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The London Company founds the first permanent English settlement in the New World. In the first few months, 80% of the settlers were dead from starvation and disease.
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The cash crop is planted in Jamestown and subsequently saves the colony and became the chief export of the early colonies.
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The first African slaves arrive in Jamestown to combat labor shortages.
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Pilgrims establish the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts and sign the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document.
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The "Winthrop Fleet" holding more than 700 colonists led by John Winthrop arrived in Massachusetts. John Winthrop becomes the governor.
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Lord Baltimore establishes the religiously tolerant colony on the rich farmland north of the Potomac River.
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The first higher education institution is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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New Amsterdam is taken from the Dutch and renamed New York.
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Nathaniel Bacon led an armed rebellion against William Berkeley.
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200 women were accused and 19 executed for suspicion of witchcraft in Massachusetts.
