Colonial America Timeline

The Roanoke Island colony, the first English settlement in the New World, was founded by English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh in August 1585. In 1587, Raleigh sent out another group of 100 colonists under John White. White returned to England to procure more supplies, but the war with Spain delayed his return to Roanoke. By the time he finally returned in August 1590, everyone had vanished. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/roanoke-colony-deserted

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. https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/jamestown

The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly to be set up in the Americas and was an important step in the movement toward independence from the English monarchy. Although the legislative body was still under the rule of the English crown, it established an important precedent: England was to have a limited monarchy over the region, giving Virginians the freedom to form their own local laws for governance. https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-house-of-burgesses.htm

The Great Puritan Migration was a period in the 17th century during which English puritans migrated to New England, the Chesapeake and the West Indies. English migration to Massachusetts consisted of a few hundred pilgrims who went to Plymouth Colony in the 1620s and between 13,000 and 21,000 emigrants who went to the Massachusetts Bay Colony between 1630 and 1642. England was in religious turmoil in the early 17th century. https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-great-puritan-migration/

The Mayflower Compact was a set of rules for self-governance established by the English settlers who traveled to the New World on the Mayflower. When Pilgrims and other settlers set out on the ship for America in 1620, they intended to lay anchor in northern Virginia. But after treacherous shoals and storms drove their ship off course, the settlers landed in Massachusetts instead, near Cape Cod, outside of Virginia’s jurisdiction. https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/mayflower-compact

Salutary neglect was the policy of the British government from the early to mid-18th century regarding its North American colonies under which trade regulations for the colonies were enforced and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loose as long as the colonies remained loyal to the British government. It contributed to the increasing autonomy of legal and legislative institutions, which ultimately led to American Independence. https://www.britannica.com/topic/salutary-neglect

The Dutch first settled along the Hudson River in 1624; two years later they established the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. In 1664, the English took control of the area and renamed it New York. New York played a crucial political and strategic role during the American Revolution. Between 1892 and 1954, millions of immigrants arrived in New York Harbor and passed through Ellis Island on their journey to becoming U.S citizens. https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/new-york

Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts, was settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under Gov. John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. Thomas Dudley. In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained from King Charles I a charter empowering the company to trade and colonize in New England between the Charles and Merrimack rivers. https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay-Colony

The Maryland Colony was founded in 1632 as a safe haven for English Catholics fleeing anti-Catholic persecution in Europe. The colony was established by Cecil Calvert and Lord Baltimore. The Maryland Colony's first settlement was St. Mary's City, which was built along the Chesapeake Bay. It was the first settlement in the New World to guarantee religious freedom for all Trinitarian Christians. https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-maryland-colony-103875

The founding of the Connecticut colony began in 1636 when the Dutch established the first trading post on the Connecticut River valley in what is now the town of Hartford. The move into the valley was part of a general movement out of the Massachusetts colony. By the 1630s, the population in and around Boston had grown so dense that settlers began to spread out throughout southern New England. https://www.thoughtco.com/connecticut-colony-103870

Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams in 1636, who had been banished 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 hub for shipping and trade, and in the 19th century Rhode Island was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and the establishment of power-driven textile mills. https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/rhode-island

The Maryland Toleration Act was meant to ensure freedom of religion for Christian settlers of diverse persuasions in the colony. The law made it a crime to blaspheme God, the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, or the early apostles and evangelists. It also forbade one resident from referring to another’s religion in a disparaging way and it provided for honoring the Sabbath. https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/868/maryland-toleration-act-of-1649

Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion in 1676 by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley. His grievances against the governor stemmed from Berkeley's dismissive policy to the political challenges of its western frontier, particularly leaving Bacon out of his inner circle and refusing to allow Bacon to take part in fur trading with Native Americans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_Rebellion

In 1681, William Penn was given a land grant from King Charles II, who owed money to Penn's deceased father. Immediately, Penn sent William Markham to the territory to take control of it and be its governor. The Quakers were among the most radical of the English Protestant sects that had sprung up in the 17th century. Penn sought a colony in America to protect himself and fellow Quakers from persecution. https://www.thoughtco.com/key-facts-about-the-pennsylvania-colony-103879

Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, in France and throughout Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change. The Enlightenment produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. The American and French Revolutions marked the peak of its influence and the beginning of its decline. https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/enlightenment

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. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials

The North Carolina colony was carved out of the Carolina province in 1729, but the history of the region begins during the Elizabethan period of the late 16th century and is closely tied up with the Virginia colony. The North Carolina colony is the direct result of British colonization efforts in the New World: it was also the place where the first English settlement was built and mysteriously disappeared. https://www.thoughtco.com/north-carolina-colony-103877

The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. On July 10, 1754, representatives from seven of the British North American colonies adopted the plan. Although never carried out, the Albany Plan was the first important proposal to conceive of the colonies as a collective whole united under one government. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/albany-plan

The French and Indian War lasted from 1754 to 1763, forming a chapter in the imperial struggle between Britain and France called the Second Hundred Years’ War. In the early 1750s, France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought it into conflict with the claims of the British colonies, especially Virginia. In 1754, the French built Fort Duquesne making it the place that the British repeatedly attacked. https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/french-and-indian-war

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 encroachment of European settlers on their lands. It created a boundary, known as the proclamation line, 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