Discovery/Colonization Timeline

By rsrinivasan81
  • 1001

    Leif Erikson arrives

    Erikson was a Viking who was likely the first European explorer to find the Americas. He and the Vikings created a brief settlement in the New England / Canada area.
  • 1492

    Columbus lands in the Bahamas

  • 1494

    Treaty of Tordesillas

    This treaty was between between Spain and Portugal and it divided up the land in South America that Colombus had stumbled on.
  • 1498

    John Cabot explores coast of North America for England

  • 1513

    Ponce de Leon explores Florida

  • 1517

    Protestant reformation starts

  • 1521

    Ponce de Leon explores Florida

  • 1565

    St. Augustine built in Florida

  • Sir Walter Raleigh founds Roanoke

    This colony, while technically the first British colony in the New World, mysteriously disappeared.

  • Jamestown founded

    Named after King James I, this Virginia colony was the first permanent Briitsh settlement in the New World

  • John Smith arrives in Jamestown

    He herds the settlers into line.

  • Quebec created

    Quebec is created by Samuel de Champlain.

  • Henry Hudson sails into Delaware and New York

    He was an Englishman paid by the Dutch, and this later led to the founding of New Netherland.

  • First Africans arrive in Jamestown

  • Virginia House of Burgesses established

    This was a democratic legislative body to lead the Virginia colony.

  • The Mayflower lands in Plymouth

    This ship of 102 Puritans was meant for the colony of Jamestown, but ended up in New England. The Plymouth colony, along with the Mayflower Compact, were created here.

  • Great English Migration begins

    20,000 English citizens migrated to the Caribbean and New England between 1620 and 1640.

  • New Netherland created

    This colony around what is now Delaware and New York was created by the Dutch after the exploration of Henry Hudson. They bought what is now Manhattan and created New Amsterdam, which is now New York City. It lasted from 1623 to 1624.

  • Puritians obtain charter to create the Massachusetts Bay Colony

  • Maryland founded

    It was created by Cecil Calvert and named after King Charles' I wife. It was a haven of religious freedom, especially for Catholics.

  • Hartford created

    This colony was created in what is now Connecticut by Thomas Hooker, who traveled south from the massive Massachusetts Bay Colony.

  • Rhode Island created

    This unofficial colony was created by the exiled Roger Williams and provided freedom of religion and thought. Williams was removed from the Mass. Bay Colony for his dissenting views.

  • New Haven created

    This colony was created in what is now Connecticut by explorers from the Mass. Bay Colony.

  • Anne Hutchinson exiled

    Reflecting the harsh views the Puritans had on dissenters, Hutchinson was exiled from the Mass. Colony after preaching her radical predestinarian views.

  • New Sweden formed

    This colony was founded on what used to be New Netherland. It lasted from 1638 to 1655.

  • Fundamental Orders written

    These set of laws written by the New Connecticut River Colony were democratic and resembled the later Constitution.

  • New England Confederation forms

    This was a union of the Puritan colonies in Massachusetts and Connecticut and was the first step to colonial unity.

  • Act of Toleration

    This Maryland law made the colony a safe haven for the persecuted Catholics, as well as others seeking religious freedom.

  • Barbados slave code adopted

    This code regulated the slave trade of people from Barbados to the colonies. It essentially removed all human aspects of the slaves.

  • Virginia slave code adopted

    Passed by the House of Burgesses, this code regulated the interactions between slaves and their owners in Virginia.

  • Dutch surrender remaining New World territory to the English

  • Creation of East and West Jersey

    East and West Jersey were given to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, respectively. They were friends of the king.

  • Carolina colony created

    Eight proprietors were given this land by King Charles II and created a colony, naming it after him.

  • West Jersey sold to Penn

  • Bacon's Rebellion

    Bacon's Rebellion was led by Virginian armed farmer Nathaniel Bacon. He was angry at the rule of governor William Berkeley, and his lenient policies towards Native Americans.

  • Maine bought from Gorges

    The land that is now Maine was bought from Spaniard Sir Ferdinando Georges by the English. It became a part of Massachusetts.

  • Pennsylvania established

    King Charles II gave Quaker William Penn a huge tract of land in payment for a debt he owed. Penn went on to create Pennsylvania, which was very progressive compared to the other colonies. It was a haven for the persecuted Quakers and others and treated Native Americans well.

  • Penn buys East Jersey

  • Dominion of New England begins

    The Dominion was an attempt by the British to rule the New England colonies with an iron fist. It was universally hated by colonists and eventually failed in 1689 when Britain fell into political turmoil.

  • King William's War

    This war was between English and French colonists who were fighting over the Appalachian region, which was between their territories. The English won and the war ended in 1697.

  • Leisler's Rebellion

    Jacob Leisler seized southern New York and ruled it from 1689 to 1691.

  • Plymouth and Mass. Bay Colony merge

  • Salem Witch Trials

  • Royal African Company loses monopoly on slave trade

    While slavery had already been growing, this allowed others to capitalize on the trade and expand it even more.

  • Detroit founded

    Frenchman Antoine Cadillac creates Detroit to protect the Ohio/Illinois area from English colonists.

  • New Jersey created

    East and West Jersey were both given back to the king, who then combined it and established the colony of New Jersey.

  • Queen Anne's War

    This war was between English and French colonists who were fighting over the Appalachian region, which was between their territories. The English won, and the war ended in 1713.

  • North and South Carolina separate

    This occurred because two distinctive cultures emerged in both and the region was simply too big to be one colony.

  • The French found New Orleans

  • Great Awakening begins

    This religious movement emphasized the idea that pure faith in God, not good works, leads to eternal salvation. It ended around the 1740s.

  • Georgia founded

    James Oglethorpe created this colony under King George II. It was a "second chance" colony for former criminals, but the real reason was to create a buffer between Spanish Florida and the Carolinas.

  • War of Jenkin's Ear

    This war was between English and Spanish colonists. The English won, but the war was overall part of a much bigger conflict involving most of Europe. It ended in 1748.

  • French and Indian War begins

    This war was between the English and the English colonies and the French and their Native American allies. It was the American portion of the greater Seven Years' War.

  • British invade Canada

  • Battle of Quebec

    won by the British, but there were massive losses on both sides

  • Montreal falls

  • Treaty of Paris

    This treaty ended the French and Indian war and removed the French from North America, making England the unopposed dominant power.

  • Pontiac Rebellion

    The chief of the Ottawa tribe, Pontiac, attacked English settlers who had crossed the Appalachian and settled in the Ohio region with his tribe.

  • Proclamation of 1763

    The Proclamation banned English colonists from settling beyond the Appalachian mountains, for their own safety. It was widely ignored.