The 13 Colonies Important Events

Roanoke Island

Mar 16, 1585

In 1585, Queen Elizabeth allowed Raleigh to send men to Roanoke Island, after two of his explorer found that it was a perfect place to settle

John White

Aug 17, 1587

John Whilte sail back to England in order to gather a fresh load of supplies. But just as he arrived, a major naval war broke out between England and Spain,

CROATOAN

Mar 17, 1589

John White finally returned to Roanoke, where he had left his family but nobody was there except the word "CROATOAN" that was carved. It was like they had disappeared into thin air.

Jamestown

Jun 20, 1607

A group of over 100 men landed on the the banks of Virginia's James River, and their leader John Smith ordered them to build a fort for protection. Only 60 men survived all the hardship and they trudged on to establish Jamestown, America's first permanennt English colony.

John Smith

Jan 17, 1609

Captain Smith returned to England and became ill. Then the relationship between the settlers and the Powhatan nation weakend and four years later Smith died.

House of Burgesses

Jun 18, 1619

In 1619 was a big year in Jamestown because the first elected assembly was established, it was called the House of Burgesses.

Plymouth Rock

May 18, 1620

The Mayflower landed in a rocky harbor called Plymouth, and the people aboard decided to establish their own colony there. They decided to create a self-government and they had a meeting house in the center of town for church and meetings.

Mayflower

Aug 25, 1620

The Mayflower was the ship that in 1620 transported 102 English Pilgrims, including a core group of Separatists, to New England. It took two months to sail from England to the New World. Since some people on board were separatist they were coming to the new world for religious freedom.

Squanto

Sep 21, 1621

Squanto was the settlers first Native American friend and taught them to hunt local animals, gather shellfish, extract sap from Maple trees, and grow crops like beans, corn, and squash. Thanks to Squanto people were no longer starving and less people died.

First Thanksgiving

Nov 25, 1621

Thanks to Squanto's generosity the settlers were no longer starving and they celebrated their first Thanksgiving in their new colony and since they were a religious community "Thanksgiving" was a term used for prayer and fasting. Ever since then we have celebrated Thanksgiving.