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Roanoke
The Roanoke island colony was the first English settlement in the New World. It was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh. It is known as the "Lost Colony". John White returned from a supply trip in England to find the settlement deserted. Among the missing were his daughter and his granddaughter. No one ever found out what happened to the people of the colony. The only evidence left was the word "croatoan" carved on a tree.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/roanoke-colony-deserted -
Jamestown
This colony was established by the Virginia company of London. It got off to a rough start because the settlement was on a swamp, the gentlemen refused to work, the winter was really bad, and the Native Americans weren't very friendly. John Smith emerged as Jamestown's leader and declared that if you didn't work you wouldn't eat. Then, John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas experimented with growing tobacco. Although tobacco was very labor intensive, it was hugely profitable.
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House of Burgesses
This was the first legislature made up of elected representatives in North America and it was established at Jamestown, Virginia. Only property owners could vote to elect representatives to the House of Burgesses. The assembly met in Jamestown until 1700, when meetings were moved to Williamsburg, the newly established capital of colonial Virginia.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Burgesses and notes -
Plymouth Colony (Mayflower,Mayflower Compact)
The pilgrims settled the Plymouth colony. The boat that the pilgrims set sail on was called the Mayflower. The Mayflower Compact established the foundation for the colony's government. It was the first self government plan in the colonies and it pledged that the decisions would be made by the will of the majority of the colony's men. The pilgrims met Squanto who helped them grow corn. The pilgrims celebrated their first harvest and it became the basis for our modern Thanksgiving.
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Great Migration
During the great migration, puritans migrated to New England, the Chesapeake, and the West Indies. The Puritans left England for the New World due to a few reasons. One was due to religious persecution but also because of economic reasons. The migration consisted of a few hundred pilgrims going to the Plymouth colony and between 13000 and 21000 emigrants who went to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-great-puritan-migration/ -
New York
New York is a middle colony settled by the Dutch. Originally New York was known as New Netherlands. The British sent a naval fleet to seize New Netherlands and the Dutch surrendered it without a fight. The territory was renamed after the duke of York, the brother of King Charles the second who received a charter for the territory.
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Massachusetts Bay Colony
The puritans settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With a charter from King Charles the first, about 1000 puritans settled in Massachusetts. They were led by John Winthrop who is known for his city on a hill speech. The Puritan laws that governed the colony were tied to the beliefs of the puritan church.
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Maryland
Maryland is a southern colony settled by Lord Baltimore. He was a Catholic who convinced King Charles the first to grant him 100 million acres for persecuted Catholics to settle. Maryland was settled as a proprietary colony. Baltimore's son took over the colony after he died.
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Rhode Island
Rhode Island is a New England colony. It was settled by Roger Williams and his supporters. Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts bay colony for speaking out against government authorities punishing religious dissention and against the confiscation of Native American land. He founded Rhode Island where there was no religious persecution of Christians.
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Connecticut
Connecticut is a New England colony and it was settled by Thomas Hooker. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the first written constitution in North America. Unlike in Massachusetts, citizenship was based on land ownership, not religion.
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Maryland Toleration Act
The Toleration Act of 1649 granted religious freedom to all Christians living in Maryland. In addition it made it a crime to call other believers names or talk to them disrespectfully. The death penalty could be used on anyone who denied the trinity or rejected Christ.
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/maryland-toleration-act-11630122.html -
Carolina
Carolina is a southern colony settled by supporters of King Charles the second. With easy access to the trade in the West Indies, people settled in the Carolinas to grow cash crops like rice, indigo, and tobacco. Cash crops were grown for the purpose of selling rather than being grown for just the farmer to use. Carolina eventually became a royal colony and was split into 2, North and South Carolina.
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Bacon's rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon raised an unauthorized militia of indentured servants, slaves, and poor farmers. Bacon and his men attacked and destroyed Jamestown. The significance of this rebellion is that it was the first colonial rebellion that went against royal control. Also because of it, white farmers and landowners were given more rights but the planter class remained in power. Another significance is that laws making Africans hereditary slaves were passed.
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Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is a middle colony settled by William Penn. King Charles the second granted William Penn a charter for the colony of Pennsylvania. Penn established the colony as a "holy experiment", a place without a landowning aristocracy where every male settler received 50 acres and the right to vote. William Penn became a Quaker and his colony soon became a haven for Quakers.
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Salutary Neglect
Salutary neglect was a long-standing British policy in the 13 colonies that allowed the colonists to violate the laws associated with trade. The policy benefited the colonists boosting their profits from trade.
https://www.landofthebrave.info/salutary-neglect.htm -
Salem Witch trials
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 Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases. 150 people were imprisoned for witchcraft, 7 died in prison, 19 men and women were found guilty and hung, and 1 person was crushed to death for refusing to testify.
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials -
Great Awakening/Enlightenment
The Great Awakening was a religious revival that impacted the English colonies in America. Christian leaders often traveled from town to town, preaching about the gospel, emphasizing salvation from sins and promoting enthusiasm for Christianity. The result was a renewed dedication toward religion. In the 1700's a European philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment was making its way to the American colonies.
https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/great-awakening -
French-Indian war
The French and Indian war began over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio river valley was part of the British empire, and therefore open for trade and settlement by Virginians and Pennsylvanians, or part of the French empire. There was also the issue of which natural culture was to dominate the heart of North America. It lasted 9 years.
https://www.britannica.com/event/French-and-Indian-War -
Albany plan
The Albany plan of union was a proposal made at the Albany Congress 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.
http://totallyhistory.com/albany-plan-of-union/ -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by the British at the end of the French and Indian war to appease Native Americans by checking the intrusion of the European settlers on their lands. It created a boundary separating the British colonies on the Atlantic coast from American Indian lands west of the Appalachian mountains.
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/1763-proclamation-of
