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Jamestown
On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company settlers landed in Jamestown to establish an English colony. It was the first permanent English settlement. -
Plymouth colony
The Plymouth Colony established and set the precedent for self-government.It was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 to 1691 and the second permanent English colony in America, after the Jamestown. Plymouth was also responsible for writing the mayflower compact. -
The Mayflower compact
The Mayflower Compact created laws for the Mayflower Pilgrims and non-Pilgrims alike for the good of their new colony. It was a short document which established that: The colonists would remain loyal subjects to King James, despite their need for self-governance. -
Rhode Island
The colony established Religious Freedom and the Separation of Church and State. Roger Williams founded Providence Plantations in 1636, which was the first permanent settlement in what became Rhode Island. -
The Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes.The war was culminated in 1638 with Treaty of Hartford, which outlawed the Pequot language and name, seized tribal lands, and disbanded the surviving Pequot, who were given to the victors as spoils of war or sold into slavery. -
Anne Hutchinson
She was considered one of the earliest American feminists. She was a spiritual leader in colonial Massachusetts who challenged male authority—and, indirectly, acceptable gender roles—by preaching to both women and men and by questioning Puritan teachings about salvation. She was put to trial in front of the Massachusetts general court. Where she was found guilty and banished. -
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut stated the powers and limits of government. The preamble of the Fundamental Orders officially formed a confederation under the guidance of God—standing in stark contrast to today's ideas about the separation of church and state. -
Maryland Toleration Act
The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion. It was the first law in North America requiring religious tolerance for Christians. -
King Philips War
It was the Native Americans' last-ditch effort to avoid recognizing English authority and stop English settlement on their native lands. The war is named after the Wampanoag chief Metacom, later known as Philip or King Philip, who led the fourteen-month bloody rebellion. -
Bacons Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion, fought from 1676 to 1677, began with a local dispute with the Doeg Indians on the Potomac River. Chased north by Virginia militiamen, who also attacked the otherwise uninvolved Susquehannocks, the Indians began raiding the Virginia frontier. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American Indians out of Virginia. -
The pueblo revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion/Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. During the revolt 400 Spaniards were killed and it drove the remaining 2,000 Spanish settlers south toward Mexico. -
The glorious revolution
The Glorious Revolution led to the establishment of an English nation that limited the power of the king and provided protections for English subjects. -
British bill of rights
The Bill firmly established the principles of frequent parliaments, free elections and freedom of speech within Parliament – known today as Parliamentary Privilege.