Magna Carta

Magna Carta

At Runnymeade, King John signed the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215.  The document was negotiated between the King and Barons of England after the Barons rebelled against increased taxes to fund the King’s wars in France to retake lands lost to the King of France. ...
The Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment

Passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920.  It was first introduced in Congress in 1878.  By 1912, nine states in the West – Wyoming being the first in 1890 – had already legislated for women to...
The Nineteenth Amendment

Eighteenth Amendment

On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified, after years of campaigning by prohibition proponents.  The amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale or distribution of “intoxicating liquors” within the United States.  The Volstead Act was...
Bill of Rights Ratified

Bill of Rights Ratified

On this day in 1791, the first ten Amendments to the United States Constitution were ratified.  The Bill of Rights, as these Amendments came to be known, guaranteed personal liberties with the federal government.  The First Amendment alone included the right to...
The Nineteenth Amendment

We the People – Constitution Day, September 17

The Constitutional Convention was initially convened by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation.  Under the Articles, the new government had quickly come to a stalemate between the northern states and those in the south.  The...