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Roanoke
The settlement would've been the first permanent English colony, If the settlers didn't disappeared owing to unknown circumstances. In the settlement’s difficult founding year, its mayor, John White, left for England to request resources and manpower. He returned three years later only to find the settlement empty. His wife, child, and grandchild, had vanished. The only clue he had was the word CROATOAN carved into a tree. https://www.britannica.com/story/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke -
Jamestown
A group of 100 members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. Tobacco had become Virginia’s first profitable export, and a period of peace followed the marriage of colonist John Rolfe to Pocahontas. During the 1620s, Jamestown expanded from the area around the original James Fort into a New Town. It remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699. https://www.history.com/ -
Salutary Neglect
Salutary neglect, policy of the British government from the early to mid-18th century regarding its American colonies under which trade regulations for the colonies were laxly enforced and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loose as long as the colonies remained loyal to the British government. It contributed involuntarily to the increasing autonomy of colonial legal and legislative institutions. https://www.britannica.com/topic/salutary-neglect -
New York
Thanks to the exploration of the area by Henry Hudson, the Dutch were able to claim what became New York as “New Netherlands”. In 1626, Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from the Native Americans for jewelry that was valued at $24. The city of New York was founded there. The first British governor of the colony was Colonel Richard Nicolis. New York was quickly returned to an independent colony. https://www.historycentral.com/TheColonies/NY1.html -
House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses, representative assembly in colonial Virginia, which was an outgrowth of the first elective governing body in a British overseas possession. It included the governor himself and a council, along with two elected burgesses from each of the colony’s 11 settlements. The assembly met in Jamestown until 1700, when meetings were moved to Williamsburg, the newly established capital of colonial Virginia. https://www.britannica.com -
Mayflower/ Plymouth/ Mayflower Compact
Mayflower set sail from England in July 1620, but it had to turn back twice because Speedwell, the ship it was traveling with, leaked. After deciding to leave the leaky Speedwell behind, Mayflower finally got underway on September 6, 1620. The Mayflower Compact was a legal instrument that bound the Pilgrims together when they arrived in New England. Plymouth was founded by Pilgrims who, in their search for religious toleration, went there. https://www.plimoth.org/ -
Massachusetts Bay Colony
This Colony was one of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts, settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under Gov. John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. In 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained a charter empowering the company to trade and colonize in New England between the Charles and Merrimack river. The patentees decided to transfer the management and the charter itself to Massachusetts. https://www.britannica.com/ -
Great Puritan Migration
Pilgrims came to America to live righteous and spiritual lives, instead of getting rich. The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were the most extreme. They believed in complete separation from the corrupt Anglican church. More moderate Puritans only sought to purify and reform the Church of England. The migration began to take off in 1630 when John Winthrop led a fleet of 11 ships to Massachusetts. They would fan out between towns and make them close down. https://www.geni.com/ -
Maryland
In 1632, King Charles I of England granted a charter to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, yielding him proprietary rights to a region east of the Potomac River in exchange for a share of the income derived from the land. Maryland Governor William Stone responded by passing an act ensuring religious liberty and justice to all who believed in Jesus Christ. However, the so-called Toleration Act was repealed after Puritans seized control of the colony. https://www.history.com/ -
Connecticut
Connecticut Colony known as the River Colony was organized on March 3, 1636, as a place for Puritan nobleman. Early on, the English settlers under John Winthrop Jr. struggled with the Dutch for possession of the land, but the English eventually gained control of the colony and set up a permanent settlement there. Connecticut would go on to play an important role in self-government due to its founder, Thomas Hooker. https://thehistoryjunkie.com/connecticut-colony-facts/ -
Rhode Island
The colony of Rhode Island was founded between 1636 and 1642 by five separate and combative groups, most of whom had been expelled or left the Massachusetts Bay colony for disputative reasons. The colony was first named "Roodt Eylandt" by Dutch trader Adriaen Block, who had explored that area for the Netherlands. The name means 'red island' and it refers to the red clay that Block reported there. https://www.thoughtco.com/rhode-island-colony-103880 -
Maryland Toleration Act
This act was meant to ensure freedom of religion for Christian settlers of diverse persuasions in the colony. The law made it a crime to blaspheme God, the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary. Because they were Roman Catholics, the law has sometimes been interpreted as a means of providing Catholics with religious freedom. Maryland nullified this law from 1654 to 1661 and from 1692 to the end of the Revolutionary period. https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/maryland-toleration-act-of-1649 -
Carolina
The North Carolina colony is the direct result of British colonization efforts in the New World: it was also the place where the first English settlement was built and mysteriously disappeared. The Lord Proprietors named the colony in honor of their king. The area they were given included the area of present-day North and South Carolina. In 1665, John Yeamans created a settlement in North Carolina on the Cape Fear River. https://www.thoughtco.com/ -
Bacon's Rebellion
Charismatic and courageous, he had spent the last several months leading a growing group of rebels in a battle against William Berkeley, the colonial governor. Forces would be coming soon from England in an attempt to take his militia down. But Bacon and his men couldn’t surrender. He told his men to hide in the woods and when they came, they needed to fight. Soon Bacon would be dead and his militia defeated. https://www.history.com/ -
Pennsylvania
This Colony was a royal colony. It was founded under a charter given to William Penn. Penn was granted the charter as a place for Quakers to settle. The charter granted to Penn had more limitations than charters granted to earlier colonies. They settled on the East side of the Chesapeake River. They founded the city of Philadelphia. Penn also believed in creating favorable relations with the Natives. https://www.historycentral.com/TheColonies/PA.html -
Salem witch trials
A group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. Eighteen others followed Bishop to Salem’s Gallows Hill, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials -
Great Awakening/ Enlightenment
The Great Awakening was a religious revival that impacted the English colonies in America during the 1730s and 1740s. Christian leaders often traveled from town to town, preaching about the gospel, emphasizing salvation from sins and promoting enthusiasm for Christianity. . Many historians believe the Great Awakening had a lasting impact on various Christian denominations and American culture. https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/great-awakening -
Albany Plan
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to place the British North American colonies under a more centralized government. Representatives from seven of the British North American colonies considered the plan. Although never carried out, the Albany Plan was the first important proposal to conceive of the colonies as a collective whole united under one government. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/albany-plan -
French-Indian War
American phase of a worldwide nine years’ war (1754–63) fought between France and Great Britain. The main reason the war was fought was to determine who got the vast control of North America. The French and Indian War started over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire, and therefore open for trade and settlement by Virginians and Pennsylvanians, or part of the French Empire. https://www.britannica.com/event/French-and-Indian-War -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by the British at the end of the French and Indian War to appease Native Americans by checking the encroachment of European settlers on their lands. It created a boundary, separating the British colonies on the Atlantic coast from American Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. It has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada. https://www.history.com/
