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Roanoke Colony
The roots of one of America’s unsolved mysteries can be traced to August 1587, when a group of English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island. Following an earlier, failed attempt at settling on Roanoke two years before, the settlers tried again to make a good home for themselves and their families. Some hypotheses are that they tried to sail back to England and got lost at sea. Others state that they were killed at the hands of the natives. -
Jamestown
On December 6, 1606, the travel to Virginia started on three ships: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. In 1607, a number of English men and boys came to North America to start a home. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their home, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first enduring English settlement in North America. The place was circled by water on three sides and was far inland. It could be easily defended against Spanish attacks. -
Connecticut
When Europeans arrived in Connecticut, the land was already found by Native American tribes. Some of the big tribes were the Mohegan, the Pequot, and the Nipmuc. They spoke the Algonquian language and lived in dome shaped houses made from trees. They hunted deer, gathered nuts and berries, grew corn, squash, and beans. The first European to go to Connecticut was the Dutch explorer, Adriaen Block. Block and his crew went up the Connecticut River, mapping the region for future Dutch settlers. -
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first English representative government in North America, established in July 1619, for the purpose of approving laws and keeping order in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia and the other places around it. The House of Burgesses’ first order of business was between the colonists and Native Americans, and this would remain a topic of the assembly in the next years. -
Mayflower/Plymouth/Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was rules for self government established by the English settlers who traveled on the Mayflower. When Pilgrims and other settlers went on the ship for America in 1620, they meant to go to northern Virginia, but after treacherous storms drove their ship off course, the people landed in Massachusetts instead, near Cape Cod. Knowing life without laws could prove disastrous, colonist leaders made the Mayflower Compact to make sure a working social structure would endure. -
The Great Puritan Migration
The Great Puritan Migration was a time period in the 17th century when English puritans came to New England, the Chesapeake and the West Indies. The Puritans left England mostly because to religious bullying but also for land as well. The puritans were a sect of religious people who felt the Church of England was too closely partnered with the Catholic people and needed to be fixed.The separatists wanted to leave England to escape punishment for their beliefs and to be able to worship better. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony was a British settlement. It was the most successful and most profitable colony in New England. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a charter colony. This meant that the management of the colony was elected by the people and the colony was allowed to self-govern, as long as its laws paralleled with those of England. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Massachusetts Bay Company during the Great Puritan Migration. -
Maryland
One of the original 13 colonies, Maryland sits in the center of the Eastern Seaboard, among the great commercial and population complex that goes from Maine to Virginia. Its small size contradicts the great uniqueness of its landscapes and ways of life that they encourage, from the low-lying and water-oriented Eastern Shore and Chesapeake Bay area, through the metropolitan Baltimore, its largest city, to the wooded Appalachian foothills and mountains of its western reaches. -
Rhode Island
Rhode Island, only about 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, is the smallest U.S. state. Despite its small area, Rhode Island, known as the “Ocean State,” boasts over 400 miles of coastline. Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams in 1636, who had been sent away from the Massachusetts colony for his advocacy of religious tolerance and the separation of church and state. During the colonial period, Newport was a major place for shipping and trading. -
Pennsylvania
One of the original 13 colonies, Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a safe place for his fellow people. Pennsylvania’s capital, Philadelphia, was the place of the first and second Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775, the later of which manufactured the Declaration of Independence, lighting the American Revolution. After the war, Pennsylvania became the second state, after Delaware, to confirm the U.S. Constitution. -
Maryland Toleration Act
Long before the First Amendment came to be, the assembly of the Province of Maryland passed “An Act Concerning Religion,” also called the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649. The act was meant to secure the freedom of religion for Christian settlers of various persuasions in the colony. The law made it a crime to curse God, the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, or the early apostles and evangelists. -
Carolina
North Carolina was the first state to command its representatives to vote for freedom from the British crown during the Continental Congress. After the Revolutionary War, North Carolina made an extensive slave plantation system and became a major cotton and tobacco exporter, even though the enslaved population remained pretty small compared to other southern states. In 1861, North Carolina was one of 11 states to depart from the United States, starting the American Civil War. -
New York
The Dutch settled beside the Hudson River in 1624 and made the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664, the English took control of the space and named it New York. As one of the original 13 colonies, New York played a necessary and strategic role during the American Revolution. Between 1892 and 1954, millions of people came to New York Harbor and went through Ellis Island on their way to becoming U.S people. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion can be led to series of causes, all of which led to unhappiness in the Virginia colony. Economic problems, such as tobacco prices, a restricted English market, and the rising prices from English manufactured goods caused problems for the Virginians. There were also many problems caused by weather; hailstorms, floods, dry spells, and hurricanes shook the colony and had a damaging effect on the colonists. They then sadly tried to find someone to blame their misfortunes on. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials happened in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were said to be practicing witchcraft or the Devil's magic and multiple were executed. Eventually, the colony said the trials were not right and tried to repay the families of the victims. Since then, the story of the trials has become similar to paranoia and injustice. The people who did the Salem Witch Trials were mostly Christians, which is sad but true. -
Salutary Neglect
Salutary neglect was Britain’s unconfirmed policy, initiated by prime minister Robert Walpole, to calm down the administration of stern orders, particularly trade laws, imposed on the American colonies late in the seventeenth and early in the eighteenth centuries. Walpole and other supporters of this perspective hoped that Britain, by easing its grip on colonial trade, could focus more on European politics and further cement its role as a world power. -
Great Awakening/Enlightenment
The Great Awakening was a religious improvement that affected the English colonies in America during the 1730s and 1740s. The movement came when passion for religion had grown stale. Christian leaders usually traveled from town to town, preaching about the gospel. The result was a new dedication toward religion. Many people believe the Great Awakening had a lasting impact on various Christian communions and American culture at large. -
Albany Plan
The Albany Plan of Union was an idea to put the British North American colonies under a better government. On July 10, 1754, people from seven of the British North American colonies liked the plan and used it. Although never carried out, the Albany Plan was the first important proposal to conceive of the colonies as a united group under one government. Representatives of the colonial governments adopted the Albany Plan during a bigger meeting called the Albany Congress. -
French-Indian War
Also known as the Seven Years’ War, the French-Indian War marked another chapter in the long hardship between Britain and France. When France’s growth into the Ohio River valley brought conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756. Boosted by the help of future Prime Minister William Pitt, the British came into the lead with wins at Louisbourg, Fort Frontenac, and the French-Canadian stronghold of Quebec. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was equipped by the British at the conclusion of the French and Indian War to satisfy the Native Americans by checking the number of European settlers on their land. It made a wall, known as the proclamation line, disconnecting the British colonies on the Atlantic coast from American Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. This royal proclamation, issued on October 7, 1763, closed down the colonial extension westward beyond Appalachia.