North America 1600-1700

By Amanda Cavness

  • Port Royal

    French Traders established Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia)

  • Virginia Company

    James I approved the formation of the Virginia Company (named after Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen). The purpose of the company was to explore North America in hopes of finding gold and silver and other tradeable commodities.

  • Jamestown Founded

    Jamestown was established in present day Viriginia by Englishmen. They sailed upriver on 3 ships, the Susan Constant, The Godspeed, and The Discovery.

  • Quebec Founded

    Under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain, New France gained a foothold in North America known as Quebec.

  • Santa Fe

    Santa Fe was established by Spain. It was the first permanent European settlement in the Southwest. Due to it's distance from Mexico City, not many Spaniards relocated here.

  • Tobacco

    Virginia sent it's first cargo of tobacco back to England. This would become their biggest crop for over a century and virtually saved the settlers.

  • Slavery

    Southern slavery is born when a Dutch slave ship sold 20 Africans to Virginia colonists.

  • House of Burgeress

    Virginia Company established a limited representative body composed of white landowners, known as the House of Burgeress. This group met in Jamestown.

  • Colonists Killed

    350 colonists in Jamestown were killed in a surprise attack by natives led by Opechancanough. He had promised to drive settlers off the Natives lands. Instead, the colonists saw this as their opportunity to drive the Natives off their lands.

  • Manhattan

    Peter Minuit "bought" Manhattan for the Dutch from the Munsee Indians.

  • Pequots Slaughtered

    English Puritans went into Indian country and slaughtered the Pequots.

  • Bacon's Rebellion

    In Summer of 1675 Doeg Indians went to collect payment on a debt from Thomas Mathew in Northern Virginia. When he refused to pay them, they took some pigs in payment. The "theft" led to a series of raids and counterraids.

  • King Philips War Begins

    In the winter of 1675, the body of John Sassamon was found in a frozen pond. Sassamon was a Christian, Harvard-educated Wampanoag. A fellow Christian Indian said that 3 warriors under the direction of Metacom (King Philip to the English) had killed Sassamon. The 3 were executed. This led to the beginning of King Philip's War.

  • Salem Witch Trials

    The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem. During these trials, men and women were accused and found guilty of witchcraft with little to no evidence against them. In total, 14 women and 6 men were executed and an additional 5 died in jail.

  • Decree of Sanctuary

    The Spanish King issued the Decree of Sanctuary. This gave freedom to escaped slaves that made it to present day Florida as long as they agreed to convert to Catholicism and swore an oath of loyalty to Spain.