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Jamestown, Virginia
They established Jamestown, Virginia, on May 14, 1607, the first permanent British settlement in North America. Though determined, these settlers did not know what severe challenges they would face. -
House of Burgesses
The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first democratically-elected legislative body in British North America. This group of representatives met from 1619 until 1776. The members, or burgesses, were elected from each county in Virginia; each county sent two burgesses. The House of Burgesses is important because the ideas and leaders from this House helped bring about the American Revolutionary War. -
Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact, document signed on the English ship Mayflower on November 211620, prior to its landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was the first framework of government written and enacted in the territory that is now the United States of America. -
Passage of the Maryland Toleration Acts
The Maryland Toleration Act did not bring complete religious freedom, as is so often assumed, and as a reading of this document will quickly prove. Nor did it come about because of a profound humanistic conviction on the part of Lord Baltimore, the Maryland proprietor. The act was a pragmatic solution to a serious problem -
Bacons Rebelion
For many years, historians considered the Virginia Rebellion of 1676 to be the first stirring of revolutionary sentiment in America, which culminated in the American Revolution almost exactly one hundred years later. However, in the past few decades, based on findings from a more distant viewpoint, historians have come to understand Bacon's Rebellion as a power struggle between two stubborn, selfish leaders rather than a glorious fight against tyranny. -
Salem Witch Trials
The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. -
The French Indian War
Also known as the Seven Years’ War, this New World conflict marked another chapter in the long imperial struggle between Britain and France. When France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756.
