-
Jamestown, the first English settlement, was established in Southeast Virginia.
-
Samuel de Champlain establishes first permanent colony of New France at Quebec City, near the former abandoned Iroquois settlement of Stadacona.
-
Pocahontas marries John Rolfe, who would bring tobacco seeds to Jamestown and begin its harvesting this year. Their marriage led to eight years of peace among the colonists and Indians.
-
The House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in America, meets for the first time in Virginia.
-
First enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown, beginning slavery in North America.
-
The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England.
-
The Great Colonial Hurricane strikes the Atlantic Coast and the colonies of Jamestown, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay.
-
English seize New Amsterdam from the Dutch and rename it New York City after the Duke of York.
