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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
Document signed by the King of England agreeing to limite the legislative power of the Crown. Hundreds of years later, American colonists used the document for inspiration, claiming that they deserved the same rights as englishmen as outlined therein. -
Petition of Right
Document written up by English Parliament after the Thirty Years' War and King Charles I forceful collection of taxes and imprisonment of those refusing to pay. This document condemns these actions, outlining the inalienable rights of citizens that the king could not break. -
English Bill of Rights
English Bill of Rights (1689) The English Bill of Rights is an English precursor of the Constitution, along with the Magna Carta and the Petition of Right. The English Bill of Rights limited the power of the English sovereign, and was written as an act of Parliament. -
Benjamin Franklin's Birth
A generally great dude was born. The first postmaster of the US and the one to "discover" electricity, he also served as a diplomat with several European nations during the Revolutionary War. Without him, America likely would be nothing like it is today, likely not even its own nation. -
Albany Plan of Union
Plan proposed to place the North American colonies under a more centralized government. This was significant because it was the first instance of the colonies being considered a single governable body. -
Boston Massacre
The result of rising tensions between colonists and soldiers and resulted in five deaths. This loss of life drove the people of Massachusettes to revolutionize. -
Boston Tea Party
Rising taxes on things such as tea drove colonists to retaliate by attacking merchant ships and dumping tea into the harbor. Led to colonist phrase "No taxation without representation." -
First Continental Congress
A meeting of delegates from all of the thirteen colonies except Georgia. During the meeting, the delegates wrote a document concerning what rights colonists should hold and their grievances with England after the Coercive Acts meant to punish Massachusetts denizens after the Boston Tea Party. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was 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
A document written by Thomas Jefferson after Congress voted for independence from England on July 2. Its purpose was to announce and explain this declaration. -
Articles of Confederation
For fear of having a too-powerful central government like Britain, the Articles of Confederation stated that most power lied with the states. This meant that Congress had little power except to maintain military, but could not collect taxes so did not have the money for even that. -
Shay's Rebellion
An uprising in Massachusetts where poor farmers fought against high taxes. Movement was led by Daniel Shay, a former captain of the Continental Army. -
Philadelphia Convention
A convention held to discuss how to fix the government which was then following the Articles of Confederation. However, several attendees planned, instead, to establish a new government rather than fix the old one, resulting in the creation of the United States Constitution. -
Virginia Plan
Plan written by James Madison that proposed having two houses of government: One with representatives in office for three years and the other of older leaders in office for seven. -
New Jersey Plan
A proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Philadelphia Convention on June 15, 1787. Written in response to the Virginia Plan, which favored representation of more populous states, the New Jersey Plan proposed a one vote per state system for Congress. -
Battle of Fort McHenry
Battle during the War of 1812 where British troops attacked Fort McHenry with cannonfire. It was witnessed by a 35 year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key which inspired him to write "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was later adapted into "Star Spangled Banner." The song became the national anthem in 1931. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Document issued by Abraham Lincoln as the American Civil War approached its third year. It declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
Stock Market Crash
The culmination of the optimism following World War I known as the "Roarin' 20's" that led rural families to emigrate to the cities en masse, neglecting America's agriculture. This day triggered the Great Depression, a ten-year period of economic downturn for all western industrialized civilization. -
Brown v. Board of Education
A Supreme Court hearing that decided that educational segregation was unconstitutional, nationally forbidding separation of white and non-white citizens. Today, men and women of all colors are welcome to freely interact in the US due to this hearing. -
Attacks on the World Trade Center
Attacks by members of an extremist militant group, Al-Qaeda, who hijacked several planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City. After the attacks, President Bush declared war on Iraq and national security in the US became top priority. -
America's First Non-White President
An election between Arizona senator Joe Biden and Illinois senator Barack Obama resulted in Obama's election. Obama is the first black president, and has inspired countless other African Americans to achieve beyond their origins.
