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The Founding of Jamestown
In an effort to keep up with European expansion in the New World, England sent three ships to North America to colonize. These ships settled on a peninsula and founded the first permanent English settlement of the New World, Jamestown. John Smith aligned himself with the Native Americans and the settlement grew both economically and agriculturally. -
The First Gathering of the House of Burgesses
To avoid an absolute monarchy or parliament, the Virginia Company established the House of Burgesses, which was a representative body of landowners. It was the first popularly elected legislative body in the New World. The first meeting held the governor, a council, and 22 elected representatives from 11 settlements. -
The Founding of the Plymouth Colony
The Puritan movement first took place inside the Church of England. These reformers sought to expel the presence of Catholicism from their religion. The Puritans left the church and traveled to the New World with the Separatists. To continue their religious freedom, they founded the first permanent Puritan settlement, the Plymouth Colony. -
The Organization of the Militia
The Massachusetts Bay Colony realized that they needed some form of security and defense. And so, the colony’s General Court voted that a militia should be organized. It was to be split into three regiments to spread out and more effectively defend the land. This was the birth of the National Guard. -
Slavery is Recognized in the English Colonies
With the rise of slavery in the New World, New England colonies began to legalize it. Connecticut may have not been the first to do so, but their involvement caused the colonies to recognize slavery as more than something to take place in Massachusetts. Following Connecticut came New Jersey, New York, etc. -
The Surrender of New Amsterdam
As England desired to get ahead in the New World expansion, they set their sets on the capital of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. This settlement was known as New Amsterdam. English leaders saw the nautical advantage that New Amsterdam held and realized that if they conquered it, they would become first in the world. The English did so, and the Dutch surrendered. -
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King Phillip's War
The Native Americans wanted to prove themselves as its own entity, apart from the authority of England. They started an uprising that developed into a war. For three years they battled, until the Native American forces were defeated, and their chief was killed. This left the Native Americans with nothing. -
The First Colonial Newspaper Publication
"Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick” was the first multi-paged newspaper to be published in the New World. No one before this had tested the freedoms of the press while under the rule of England. The British governor shut down the publishers soon after that. England only wanted printed influence to come from themselves.