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Named after the king of England James I. The Virginia Company sent three ships carrying 104 men and boys from England to America and they landed along the Chesapeake Bay area. They moved 40 miles inland and established Jamestown. With the help of the Powhatan Confederacy, Jamestown eventually thrived after periods of diseases, drought, and starvation.
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The growing of tobacco drove the demand for indentured servants and enslaved Africans. The first Africans landed in Point Comfort and were only about 20-30 in number. They were traded in exchange for goods and supplies. Slaves were required to work on fields and plantations growing crops such as sugar, rice, and tobacco.
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In September, many Puritan Separatists boarded the Mayflower vessel on its way to America. Since the Mayflower colonists were outside of any organized government, forty-one men aboard resolved to rule themselves. They signed the Mayflower Compact which became the first framework of government in America. It included the right to hold office as well as the right to vote.
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New England Puritans viewed Indians as "barbarous creatures." In 1636, settlers in Massachusetts accused a Pequot of murdering a colonist and set fire to a Pequot village, killing its inhabitants. The Pequot Chief, Sassacus, and the survivors counterattacked leading to the Pequot War where many unarmed women, children, and villagers were killed. The Treaty of Hartford (1638) eventually dissolved the Pequot Nation.
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The civil wars were fought between the Royalists and Parliamentarians after Charles I tried to arrest five members of Parliament. Parliamentary forces led by Oliver Cromwell captured Charles and convicted him of high treason. Charles was beheaded in 1649.
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Catholics and Protestants feuded as violently as they had in England. Puritans took over England and executed King Charles I. Cecilius Calvert, an English politician, appointed Protestants to the colony's ruling council in attempts to not lose his colony. He also wrote the Toleration Act, a document that welcomed all Christian's regardless of denomination and promised to execute anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus.
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Metacomet of the Wampanoags resented English efforts to convert Indians to Christianity. Sassamon, a Christian Indian, warned the English that the Wampanoags were preparing for war, and was later found dead. Three Wampanoags were hanged. Wampanoag warriors burned Puritan farms. A few days later a Wampanoag was shot by an Englishman and the Wampanoags retaliated by beheading a group of Puritans. The violence became known as King Philip's War. The colonists ultimately won and Metacomet was killed.
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Scattered attacks between Indians and Settlers led to the killing of Nathaniel Bacon's farm manager. Governor William Berkeley refused to attack so Bacon organized a rebel group to terrorize the Indians. Bacon then accused Berkeley of corruption and attempted to take him into custody. The rebellion disintegrated after Bacon's death and Berkeley had 23 of Bacon's lieutenants hanged.
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In Virginia and Maryland, Africans were treated more like indentured servants. They gained their freedom, but not equality, after a limited term of service. Gradually, lifelong slavery became custom. Colonial legislatures formalized the institution of race-based slavery with slave codes, which regulated most aspects of enslaved people's lives. South Carolina enforced some of the first slave codes and other states followed.
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In Massachusetts, there was a widespread belief in witchcraft and many women were accused and hanged. The hysteria spread to surrounding towns and spiraled out of control. The governor finally intervened after his wife was accused of serving the devil. By then many women and men had been killed. He disbanded the special court and ordered the remaining suspects to be released. There are many beliefs about what caused the outbreak, but it is still unknown why it happened.