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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus landing in America
He "discovered" America and thought it was the West Indies -
Petition of Right
A major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. -
English Bill of Rights
The Declaration of Rights, declaring the rights and liberties of the subjects and settling the succession in William III and Mary II. -
Albany Plan of Union
A proposal to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies, suggested by Benjamin Franklin, then a senior leader and a delegate from Pennsylvania, at the Albany Congress in Albany, New York. -
Boston Massacre
A street fight that occurred between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
Boston Tea Party
An act of defiance toward the British government by American colonists; it took place in 1773, before the Revolutionary War. The government in London had given a British company the right to sell tea directly to the colonies, thereby undercutting American merchants. -
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First Continental Congress
A meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. -
Second Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. -
Declaration of Independence
The fundamental document establishing the United States as a nation, adopted on July 4, 1776. The declaration was ordered and approved by the Continental Congress and written largely by Thomas Jefferson. -
Articles of Confederation
The original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781. It was later replaced by the US Constitution in 1789. -
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Shays Rebellion
An armed uprising that took place in Massachusetts during 1786 and 1787, which some historians believe "fundamentally altered the course of United States' history." -
Virginia Plan
A proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. The plan was drafted by James Madison while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. -
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Philadelphia Convention
The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787; all states were invited to send delegates. The convention, meeting in Philadelphia, designed a government with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. -
New Jersey Plan
A proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention on June 15, 1787 -
13th Amendment
Abolish slavery and involuntary servitude. -
19th Amendment
Womens right to vote. -
21st Amendment
A repeal of the ban on alcohol -
9/11
Terrorist attack on America
