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1215 Nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta Magna Carta (Great Charter) 1. gave stronger rights to landowners 2. gave right to a trial by a jury of peers 3. limited power of Monarchy Parliament this legislature is a bicameral legislature Bicameral Legislature 2 Houses 1. Upper House -- House of Lords 2. Lower House -- House of Commons Glorious Revolution when Mary and William rule; changed the idea of government in England 1689 English Bill of Rights (goes with date) English Bill of Rights 1. Monarch can't suspend laws passed by Parliament 2. Monarch can't impose taxes or raise army without Parliaments consent 3. Gauranteed free elections 4. Free speech during meetings 5. A fair jury trial 6. No cruel or unusual punishment Precedent using a ruling from a previous case Common Law System of Precedent; used court decisions, not laws made by legislatures Why do empires have colonies? 1. Raw Materials 2. Glory (land) 3. Market "The sun never sets on the British Empire" -Rudyard Kipling Virginia 1st permanent English settlement in North America; Jamestown (105 men); founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company Problems in Virginia Colony 1. diseases 2. harsh winters 3. starvation 4. Indian attacks 5. crop failures 1619 formed the House of Burgesses (date) House of Burgesses 2 men from each town or plantation; indirect democracy 1620 colonists arrive in Massachusetts; Plymouth Bay Colony Mayflower Compact made by Plymouth Bay Colony; 41 out of 44 on board signed on November 21, 1620 2 concepts of Mayflower Compact 1. Make equal and just laws 2. Every man would vote 1733 there were 13 colonies 1763 England fought a costly war with France; had a lot of war debt and decided to tax the American colonists 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act (date) Stamp Act tax on newspapers and legal documents that were mailed 1776 Declatory Act (date) Declatory Act "Parliament had the right to tax and make decisions for the colonies in all cases" 1767 Townsend Acts (date) Townsend Acts tax on imported goods such as glass, tea, paper, and lead 1773 Tea Act (date) Tea Act British East India Co. had right to ship tea without taxes; bypassed merchants 1773 Boston Tea Party (date) Boston Tea Party 200 colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor 1774 Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts (date) Intolerable Acts 1. no trial by jury 2. soldiers could search/move into colonists home 3. colonists had no say, but were taxed "No taxation, without representation" 1775 1st battle of American Revolutionary War; Battle of Lexington and Concord; "shot heard round the world" 1776 Thomas Paine wrote the book, Common Sense; called for independence from Britian July 4, 1776 Continental Congress approved Decleration of Independence Articles of Confederation 1st plan of government for the USA 2 things about "league of friendship" 1. Weak 2. Failed A of C -- Legislature unicameral (each state gets one vote) 1. No power to collect taxes 2. No power to enforce its laws 3. No power to regulate trade A of C -- Executive no leader or group A of C -- Judicial no court system A of C Negative Congress could not pass a law unless 9 of the 13 states approved A of C Negative The A of C could not be changed without the agreement of all 13 states A of C Positive 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the Mississippi River as USA's western border A of C Positive Northwestern Territory was added A of C Positive Land Ordinance of 1784 and 1785 divided the land into townships and allowed Congress to raise money by selling land A of C Positive Guidelines for admitting new states A of C Positive 5 states: Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio 1786 Shay's Rebellion: farmer, former captain in revolutionary war, against high state taxes, loss of farms