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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
First document forced onto a King of England by a group of his subjects in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges -
Jamestown Settled
Jamestown was the first settlement of the Virginia Colony and it served as capital of Virginia until 1699, when the seat of government was moved to Williamsburg. -
Mayflower Compact
First governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the Saints, fleeing from religious persecution by King James of Great Britain. The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship on November 11, 1620 by most adult men . -
Petition of Right
Major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. Such as non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. -
English Bill of Rights
Lays down limits on the powers of the crown and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in Parliament, the requirement for regular elections to Parliament and the right to petition the monarch without fear of retribution. -
Albany Plan of Union
Under this plan each colonial legislature would elect delegates to an American continental assembly presided over by a royal governor. (drafted by Benjamin Franklin) -
Stamp Act
Required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp -
Boston Massacre
British Army soldiers killed five civilian men and injured six others after firing into a rioting crowd without orders -
Boston Tea Party
a group of colonists in a city in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the tax policy of the British government and the East India Company, boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
Stripped Massachusetts of self-government and historic rights, triggering outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies after the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
Convention of delegates from twelve colonies (Georgia was not present) that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Intolerable Rights. -
American Revolution
Political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. -
Second Continental Congress
A reconvening of the First Continental Congress, the second congress managed the colonial war effort and moved incrementally towards independence. -
Declaration of Independence
13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a union that would become a new nation—the United States of America. -
Articles of Confederation
was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution -
Shay's Rebellion
13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a union that would become a new nation—the United States of America. -
Philadelphia Convention
Addressed problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. -
Connecticut Compromise
Was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. -
Constitutional Convention
Addressed problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain.
