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Queen Elizabeth dies
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James I approved the formation of the Virginia Company
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English Settlers Establish Jamestown
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Dutch Commissioned Henry Hudson to search for Northwest Passage
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Pocahontas Marries John Rolfe
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John Rolfe Plants America's first Tobacco crop
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"Headright policy" implemented
Any person who relocated to Virginia would receive 50 acres of land; they would receive additional land for any immigrants whose passage they paid. -
House of Burgess established
The Virginia Company establishes the House of Burgess -
First Slaves Imported to Virginia
A Dutch ship sells a shipment of slaves to colonists in Virginia -
Plymouth Colony founded
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The Netherlands charter the Dutch West India Company
The company establishes colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. -
Powhatan dies
He is succeeded by his brother Opechancanough -
Opechancanough attacks Virginia settlers
His warriors kill one-third of all the colonists. The settlers retaliate by attacking the Indian settlements and the Virginia governor institutes a policy to drive the Chesapeake Indians out of Virginia. -
New Amsterdam founded on Manhattan Island by the Dutch West India Company
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Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from the Munsee Indians on behalf of the Dutch
There is debate on whether the Indians and Dutch understood the transaction on the same terms. -
Colony founded at Massachusetts Bay
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Charles I sets aside a tract at the northern tip of Chesapeake for a second colony in America
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Colony founded at Connecticut
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Colony founded at Rhode Island
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Pequot War Begins
This conflict occurred between the Pequot tribe and the colonists in Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook. -
Puritans revolt and set up their own government in the Maryland colony
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Pequot War Ends
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English Parliament refuses to grant Charles I subsidies to suppress a rebellion in Scotland
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Charles I is executed
England becomes a republic and protectorate under Oliver Cromwell. -
Parliament levels an economic embargo on rebelling American colonies
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Parliament passes the Navigation Act of 1651
This Act forced merchants in American colonies to ship their good directly to England. -
New Virginia law dictated that slave women's children inherited their condition of slavery.
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Charles II granted the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations royal charters
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New Netherland is handed over to England and becomes New York
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Charleston is founded
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Indian Uprising Known as King Philip's War Begins
Wampanoag leader Metacom, known as "King Philip" to the English led the uprising. -
King Philip's War Ends
Metacom's assassination by an Indian fighting on the side of the English settlers effectively ends the conflict. -
Bacon's rebellion begins
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Bacon's rebellion ends
Bacon died of typhus in late 1676 and his successors surrendered -
James the Second creates the Dominion of New England
The colonies of New England, New York, and New Jersey are consolidated into one administrative unit by James II. -
Charles II is overthrown in the Glorious Revolution
Prince William of Holland and the English daughter of James the II take the throne. -
William of Orange invades England and James II flees to France.
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North Carolina is founded
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Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Town, Salem Village, Ipswich, and Andover
The Witch trials continue for about a year until governor Sir William Phips dismantled them in May 1693