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Magna Carta, meaning "Great Charter" in Latin, is a document that King John of England was forced to sign in 1215, limiting the power of the monarchy and establishing the principle that everyone, including the king, is subject to the law. -
Jamestown, established in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Located in Virginia, it was founded by the Virginia Company of London, aiming to counter other European nations, find a passage to the Orient, and convert the local Indians to Anglicanism -
The Mayflower Compact was a document signed by 41 adult male passengers on the Mayflower before they disembarked in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. -
The Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, prohibited British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. This line was intended to establish British control over newly acquired territories after the French and Indian War and to prevent further conflict with Native Americans. -
The Sugar Act, enacted on April 5, 1764, was a British law that placed taxes on sugar and other goods imported into the American colonies. It aimed to raise revenue to help pay for the cost of defending and protecting the colonies after the Seven Years' War. -
The Stamp Act was a British parliamentary measure passed in March 1765 that imposed a direct tax on the American colonies. -
The Townshend Acts were a series of British laws passed in 1767 that imposed taxes on goods imported into the American colonies. These acts, named after Charles Townshend, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, aimed to raise revenue for the British government and assert greater control over the colonies. The colonists strongly protested these taxes, leading to increased tensions and contributing to the American Revolution. -
The Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts by the American colonists, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. -
The Tea Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1773, was not designed to raise revenue, but rather to save the financially struggling East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the tea trade in the American colonies. -
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen British colonies in America, held in Philadelphia in September and October of 1774
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The Second Continental Congress, convened in Philadelphia in May 1775, played a pivotal role in the American Revolution. It established the Continental Army, appointed George Washington as commander, and ultimately declared the colonies' independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, with the Declaration of Independence.
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The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, is a foundational document of the United States, formally declaring the thirteen American colonies' separation from British rule.