-
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus lands in the Caribbean
Shortly after 2 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 12, 1492, a crewmember aboard the Spanish ship Pinta spotted land. The Pinta and the two ships she traveled with, the Nina and the Santa Maria, all drew in their sails and waited for sunrise. -
Jan 1, 1500
Dekanawida
Dekanawida, a Mohawk visionary, unites American Indian peoples with the Iroquois Confederacy, c. 1500.
Definition of Iroquois Confederacy or Five Nations. The Iroquois Confederacy, or Five Nations, was an alliance of five, later six, American Indian tribes—the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora—located in modern-day New York state. -
Jamestown, Virginia is settled
The founding of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English colony, in Virginia in 1607 – 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts – sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. The government, language, customs, beliefs and aspirations of these early Virginians are all part of the United States’ heritage today. -
Pilgrims land at Plymouth in 1620
Pilgrims land at Plymouth in 1620
The group that set out from Plymouth, in southwestern England, in September 1620 included 35 members of a radical Puritan faction known as the English Separatist Church. -
Slavery present in all British colonies
Slaves had been sold in the American colonies since at least 1619, slave labor did not come to represent a significant proportion of the labor force in any part of North America until the last quarter of the 17th century. -
20 People are executed in Witch trials in Salem
Nineteen accused witches were hanged on Gallows Hill in 1692: June 10
Bridget Bishop
July 19
Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Good
Susannah Martin
Elizabeth Howe
Sarah Wildes
August 19
George Burroughs
Martha Carrier
John Willard
George Jacobs, Sr.
John Proctor
September 22
Martha Corey
Mary Eastey
Ann Pudeator
Alice Parker
Mary Parker
Wilmott Redd
Margaret Scott
Samuel Wardwell One accused witch (or wizard, as male witches were often called) was pressed to death on September 19 when -
Colonists battle the British in the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783.
The Revolutionary War began with the confrontation between British troops and local militia at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, on 19 April 1775. -
