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Roanoke
The first attempt by the British to colonize North America began with the Roanoke Colony in 1585. The Roanoke Colony failed, but was followed up by Jamestown in 1607. -
Jamestown
On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company settlers landed on Jamestown Island to establish an English colony 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Discovery of the exact location of the first fort indicates its site was in a secure place, where Spanish ships could not fire point blank into the fort. Within days of landing, the colonists were attacked by Powhatan Indians. The newcomers spent the next few weeks working to “beare and plant palisadoes” for a wooden fort. -
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was an assembly of elected representatives from Virginia that met from 1643 to 1776. This democratically elected legislative body was the first of its kind in English North America. From 1619 until 1643, elected burgesses met in unicameral session with the governor and the royally appointed governor's Council; after 1643, the burgesses met separately as the lower house of the General Assembly of Virginia. -
Mayflower/Plymouth/Mayflower Compact
The original document does not survive. It first appeared in Mourt’s Relation, a pamphlet about the first year of settlement at Plymouth. In 1669 Plymouth’s town historian, Nathaniel Morton, reprinted the agreement in his book, New England’s Memorial. Interestingly, he included a possible list of the men who signed it, even though these men’s names were not included in earlier copies of the Mayflower Compact. According to Morton, the document was signed by 41 of the male passengers. -
Massacusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691) was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century around the Massachusetts Bay , the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay . -
Great Migration
The Great Puritan Migration refers to the period in American history between 1630 and 1640, during which 20,000 English Puritans emigrated to the United States. Their principal motivation for leaving England was to escape religious persecution. -
Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Colony was one of the original 13 colonies located on the Atlantic coast of North America. The original 13 colonies were divided into three geographic areas consisting of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies. The Rhode Island Colony was classified as one of the New England Colonies. -
Carolina
In the north, many settlers were small farmers who drifted down from Virginia and planted tobacco, as they had done at home. Centered on Albemarle Sound, northern Carolina was poor, but independent. The population was diversified with the arrival of thousands of emigrants from Scotland, Ireland, and Germany. Their practice of farming was not heavily dependent upon slave labor in the southern region. -
Maryland Toleration Act
With England in the hands of Puritans and Protestants beginning to outnumber Catholics in Maryland, the colony's legislature passed an Act of Toleration to ensure the religious liberty of Maryland's Catholics. The Toleration Act, passed on April 24, 1649, granted religious freedom to all who believed in the Trinity and that Jesus was the son of God. -
Connecticut
The Province of Connecticut was an English colony in North America that existed from 1636 until 1776, when it joined the other 12 of the 13 colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Connecticut. -
Maryland
The Maryland Colony was one of the original 13 colonies located on the Atlantic coast of North America. The original 13 colonies were divided into three geographic areas consisting of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies. The Maryland Colony was classified as one of the Southern Colonies. The Province of Maryland was an English colony in North America that existed from 1633 until 1776. -
New York
They established the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664, the English took control of the area and renamed it New York. One of the original 13 colonies, New York played a crucial political and strategic role during the American Revolution. -
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Colony was one of the original 13 colonies located on the Atlantic coast of North America. The original 13 colonies were divided into three geographic areas consisting of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies. The Pennsylvania Colony was classified as one of the Middle Colonies. The Province of Pennsylvania was an English colony in North America that existed from 1682 until 1776. -
Salem witch trials
The infamous 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. -
Salutary Neglect
This enabled the American colonies to prosper by trading with non-British entities, and then to spend that wealth on British-made goods, while at the same time providing Britain with raw materials for manufacture. But in doing so, salutary neglect also enabled the colonies to operate independently of Britain, both economically and politically, and to create an American identity. -
Great Awakening/Enlightenment
Enlightenment was a movement started by the philosophers and scientists and it slowly trickled down to the masses whereas, Great Awakening was a movement of the masses. Great Awakening was a religious and spiritual movement whereas Enlightenment was a movement that centered on scientific spirit and reasoning. -
Albany Plan
The Albany Plan of Union was a proposal made at the Albany Congress back in 1754 aimed at a formation of a strong union of the colonies under one single government and direction. The need was justified because of the necessity for defense against the threats and consequences posed by the infamous French and Indian War. It was proposed by Benjamin Franklin, and was among the many plans presented by the different delegates that participated in the Albany Congress. -
French-Indian War
The French and Indian War saw two European imperialists go head-to-head over territory and marked the debut of the soldier who would become America's first president. -
Proclamation of 1763
In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation, mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada. -
Bacon's rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was probably one of the most confusing yet intriguing chapters in Jamestown's history. For many years, historians considered the Virginia Rebellion of 1676 to be the first stirring of revolutionary sentiment in America, which culminated in the American Revolution almost exactly one hundred years later.
