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Formation of the London Company and the Plymouth Company
King James I chartered two companies, the London Company and the Plymouth Company, with the goal of establishing settlements in the New World. -
Jamestown settlers reach the New World
Three ships: the Susan constant, Discovery, and Godspeed, reach Cape Henry on the Virginia coast after sailing for 5 months. -
Jamestown Landing
After sailing 40 miles up the James river, 103 settlers land on the east bank of the James river, establishing the first English colony in North America. -
John Smith elected president
John Smith was elected president of Jamestown, establishing a set of new rules. One of the rules required men to work to be able to eat. -
Jamestown Resupply
The third resupply mission reaches Jamestown with over 300 settlers. The flagship, Sea Venture, shipwrecked in Bermuda after fighting strong storms. The ship was carrying newly appointed Jamestown Governor Thomas Gates and other new leaders. -
Henry Hudson sails up the Hudson river
Henry Hudson reaches the New World in search of the Northwest Passage. Sailing aboard the Half Moon as part of the Dutch East India Company, Hudson sails up the river that would later be named the Hudson river. -
Rolfe reaches Jamestown
After being stranded in Bermuda, John Rolfe and the rest of the survivors of the Sea Venture wreckage reach Jamestown. They discover 60 remaining colonists. 90% of the colony's population had died in the "Starving Time" during the winter. -
Rolfe plants tobacco
John Rolfe begins growing a strain of tobacco from Trinidad and South America. The strain is much more pleasant than the strain grown by local Indians. -
Tobacco sale begins in England
The first ship containing John Rolfe's tobacco from Jamestown is sold in England. -
Start of slavery
By 1619 Jamestown was booming due to tobacco sales, having exported 10 tons of tobacco to England. This allowed the colony to afford two imports, women and slaves. A Dutch ship landed in Jamestown in August containing 20 African slaves, the first slaves to be brought to America. -
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses meets in Jamestown, becoming the first representative assembly in America. -
Pilgrims make landfall
After exploring the coastline for a month, the Puritans find a suitable settlement site at Plymouth Rock. The Puritans were escaping religious persecution in England. -
Mayflower Compact
The Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact, establishing a government for the Puritan settlement. -
New Amsterdam captured
After the English captured New Amsterdam it was renamed to New York in honor of the Duke of York. After the Second Anglo-Dutch war (1665-1667) the Netherlands formerly gave up their claim to the colony in exchange for England giving up Surinam in Southb America. -
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King Philip's War
Fighting broke out between Wampanoags and their allies after a degredation in relations between the Wampanoag Indians and English colonists. This was caused by the colonists trying to take Indian guns and three Wampanoags being hanged for murder. The war ended when most of the Wampanoags and Narragansetts were destroyed. -
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Nine Years' War/ King William's War
fighting breaks out between French and English colonies and their respective Native American allies. The lack of adherence to treaties reached at the end of King Philip's War and the English and the French each believing the other was giving aid to the Indians caused the fighting. The war was ended with a series of agreements, the Treaty of Ryswick, signed between 9/20/1687 and 10/30/1697. At the end of the war the boundaries of French and English colonies were relatively unchanged.
