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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta signed
linkThe Magna Carta is a document that in June of 1215 King John of England was forced into signing. The Magna Carta became the basis for English citizens rights. It greatly reduced King Johns power because it allowed for a powerful parliament. -
Mayflower Compact signed
linkThe Mayflower compact is a written agreement made in the 1620's by a group of people who had just arrived to New Plymouth from their trip on the Mayflower. The Mayflower compact was fair and well thought out because the Mayflower passengers had seen what a bad government can do first hand. -
Formation of the New England Confederation
linkIt is a federation of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth formed by delegates. It was created to provide a united defense against the Dutch, French, and Native Americans. It also settled boundary disputes. -
Albany Plan of Union Announced
linkThe Albany Plan of Union was proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in 1754 in Albany, New York. He stated that the colonies should unite unless they wanted to be destroyed by French and their Indian allies. -
Articles of Confederation Signed
linkThe Articles of Confederation was an agreement among the thirteen founding states that established the United States of America. It served as the first constitution and was signed in 1777. -
Newburgh Conspiracy
The Newburgh Conspiracy shortly after the revolutionary war when military officers did not get their pay and threatened to perform a coup d'etat or military takeover and turn the new republic into a monarcy or tyranny. Link -
Treaty of Paris Signed
linkThe Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary war between Great Britain and the United States. It was signed in Paris by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. Britain acknowledged the independent nation of the United States of America and agreed to remove all of its troops from the newly formed nation. -
Spain closes Mississippi River
linkThe closing of the Mississippi River angered colonists who were moving west and colonists who used the Mississippi River to trade. The reason Spain closed the Mississippi River to the United States was because the king of Spain wanted to have the gulf of Mexico to himself, many people found this unreasonable and resisted this change. -
Land Ordinance of 1785
link The Land Ordinance of 1785 was a law passed by Congress that allowed you to sell your land in the Northwest Territory and it set up standards for selling land. For example selling mile-square sections of land. -
Ordinance of Religious Freedom
link The Ordinance of Religious Freedom emphasized how God gives man the right to choose his religious beliefs, states that every man is able to have free worship entering a church without paying taxes. It focuses on the rights a man should always have. -
Shays' Rebellion
linkFarmers in western Massachusttes suffered from high debt when trying to create new farms. When the government didn't respond to this economic crisis many farmers were sent to jail. A farmer named Daniel Shays' didn't believe that it was fair and took action by forming a group of farmers that rebelled. They broke into an ammunition supply and forced the courts in the area to close. The revolt was shortly ended by military but it was not for nothing since they got their point across. -
Annapolis Convention
link The Annapolis Convention was a meeting which debated the new terms that were different to the Articles of Confederation. The conventions purpose was to extend trade between the large independent states instead of limiting it the only problem was there wasn't enough states represented to come to agreements which just proved proved how unorganized the states were. -
Constitutional Convention opens
link Many Representatives got together and to draft this Constitution making sure it addressed the future of slave trade in American life, the idea of a powerful, strong government system, and the ability to build a representative government. This Constitution succeeded because of all of the compromising and carefully thought out details. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
linkThe Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was set up to allow newly formed states in the new Northwest Territory to join the Union. It was thought of as Americas "organic law.” This document also proved that the separation of church and state was wrong. -
The Great Compromise agreed to
linkThe Great Compromise was one of the biggest agruments held by the delegates, it was to decide how many representatives each state would have. It was decided that one house the representation would be decided among the population, each state would get one representative for every 40 thousand people in that state. In the second house the representation would be equal, each state would have the same number of representatives. -
Constitution sent to the states for ratification
link The Constitution needed to become ratified by nine states before becoming a law. At first because of uncertainty of votes from Virginia and New York the Constitution's execution was doubted. But, the two states ended up supporting the Constitution and it became successful. -
Federalists Papers appear
linkThe Fedralists Papers were a set of essays or articles made by pro-constitution members such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. The papers helped convince states to ratify the constitution and stated the benefits of uniting under a central government. -
Anti- Federalist articles appear
link The Anti-Federalist articles were from people who were against the constitution and expressed their opinions in writing hoping to prevent ratification. The papers main desire was to establish a weak central government but incorporate strong state governments. -
Delaware ratifies
link On December 7, 1787, the delegates meet in Dover at Battell's Tavern and unanimously made Delaware the first state to ratify the United States Constitution. -
Massachusetts ratifies Constitution
link Massachusetts believed that this Constitution would reduce the amount of fear people in the state had, so they agreed to ratify the Constitution. Massachusetts was the sixth state to ratify the Constitution along with providing a list of suggested changes for the Constitution. For example one suggestion was to protect states and individuals. -
New Hampshire ratifies Constitution
linkNew Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify officially putting the Constitution in effect. New Hampshire did have some suggestions for the Constitution such as the congress should not be allowed to make laws concerning religion or disarm any civilian unless a rebellion. -
Congress meets for the first time
link The first meeting of Congress was held on Wall Street in New York City. The Congress was concerned that the publics expectations were too high and with all the anxiety they had they were bound to be disappointed. -
George Washington elected President
link George Washington was the very first president of the United States. His goal was to make his nation stronger, though he ended up retiring after his second year. He was elected shortly after the Constitution was ratified. -
Bill of Rights sent to the states for ratification
link Twelve amendments that would protect the rights of U.S. citizens were sent to the states. They included freedom of speech, press, assembly, and beliefs of religion. Shortly after George Washington became president, the first Congress of the United States approved the 12 amendments to be added to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. -
Bill of Rights ratified
link The first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791 after congress sent them to the states for approval. It was ratified because 10 out of 14 states approved.
