on paper made in Britain. This was decided because Britain needed money to pay for soldiers in the New World, but the colonists protested that they didn’t need soldiers from Britain and that they should have to pay for the soldiers themselves. -
Boston Massacre
An incident where British soldiers killed five male citizens and injured six others in the Colonies. This incident made many citizens angry with British authorities and was used as big propaganda for fighting the British and against British control. The depictions did not accurately depict what happened. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the Sons of Liberty to protest the unfair taxation of the colonies. They boarded a ship full of heavily taxed British tea and dumped it all into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Americans names for the laws passed after the Boston Tea Party by the British. The British called them the Coercive Acts and they were meant to punish Massachusetts. There was a great outcry in the colonies because of this. -
First Continental Congress
A meeting where representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia early on in the American Revolution. It was a response to "the Passage of Coercive Acts" passed by the British Parliament that punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. Georgia was the one colony that didn’t send a representative. -
American Revolution begins
The fight between the Colonists and the British for freedom from Britain. The confederates wanted to be free from British rule. It was started mostly by the refusal to pay taxes from the Colonies. The Patriots thought that the taxes were wrong. -
Second Continental Congress
When representatives from all 13 colonies came together to meet in Philadelphia. They worked on war efforts and this congress was the government of the colonies. A lot of the same people were on both congresses. -
Declaration of Independence
This declared America’s independence from Britain. Thomas Jefferson wrote this document and it was given to the British to show that the newly formed U.S. was thirteen independent colonies from Great Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
An agreement between the thirteen colonies to be a confederation of sovereign independent states. It was the first constitution of sorts. It was eventually replaced by the United States Constitution. -
Shay's Rebellion
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Consitution Convention
The goal was to get rid of the Articles of Confederation and to get a new government. This lead to the writing of the U.S. Constitution. This was the new governing document. -
Connecticut Compromise
An agreement that both small and large states both agreed on that decided how representation in federal government would work so it was fair. This created the senate and the House of Representatives. -
Philidelphia Convention
It was called to address the problems governing the United States. They were operating under the Articles of Confederation and they weren’t working. They decided to create a new government instead of trying to fix the old one.
