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1606
April 10, 1606 King James I of England issued the 1606 First Virginia Charter which created the Virginia Company authorizing eight Englishmen to colonize "that part of America commonly called Virginia". This starts the Colonial America Time Period. -
1607
The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia -
Period: to
1609-1610
Period in Jamestown Colony history referred to as the "Starving Time." -
1611
1611: The rule of "Sir Thomas Dale,"and"Good Order"in Virginia. -
1612
John Rolfe establishes a tobacco plantation on the James River about 30 miles (48 km) from the Jamestown Settlement. -
1614
Violent confrontation between hundreds of English and Powhatan men on the Pamunkey River, Virginia. -
1618
The Virginia Company of London ended monopoly on land ownership in America. The Headright System was set up by the London company in 1618 that gave 50 acres of land to colonists who paid their own way to Virginia, or paid the way for someone else. -
1619
The first meeting of the House of Burgesses was held in Jamestown, Virginia, on July 30, 1619. -
The Mayflower
The Mayflower ship transported 102 English Puritans and Separatists, the Pilgrim Fathers, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, a long journey of 66 days.The Pilgrims establish their own government, the basis of which was the Mayflower Compact, which they drafted on their journey to the New World on the Mayflower. The Plymouth Colony is established. -
1620(Continued)
Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the "Father of English Colonization in North America" received land in northern New England which became the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Colonial America Time Period. -
Period: to
1622-1624
The Powhatan Wars, battles and conflicts in Virginia between colonists and American Native Indians -
1623
New Netherlands, which became New York, was settled by the Dutch refer to "Peter Stuyvesant,"and"Peter Minuit." -
1624
Virginia was made a royal colony -
1628
Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Company and many Puritans continued to settle in the region -
1630
In the spring of 1630, John Winthrop led a fleet of 11 vessels and 700 passengers to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Great Migration of thousands of English people to the Americas that took place between 1620 and 1640. Many came as Indentured Servants. -
1634
Maryland was settled - refer to Southern Colonies and George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. -
1636
Connecticut was initially settled colonists, led by Thomas Hooker.Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. -
1637
The Pequot War - Native Indians of Connecticut and Rhode Island were defeated by the colonists. -
1638
Delaware was settled initially by Peter Minuit. -
1640
The Quakers, or Society of Friends, was a Protestant sect founded in England whose members believed that salvation was available to all people. -
Period: to
1640-1701
The Beaver Wars, also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars - see Iroquois Confederacy. -
1649
The Toleration Act was passed in England allowing all Christians religious freedom.