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Twenty African people are taken and sold in Jamestown by an Enlish warship. These Africans were from any Portuguese or Spanish ships they encountered.
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Towards the beginning of a cold winter the mayflower landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. There was 101 people who came on the small ship
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On November 11, the Mayflower Compact is signed, establishing a government at Plymouth.
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Boston Latin public school was established. This school was the first public school of its time.
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Roger Williams founded Rhode Island as a colony. He wanted to make it a place to escape religous intolerance
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Puritan settlers founded New Hampshire. English businessman saw potential for wealth in the areas abundant fishing, natural harbours, lumber, and furs.
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Massachusetts passes a law, requiring all sizable towns to have some form of public education.
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Rhode Island creates the first colonial law. They made slavery illegal
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Maryland makes it so slavery is legally lifelong mandatory. Similar laws are eventually passed in New York, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Virginia.
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King William’s war begins, as French and English hostilities extend to the colonies. Schenectady, New York is burnt to the ground by the French and their Native American allies.
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The Navigation Act of 1696 is passed making all colonial trade having to be done with English-built ships.
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Massachusetts orders all Roman Catholic priests to leave the colony within three months. If they refuse they will suffer the penalty of life imprisonment or execution. New York later passes a similar law.
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Delaware, originally called New Sweden, separates from Pennsylvania to form its own government.
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The Boston News-Letter is published for the first time. This was the first newsletter in America.
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Anti-miscegenation laws were put into effect in Massachusetts. This prevented blacks from marrying whites in the state. These laws spread throughout the colonies.
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Ben Franklin founds a library in Philadelphia. This is the first public library founded in the Colonies.
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Georgia, the 13th English colony, is founded by James Oglethorpe. It is founded to act as a haven for those in debtors' prisons.
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The first colonial copper coins are minted. These coins were minted in the colony of Connecticut.
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Fifty black slaves are hung in Charleston, South Carolina. They are hung because their plans to revolt are revealed.
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The Currency Act is put in effect. This bans the use of paper money in the New England Colonies.