-
Roanoke
Roanoke is a small colony founded on an island off the eastern coast of North America in current day. Founded by John White. This colony would've been the first permanent English colony. Unfortunately, White had gone back to England to get more supplies, and at his return, the colony was gone. The word croatan and the letters cro, carved into trees within the colony’s borders, were the only signs pointing to an explanation.
https://www.britannica.com/story/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke -
Jamestown
In 1607, John Smith and a group of roughly 100 members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company, in search for the New World for gold, founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. John Smith, with help from Powhatan, lead the settlers to survival and much needed trade with Powhatan's tribe.
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/jamestown -
Salutary Neglect
Salutary neglect is the unofficial British policy of lenient of parliamentary laws regarding the American colonies during the 1600s. The phrase 'salutary neglect' was coined by Edmund Burke in an address to Parliament in 1775 when he tried to reconcile the divisions between Britain and the American colonies that occurred after salutary neglect ended in 1763.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/salutary-neglect -
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. The House of Burgesses is in Jamestown, Virginia. America was going through a period of dramatic political transformation and was changing into liberalization. The first assembly included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Burgesses -
Great Migration
The Great Migration was the movement of the Puritans from England to the New World. They came to America to live righteous and spiritual lives, rather than to get rich. Most of the Puritans who came to New England were prosperous middle-class families. The first Pilgrims landed at Plymouth and moved to Massachusetts
https://www.geni.com/projects/Great-Puritan-Migration-1620-1640-Passenger-Ship-Portal/42414 -
Plymouth
During the reign of King James I, a group of around 100 English men and women pilgrims set sail for the New World aboard the Mayflower. Two months later, the merchant ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was a set of rules for self-governance established. This is the first form of government on the New World.
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/mayflower-compact -
New York
A group of Dutch settlers 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.
https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/new-york -
Carolina
The economic success of the Virginia colony convinced English aristocrats that there was money to be made in owning colonies in the New World. King Charles II, gave a group of eight noblemen a large tract of land to the south of Virginia colony in 1663. They called the new colony "Carolina", the Latin form of Charles.
https://www.historycentral.com/TheColonies/Carolinas.html -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
One of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts, settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under governor John Winthrop. These Puritans intended to set up a society that would accord with what they believed to be God’s wishes.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay-Colony -
Maryland
In 1608, English explorer, John Smith sailed into Chesapeake Bay and stayed for several weeks to map the shoreline. In 1632 Cecilius Calvert was granted a charter for the land as a haven for religious freedom. Maryland at the time was filled with mostly tobacco fields.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Maryland-state/The-colony -
Connecticut
Thomas Hooker founded Connecticut in 1636. The First Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, wrote to Hooker asking him to come to Massachusetts. In 1633, Hooker sailed for North America. He was made pastor at Newtown on the Charles River in the Massachusetts colony. Hooker, his wife, and his congregation left Boston and drove 160 cattle southward, founding the river towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield.
https://www.thoughtco.com/connecticut-colony-103870 -
Rhode Island
Roger Williams, an English settler, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his radical views, so he purchased land from the Narragansett Indians. This became present day Rhode Island. His firm belief in religious freedom, tolerance and the separation between church and state governed the colony of Rhode Island. Rhode Island is only about 48 miles long and 37 miles wide which would make it the smallest of the U.S. states.
https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/rhode-island -
Maryland Toleration Act
The Maryland Toleration Act was a law mandating religious tolerance for Christians. Passed on April 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, in St. Mary's City. It was the second law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies and created the first legal limitations on religious hate speech in the world.
https://www.americanhistoryusa.com/topic/maryland-toleration-act/ -
Bacon's Rebellion
During the 1670s, the Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley became unpopular with small farmers and indentured servants, because of higher taxes, low tobacco prices, and lack of protection from Native American attacks. A man named Nathaniel Bacon decided to retaliate and attack/destroy Jamestown. He later dies from dysentery and the others who helped him were hung. This attack helped make laws for using Africans as slaves.
https://u-s-history.com/pages/h521.html -
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a haven for his fellow Quakers. At this time Pennsylvania was a Quaker colony. This colony was made as a holy experiment for Quaker's to have religious freedom.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Pennsylvania-state/History -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials are a series of investigations and persecutions that caused 19 convicted witches to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The purpose was not to convict known witches, but to identify the unknown ones. Witches were considered to be followers of Satan who had traded their souls for his assistance.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Salem-witch-trials -
Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was a religious revival that impacted the colonies in America. Christian leaders often traveled from town to town, preaching about the gospel, emphasizing salvation from sins and promoting enthusiasm for Christianity. They would use fear tactics to scare their audiences into following their faith. The result was a renewed dedication toward religion.
https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/great-awakening -
Albany Plan
The Albany Plan of Union was an early proposal to organize the British-held American colonies under a single central government. The main leader of this plan was Benjamin Franklin. Franklin published the famous Join, or Die political cartoon in his newspaper.
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-albany-plan-of-union-4128842 -
French-Indian War
The French-Indian War is also known as the Seven Years’ War. When France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756. British won, so at the 1763 peace conference, the British received the territories of Canada from France and Florida from Spain.
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/french-and-indian-war -
The Proclamation of 1763
After the conclusion of the French and Indian War in America, the British Empire began to tighten control over its rather autonomous colonies. King George III declared all lands west of the Appalachian Divide off-limits to colonial settlers. This royal proclamation, issued on October 7, 1763, closed down colonial expansion westward beyond The Appalachian Mountains
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/1763-proclamation-of