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Founding of Jamestown
Jamestown was the first permanent British settlement in the New World. Jamestown was founded by the Virginia Company in London and the population mainly consisted of white men. -
Founding of the Virginia House of Burgesses
This was the first representative form of government in the colonies and also promoted the idea of democracy. -
Massachusetts Bay Founding
This was a "Bible Commonwealth," which meant there was no seperation between church and state. This was where public schools first appeared. Some religious dissenters of this colony go on to become significant figures in history, such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams. -
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
This was the first written Constitution in the New World. This showed that self government was becoming popular. -
Maryland Act of Toleration
This act, granted by Lord baltimore, granted religious freedom to all Christians in Maryland. This pushed along the idea of religious freedom. -
Halfway Covenant
This was a process the Puritans began to use to increase the Puritan population. The process was that present church-goer's children would instantly become half members of the Puritan church, which increased quantity but decreased quality. -
King Philip's War
Metacom gathered the Wampanoag and attacked the English. This decreased the Indian population significantly. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Frustrated previous indentured servants ask Governor William Berkely to protect them from the Indian Attacks. As he is getting rich off trading with the Indians, he refuses. Nathaniel Bacon rallys the back country farmers and chases Gov. Berkely out of town, burning Jamestown to the ground after that. This shifted the cheap labor of choice from indentured servants to slaves. -
Leisler's Rebellion
This was a rebellion in which Jacob Leisler took control of the south from 1689 to 1691. This reflected colonial resentment of King James II. -
Salem Witchcraft Trials
Witches are blamed for the lack of new Puritan church members. Many women are tried and convicted of being witches, and the sentence is to be hanged. -
First Great Awakening
This was the religious revival of the !8th century. Jonathon Edwards, with his "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" speech, and George Whitefield were the two main revival promoters. This was the first spontaneous mass movement of the American colonists. -
John Peter Zenger Trial
Zenger was publishing the New York Weekly Journal and wrote some harsh criticism about the royal governor. He was found not guilty due to the fact that his information was correct. This played a leading role in creation of freedom of the press. -
Stono Rebellion
A group of slaves in South Carolina revolted and were headed down to the popular refuge of Florida. they were then stopped by a group of militia men. They killed substantially more whites than other rebellions, and it showed the willingness that slaves had to achieve freedom. -
French and Indian War
This was a dispute between the British and the French over the Ohio River Valley. The French were winning the war early on, then the Indians abandoned the French because the Indians would lose either way. Then WIlliam Pitt gained support from the Indians. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris 1763. The British won. Also called the 7 Years War. -
Proclamation of 1763
Due to the Indian attacks on settlers, King George III stated that no colonists could settle past the Appalachian Mountains. This was a good rule with bad timing, and colonists flooded the trails to specifically disobey the rule, which showed the colonists were tired of being ruled by the king. -
March of the Paxton Boys
This was an armed march by the Scots-Irish that protested the government's easy treatment of the Indians. Many of these people fought in the Revolution, and 12 future presidents were of Scots--Irish decent. -
Stamp Act
The British Parliament passed a direct tax on the coloonists without having any representation from the colonies present. This created an uproar from the colonists. This lead to the Sons of Liberty, headed by Samuel Adams, who harassed tax collectors, the daughters of liberty, who manufactured goods the colonists were boycotting, and the Stamp Act Congress, which puts a boycott on all British imports until the act is repealed. The Declaratory Act was passed almost at the same time. -
Boston Tea Party
The British East India Company went bankrupt, causeing the Tea Act to be instated. This wasn't really that bad of a tax, but it was the principle that matterd. The company brought in some $800,000 dollars worth of tea to export to the colonists, but none would bring it off the ship because they would have to pay the tea tax. After waiting the 20 days until they would be forced to unload it, a group of radicals dressed as Indians jumped aboard and threw the tea overboard. -
Boston Massacre
A group of Bostonians were protesting outside a British post, and one of the sodiers accidentally shoot, eventually killing 5 people. -
Lexington and Concord
The British army went to secure gunpowder storages in Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere and William Dawes ride through the towns to warn them, and a group of minutemen make a stand. All in all, about 92 minutemen die compared to around 273 british soldiers who died. This -
Olive Branch Petition
This was an attempt to avoid war by the colonists, but reached the king after the Battle of Bunker Hill. The king then declares the colonies under a state of rebellion. -
Common Sense
This was a pamphlet of propaganda written by Thomas Paine that said it just wasn't common sense for a small country to rule over a large one. This gained support for the idea of independence. -
Declaration of Independence
This was the formal version of another declaration of independence made on July 2. This severed any miltary or financial ties with britain. -
Writing of the Articles of Confederation
This was the first supreme governing document of the United States, and was a good transition between monarchy and the Constitution. It provided a very weak central government that could not tax, have an army, and had to make all decisions unanimously. -
Writing of the Constitution
THe Constitution was written during the Philadelphia Convention, but wasn't ratified until 1789. The delay was that some states would only ratify it after the Billof rights was made. This document has been the base of our government for over 200 years and has been amended only 27 times.
