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Roanoke
The Roanoke Colony, or the Lost Colony, was established in 1585 on Roanoke Island, (present-day Dare County, North Carolina). It was a colony of England that only lasted until about 1590. It was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in an attempt by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a permanent English settlement in North America.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony) -
Jamestown
On May 14, 1607, about 100 members of a group called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the James River. Famine and disease in winter killed the majority of the colonists, but they were taught to fish and farm by a group of Native Americans. Tobacco became Virginia’s first export, and soon after, colonist John Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of an Algonquian chief. (http://www.history.com/topics/jamestown) -
House of Burgesses
The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. They first met on July 30, 1619. The Virginia Company voted to abolish martial law and create a legislative assembly because they didn't want the English king to have complete power over them. (http://www.ushistory.org/us/2f.asp) -
The Great Migration
The Great Migration was a period in the 17th century during which English puritans migrated to New England. English emigrants to Massachusetts went to Plymouth Colony in the 1620s, and about 13,000-21,000 emigrants went to the Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1630 and 1642. The Puritans left England not only because of religious persecution but also for economic reasons.
(http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-great-puritan-migration/) -
The Mayflower
In 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, a port on the coast of England. The ship usually carried goods like food and wine, but this time it carried 102 passengers. They were called Pilgrims and they left England looking for religious freedom in the New World because they saw the church of England as corrupt. (http://www.history.com/topics/mayflower) -
New York
New York was one of the original 13 colonies. New York was originally one of the Middle Colonies; it was a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam, until 1664 when the Dutch surrendered it to the English and it was renamed New York for the Duke of York. The original boundaries of New York included present-day New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Vermont.
http://softschools.com/facts/13_colonies/new_york_colony_facts/2043/ -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the Massachusetts Bay Company during the Great Migration. It was named after the tribe of Massachusetts Indians who lived in New England, but the colonists brought disease which killed most of the Native Americans there. In 1632, the colonists made Boston the capital of the colony. By 1640, more than 40,000 English colonists had moved to the colony. (http://historyofmassachusetts.org/history-of-the-massachusetts-bay-colony/) -
Connecticut
The Connecticut colony began in 1633 when the Dutch established the first trading post on the Connecticut River Valley in what is now Hartford. The founder of Connecticut was Thomas Hooker, an English clergyman. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were created in 1639. Many believe that it would become the basis for the US Constitution. The Connecticut colony also signed the Declaration of Independence in October 1776.
(https://www.thoughtco.com/connecticut-colony-103870) -
Maryland
The Maryland Colony was founded by Cecil Calvert and Lord Baltimore in 1633. It was named after King Charles I's wife Queen Henrietta Maria. Early settlements in the Maryland Colony clustered around rivers and waterways, especially the ones that emptied into Chesapeake Bay. Parts of the original colony eventually became other states like Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. (http://softschools.com/facts/13_colonies/maryland_colony_facts/2037/) -
Rhode Island
Rhode Island was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams. The name means 'red island' because of the red clay he found there. He and his wife left England in search of religious freedom. He had lived in both Salem and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but was banished, so he started his own colony for people who felt the same way he did about the church and shared the same religious views as him. (https://www.thoughtco.com/rhode-island-colony-103880) -
Maryland Toleration Act
The Maryland Toleration Act was a law mandating religious tolerance for Trinitarian Christians. It was passed in April 1649 by the Maryland colony. It required freedom of worship for all Trinitarian Christians, but sentenced to death anyone who denied Jesus. Some called this hypocritical because intolerance like this was exactly what they were trying to get away from in England, but the majority of Maryland colonists were already Christian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Toleration_Act -
Carolina
North Carolina was first settled in 1587, but by 1590, all of its original 121 settlers had mysteriously disappeared. Today, this settlement is known as The Lost Colony because to this day no one knows where all the settlers went. It was settled permanently for the second time in 1655 when Nathaniel Batts, a Virginia farmer, migrated to an area south of Virginia hoping to find good farmland. (http://mrnussbaum.com/history-2-2/nccolony/) -
Bacon's Rebellion
Although the rebellion didn't happen until 1676, the causes of it began in 1675. In July 1675 the Doeg Indians raided a plantation in Virginia. In return, the colonists attacked back, but they attacked the wrong tribe, the Susquehanaugs, which led to Nathaniel Bacon rebelling against Governor William Berkeley because he didn't agree with his actions.
(https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/bacons-rebellion.htm) -
Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania was an English colony that existed from 1682 until 1776, when it rebelled against Great Britain along with the other 12 colonies and became the state of Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1682 by William Penn and other colonists. King
Charles II named it after the Latin word ' Sylvania ' meaning "woodland", and Penn, the founder. https://www.landofthebrave.info/pennsylvania-colony.htm -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials began in 1692, after a group of girls in Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed and accused several women of being witches. Hysteria spread through Massachusetts and a court began to listen to people's accusations of witchcraft. Over 150 men, women and children were accused in all, and over the course of a few months, over 20 of them were executed. http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials -
The Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards, a Yale minister who refused to convert to the Church of England, was concerned the colonists were too concerned with "worldly matters". He thought that people found the "pursuit of wealth" to be more important than John Calvin's religious principles. He declared that "God was an angry judge, and humans were sinners!" and the Great Religious Awakening began. http://www.ushistory.org/us/7b.asp -
Albany Plan
The Albany Plan was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. The plan proposed the union of all British colonies except Georgia and Delaware. The plan was never carried out because it called for union of the colonies, and the people in some of the colonies didn't want to be unionized. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/albany-plan -
French-Indian War
The French-Indian War was also known as the Seven Years War. When France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley brought conflict between the French and the British over land, Britain declared war on the French in 1756. At the 1763 peace conference, the British received parts of Canada from France and Florida from Spain, leaving the Mississippi Valley to be claimed by France. (http://www.history.com/topics/french-and-indian-war) -
Proclamation of 1763
After the French and Indian War, King George III declared everywhere west of the Appalachian Divide off-limits to colonists. The forbade both citizens and governments to buy land from or make agreements with Natives. Also that only licensed traders would ever be allowed to travel west. The Proclamation's legality ended with the American Revolution. (http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/1763-proclamation-of) -
Salutatary Neglect
Salutatary Neglect was a policy of the British government about its colonies where trade regulations for the colonies were "laxly enforced" and supervision of the colonies by British soldiers was minor, as long as the colonies remained loyal to the British government and aided them economically. This policy ultimately led to American Independence because they were no longer being closely watched by the British.
