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1607
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, is established by the London Company in southeast Virginia. -
1609
Samuel Champlain battles an Iroquois party after his further exploration of the New World discovers Lake Champlain in early July and claims Vermont for the Kingdom of France. -
1609
Henry Hudson, working for the Dutch, sails into New York harbor and up the river that would bear his name to Albany. -
1614
Governing body of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands proclaims exclusive trade and furthur exploration between the 40th and 45th parallel, New York to Maryland, to New Netherlands Trading Company for three years. -
1619
The House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in America, meets for the first time in Virginia. The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown. -
1620
The Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts is established by Pilgrims from England.
Before disembarking from their ship, the Mayflower, 41 male passengers sign the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that forms the basis of the colony's government.The Mayflower -
1622
The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurs when Chief Opchanacanough and the Powhatan Confederacy tried to rid the colony of settlers. One third of the colony at the time, three hundred people, were killed. -
1640
The first book is printed in North America, the Bay Psalm Book. -
1650
Colonial population is estimated at 50,400. -
1664
English seize New Amsterdam (city and colony) from the Dutch and rename it New York. -
1676
Bacon's Rebellion causes the burning of Jamestown. Nathanial Bacon leads the rebellion of planters against Governor Berkeley. Bacon would perish and twenty-three others were executed. -
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Salem Witch
The Salem witch hunts, spurred by preaching, results in the arrest of one hundred and fifty people and the death of nineteen. These trials were held in Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex counties. -
1699
Additional French settlements would be established in Mississippi and Louisiana.