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Roanoke
Roanoke is located in Virginia and was colonized in 1585. It was under the authority of Sir Walter Raleigh. Queen Elizabeth 1 granted Raleigh permission to colonize America in 1584. Raleigh attempted this to establish a permanent North American settlement with the purpose of harassing Spanish shipping, discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean, mining for gold and silver and Christianizing the Indians. -
Jamestown
Jamestown was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London. This was established along the coast of Virginia. The colony got off to a rough start with a bad winter. John Smith soon later emerged as Jamestown leader. He came up with the rule if you do not work then you do not eat. Jamestown was established because the settlers wanted to gain more wealth and a quick profit from gold mining. -
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses is located in Virginia. Governor George Yeardley arrived in Virginia from England, in 1619, and announced that the Virginia Company had voted to abolish martial law and create a legislative assembly in Jamestown. It was the first popularly elected legislature in the New World. Only white men who owned a specific amount of property were eligible to vote for Burgesses. -
Plymouth and the Mayflower Compact
The Pilgrims settled the Plymouth Colony in 1620. About a 100 passengers set sail on the Mayflower for a location near the Hudson River, an area thought to be part of the Virginia Colony. Soon after they established the Mayflower Compact which was the first self government plan in the colonies. It pledged that the decisions would be made by the will of most of the colony's men. -
New York
The New York colony was founded in 1626. It was colonized by Duke of York and other colonists on Manhattan Island. It was named after the Duke of York and Albany, the brother of King Charles ll of England. New York first settled to trade with local Native Americans. -
The Great Migration
The Great Puritan Migration happened in the 1620s. The separatist sailed to the New World on the Mayflower, a rented cargo ship, and landed off the coast of Massachusetts in November. This is where they established the first colony in New England, the Plymouth Colony. -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Puritans settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Around 1,000 Puritans settled here. They were governed by John Winthrop who believed, "We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of the people are on us." The Puritan laws were tied to the beliefs of the Puritan Church. -
Maryland
Maryland was settled by Lord Baltimore in 1632. Maryland was a Proprietary Colony which meant the colony was not owned by the British King or Queen. The most important thing that happened here was The Toleration Act of 1649 which granted religious freedom to all Christians living in Maryland. -
Rhode Island
Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams and his supporters in 1635. Williams wanted to settle somewhere with no religious persecution Christians because he was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for speaking out against the government for punishing religious dissention. It was a thriving industrial city with any economy built around cotton, fabrics, and jewelry. -
Connecticut
The Connecticut Colony was founded in 1636. It was founded by a colonist named Thomas Hooker. This settlement was a result of a search for fertile farmland more than a search for religious freedom. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the first written constitution in North America. -
Maryland Toleration Act
The Toleration Act of 1649 granted religious freedom to all Christians living in Maryland. This was written by Calvert. The law provided that ‘‘noe person or persons whatsoever within this Province . . . professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth bee any waies troubled, Molested or dicountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof.’’ -
Carolina
Carolina was settled in 1663 by the 8 supporters of King Charles II. People settled here to grow crash crops like rice, indigo, and tobacco because of the easy access to the trade in West Indies. Cash crops required a huge labor force and this cause African Slaves to outnumber European settlers, in the Carolinas, in 1720. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion started in 1676, right after the discovery and colonization of the New World. It was an armed rebellion by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon raised an unauthorized militia of indentured servants, slaves, and farmers to retaliate against a series of Native American attacks on the Virginia frontier.They were going against the rule of the Governor, William Berkeley. A first-hand narrative account of Bacon's Rebellion was written in 1705. -
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was settled in 1682 by William Penn. He established the town as a "Holy Experiment". It was a place where every male settler received 50 acres and the right to vote. In the 1660s Penn became a Quaker which resulted in the colony becoming the Society of Friends, better known as Quakers. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch trials started in February 1692 to May 1693. These trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. More than two hundred people were accused, nineteen of whom were found guilty and were executed by getting hung. -
The Enlightenment/Great Awakening
In the 1700s, a European philosophical movement known as the enlightenment, this was considered the first Great Awakening. It is also know as the Age of Reason and it was making its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the American colonies. The colonies were religiously divided. The New England colonies belonged to congregational churches. The Middle colonies were made up of Quakers, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, and more. The Southern colonies were mostly members of the Anglican Church. -
Albany Plan
The Albany Plan began in 1754. This was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. This plan was adopted by representatives from seven of the British North American colonies. -
French-Indian War
The French and Indian War was a nine year battle between France and Great Britain. This war began in 1754 and ended in 1763.This began over the argument whether Ohio River Valley was part of the British Empire and if it was open for trade settlements. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 started at the end of the French and Indian War. It was issued by the British to appease the Native Americans by checking the enroachment of settlers on their land. It forbade the colonist from crossing the Appalachian Mountains because Great Britain think the Indians would attack if they take up to much land. -
Salutary Neglect
The Salutary neglect started in 1775. It was an unofficial British policy of non-enforcement of trade regulations on their American colonies. The purpose was to maximize economic output amongst the colonists while maintain some form of control. It ended with the consequence of the French and Indian War.
