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Attempt at founding colonies in Chesapeake Bay Area
In the 1580’s, England made its first attempt to found colonies in North America, focusing on the Chesapeake Bay area and Roanoke Island. However, these attempts failed and the English war with Spain from 1588 to 1604 postponed further efforts at colonization. -
Juan de Onate Leads Spanish into New Mexico
A Spaniard who, in 1598, led a group of 150 Indian and mestizo soldiers and Spanish missionaries north from Mexico City into New Mexico. He believed that they would find rich gold mines along the Rio Grande, as well as numerous Indians to convert to Christianity. However, Onate failed to find the fabled gold mines and was recalled by Spanish authorities in 1606 -
French Fur Trade
The fur trade was the strength of the French empire in North America. It started when French trappers came to the New World and began marketing their goods. The extensive system of alliances and strategically placed trading posts, combined with North America’s network of waterways, allowed the fur trade (and its profits) to expand. -
Jamestown Founded
King James I of England ordered the colonization of the mid-Atlantic region of North America and in 1607 the Virginia company (a group of London investors) sent ships to the Chesapeake Bay, where the men built a fort they named Jamestown. With large dependence on the native Algonquin tribes for food, Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
Headright Grants Issued
Because of the profit potential of tobacco and the hand labor it required, the Virginia company began granting large plantations to people on the condition that they would hire their own workers and transport them from England. Between 1619 and 1624 more than 4500 English arrived in America to take advantage of the offer, many with families. -
First African Slaves Arrive in Virginia
Africans had been enslaved by Europeans as early as 1441, and by the 1450’s a consistent slave trade between Africa and Europe was established. When settlers in the new world needed workers for their sugarcane plantations and the Indian population was too small, they turned to African slaves. In 1619 the first shipment of African slaves arrived in Virginia -
Mayflower Compact
Drafted by William Bradford in 1620, it was believed to be the first document of self-government in North America. It was a covenant made to govern the Plymouth colony and maintain order and stability. It resulted in giving the colonists a degree of self autonomy, which provided the foundation for the American Revolution -
"Soviergnty and Goodness of God" Written
The second highest selling book in the colonies, it was a narrative by Mary Rowlandson about her time spent in captivity during King Phillip’s War. It described her account and the effect it had on her mentally. -
Great Migration
Between 1629 and 1643 more than 20,000 people moved from England to North America to escape religious persecution and start new lives in a new land. This resulted in the rapid rise of the North
American population and the expansion of religion into the New England coast region. -
Roger Williams begins preaching in New England
A clergyman who came to New England in 1631 to be the clergyman for Salem and believed in religious toleration and separation of church and state. He also preached that pilgrims had no right to settle on Indian land without bargaining in “good faith.” Because of his controversial ideals, he was banished from the Bay colony in 1636. -
Maryland Granted to Calvert Family
An important family that was loyal to the monarchy and in return was granted ten million acres at the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay by King Charles I in 1632. The Calverts named it Maryland in honor of the king’s wife. Originally they wanted to institute a feudal system, but it became unrealistic and they adopted the system of headright grants in 1640. -
"The Bay Psalm Book" Published
By 1639, the first printing press (which had been invented by Johan Gutenburg in Europe) was in use in the English colonies. The next year, it printed the Bay Psalm Book, first American English publication, aiding the spread of religious thought and changing the way information and theory moved through the New World. -
"Bloody Tenent of Persecution" Written
A book written by Roger Williams in 1644 that was one of the first formal arguments for religious toleration. His beliefs began to gain followers after the English civil war left many jaded about the excesses of the English church. -
Navigation Acts
A series of acts passed by parliament between 1651 and 1696 which created the legal structure of Britain’s colonial empire in the eighteenth century. They recognized the colonies as both suppliers of raw goods and markets for English materials. Numerous restrictions allowed the English to export at a high profit. -
Restoration Colonies Created
In 1660 a new parliament reinstalled the Stuart monarchy, placing Charles II on the throne. One of his first acts was to establish several new colonies in North America, based on the model of Maryland. These became known as the restoration colonies, increasing the sphere of British influence in North America -
Half Way Covenant
An agreement made in 1662 by the Puritan church that allowed people who had not had a religious conversion yet to become half- members of the church and participate in everything except communion -
King Phillip's War
An Indian revolt that erupted in New England in 1675. After three Wampanoag men were executed by the English, Metacomet (called King Phillip by the English) formed an alliance with the Narragansett tribe. With help from the Iroquois, the Colonists defeated the Indians and killed Metacomet. -
Bacon's Rebellion
During King Phillip’s war, another Indian-Colonist confrontation took place to the south, in the Chesapeake bay area. Nathaniel Bacon, a tobacco farmer, began leading violent raids on local Indian villages. When the Virginia governor William Berkeley tried to suppress the attacks in 1676, Bacon and his followers burned and pillaged Jamestown itself. -
Culpepper's Rebellion
In 1679, rebels in North Carolina overthrew the proprietary government in the colony and established their own before being suppressed by English authorities. This rebellion was inspired by Bacon’s rebellion, and continued the unrest common in the late 1600’s along the coast -
Representative Assembly Created
Because of an influx of settlers from different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and languages, New York became the most diverse colony in North America. After numerous requests, in 1683 James (the duke of York) finally allowed the creation of a representative assembly to govern the colony. -
"Letter on Tolerance" Written
Written in 1688 by John Locke, it expressed the new opinions of religious tolerance, arguing that churches were voluntary societies and could work only through persuasion. He argued for separation of church and state, believing that a state-sanctioned religion was no evidence of its truth or value -
Glorious Revolution
When James II alienated the English parliament through a series of poor decisions, his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange took the throne in a bloodless transition. In 1689 they agreed to a Bill of Rights which would respect the civil liberties of their citizens. This signaled a period of optimism in Britain, but bred more unrest in the New World. -
Ivy League Schools
Harvard was the first college in North America, founded in 1693. During Enlightenment, other institutions were established (William and Mary, Yale) to model Cambridge and Oxford, the major universities in Britain. Due to this emphasis on education, the British colonies had a literacy rate comparable to those of England and Scandinavia. -
Wool act of 1699
One of the limitations placed on colonial empires, it forbade the colonies from manufacturing wool. -
Enlightenment
A period of scientific and intellectual awakening in Europe during the 18th century, led by writers and thinkers who emphasized rationality, logic, and order. In North America, colonial elites participated, and Harvard College’s curriculum was influenced by this revolution in thinking -
Horses introduced to Indian culture
With the introduction of horses in the 17th and 18th centuries, plains Indian tribes adopted a nomadic culture that was dictated by food supply. They hunted bison in the summer, living in tepees and following herds throughout the Great Plains. -
Immigration Policies
New Spain and New France placed limits on the number of Europeans that could immigrate, keeping their populations relatively low. However, British authorities allowed 150,000 of their citizens to immigrate to North America by 1700, and encouraged people from other European countries to relocate as well. -
Virginia Slave Code Created
As life expectancy increased and leaders feared rebellions from former indentured servants, the population of slaves steadily increased. In Virginia, measures were taken to strengthen the institution of slavery, and in 1705 they were gathered in the comprehensive Virginia Slave Code that became a model for other colonies. -
Saybrook Platform
An agreement made in 1708 by the churches in Connecticut that gave control of the churches to bodies of councils, ministers, and elders. This weakened the control that church congregations had previously held and weakened the commitment of members. -
Peace of Utrecht
A treaty that ended Queen Anne’s War in 1713 and gave Britain exclusive rights to supply slaves to Spanish colonies -
Great Awakening
In the 1730’s, some began to question the rationalist approach that was becoming common. In Northampton, Massachusetts, Rev. Jonathan Edwards sparked a religious revival with his fiery preaching that spread through New England and revitalized the Purtian faith -
Georgia Created
A colony created by James Oglethorpe and the British parliament in 1732 in southeastern America. Originally, parliament wanted to ban slavery in Georgia, but in 1752 they abandoned that policy because the region was being settled by South Carolina planters and their slaves. Slavery was allowed in all colonies founded thereafter. -
Hat Act of 1732
Like the Wool act, it prohibited the production of hats in North America. -
Poor Richard's Almanac
A combination calendar and sourcebook of medical advice and farming tips written by Benjamin Franklin. By posing as a simple colonist, he brought sophisticated enlightenment ideas to common people. It also influenced other, longer lasting almanacs that came after. -
Whitefield Tours Colonies
An evangelical Anglican minister from Britain who toured the colonies during the Awakening and had incredible oratory ability. He called for piety and purity, chastising his listeners for their sins but leaving them with hope that God would give them salvation. -
War of Jenkins' Ear
The House of Commons was divided on the issue of launching a war against Spanish slavers in the Caribbean. The faction that was in favor of war brought in a one eared sea captain who caused a public outrage that forced Prime Minister Robert Walpole into a war of Caribbean conquest -
King George's War
From 1744 to 1748 England again fought France, in Europe and North America. The French and their Indian allies attacked the British in Nova Scotia, New England, and New York, capturing and killing hundreds. However, in 1745 the British captured a major French fortress on Cape Breton Island, forcing them to agree to a settlement that restored the pre war status quo. -
Princeton University Founded
A college founded by the evangelical preacher William Tennent in Pennsylvania that trained men to become ministers during the Great Awakening. It later evolved into the College of New Jersey and then Princeton University, founded in 1746 -
French and Indian War
Last of the great colonial wars which pitted Great Britain against France and Spain. Fought in what is now upstate New York, both sides had Indian allies (Britain had the Mohicans, while France was allied with the Hurons.) It was known in Europe as the seven years war and lasted from 1754 to 1763. -
Sierra Founds First Mission in San Diego Harbor
President of the missions in Baja California and a leader of Franciscan missionaries sent by Gaspar de Portola to establish Spanish presence along the Pacific Coast in 1769. He helped found the first mission in the San Diego harbor. -
Birthday