13 Colonies timeline

  • 1620

    The First Thanksgiving is held at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
  • 1587

    First English colony is established at Roanoke Island, North Carolina. By 1590, the colony had mysteriously disappeared.
  • 1607

    Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the new world is founded by John Smith and the Virginia Company of London.
  • 1619

    The House of Burgesses, the first representative government in the New World is founded in Jamestown.
  • 1626

    New Amsterdam, which would later become New York City, is founded.
  • 1636

    Roger Williams establishes the colony of Providence in order to practice a purer form of Christianity. Curiously, he welcomes settlers who practice other religions as well.
  • 1637

    Connecticut and Massachusetts militia massacre Pequot Indians near present-day Mystic.
  • 1675

    War between Puritan settlers and Wampanoag Indians under Metacom (King Philip) breaks out in Massachusetts in what came to be known as King Philip’s War
  • 1692

    Hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts leads to the infamous Salem Witch Trials, in witch at least 25 “witches” are executed.