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Jamestown
On May 14, 1607, a group of roughly 100 members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. Famine, disease and conflict with local Native American tribes in the first two years brought Jamestown to the brink of failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies in 1610. -
Virgina House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was where elected representatives of English colonists first assembled to debate and solve common problems and pass laws in the new colony of Virginia. The first session was cut short because of an outbreak of malaria. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact, signed by 41 English colonists on the ship Mayflower on November 11, 1620, was the first written framework of government established in what is now the United States. The compact was drafted to prevent dissent amongst Puritans and non-separatist Pilgrims who had landed at Plymouth a few days earlier. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was an uprising in 1676 - 1677 against American Indians and the colonial government in the Virginia Colony over taking reprisal action for alleged thefts by the Native Americans. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy 29-year-old planter, in opposition to the Governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley. Bacon's Rebellion was the first rebellion in the American colonies. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases. -
Trial of John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger was a German immigrant who printed a publication called The NewYork Weekly Journal. This publication harshly pointed out the actions of the corrupt royal governor, Willams Cosby. It accused the government of rigging elections and allowing the French enemy to explore New York harbor. Although Zenger merely printed the articles, he was hauled into jail. -
French and Indian War
Also known as the Seven Years’ War, this New World conflict marked another chapter in the long imperial struggle between Britain and France. When France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's victory oover the French in North America. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was designed to calm the fears of Native Indians by halting the westward expansion by colonists whilst expanding the lucrative fur trade. -
Stamp Act
American colonies were obliged to pay a fee on almost every piece of paper used for legal documents, licenses, etc. The tax was payable in gold and silver only and not in paper money as was the common method of payment in the colonies. -
Quarting Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 required the colonies to house British soldiers in barracks provided by the colonies. If the barracks were too small to house all the soldiers, then localities were to accommodate the soldiers in local inns, livery stables, ale houses, victualling houses, and the houses of sellers of wine. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act of 1766 was a British Law, passed in mid March by the Parliament of Great Britain. The declaration stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies. -
Boston Massacre
A squad of British soldiers, came to support a sentry who was being pressed by a ferocious crowd, let loose a volley of shots. Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds; among the victims was Crispus Attucks, a man of black or Indian parentage. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act of 1773 was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the heavily indebted British government in the decade leading up to the American Revolutionary War. The act’s main purpose was not to raise revenue from the colonies but to bail out the floundering East India Company, a key actor in the British economy. -
Boston Tea Party
On the night of December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. -
1st Continental Congress
Each of the thirteen colonies sent delegates except Georgia. Before adjourning, the Congress agreed to meet again in the spring of 1775 if Great Britain had not adequately addressed their complaints. -
2nd Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia's Independence Hall on May 10, 1775, after the Battles of Concord and Lexington had been fought. Although there was still great sentiment among the delegates to seek reconciliation with Great Britain, the movement towards independence could not be reversed. The delegates were soon forced to turn their attention to forming an army, crafting a Declaration of Independence, conducting the war, and establishing a new national government. -
Declartion of Independence
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument.
