-
1492
Columbian Exchange Begins
The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, named after Christopher Columbus, was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries. -
1492
Christopher Columbus "Founds" New World
Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the “New World.” (Viking explorer Leif Erikson had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century.) However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. -
Period: 1492 to
European Exploration Era
-
1500
Spanish Encomienda System Begins
Spain began the encomienda system in the New World at the beginning of the 16th century. The encomienda system granted a Spanish leader a number of Native American laborers. The Spanish colonists abused the encomienda system, essentially rendering it a system of slave labor -
1500
Spanish Casta System Begins
A social system in which class status is determined at birth. The Spanish had mixed-race children in the Americas with enslaved Africans and Native Americans. Status was determined by how “Spanish” one was, so those with little to no Spanish blood were in the lowest class. -
Period: 1500 to
Middle Passage
-
Period: 1500 to
Triangular Trade
-
1520
Small Pox Begins Spreading to Native Americans
Smallpox was lethal to many Native Americans, bringing sweeping epidemics and affecting the same tribes repeatedly. Certain cultural and biological traits made Native Americans more susceptible to these diseases. Emphasis placed on visiting the sick led to the spread of disease through continual contact. -
1521
Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortez Conquers the Aztec Empire
After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés capture Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. Cortés’ men leveled the city and captured Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec emperor. -
1534
England Splits from the Catholic Church
Parliament's passage of the Act of Supremacy in 1534 solidified the break from the Catholic Church and made the king the Supreme Head of the Church of England. -
London Company Gains Charter for Set Up English Colony
The London Company (also called the Virginia Company of London) was an English joint-stock company established in 1606 by royal charter by King James I with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. ... By 1609, the Plymouth Company had dissolved. -
Jamestown, Virginia Colony Founded
In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America -
Period: to
Colonial Era
-
French found Quebec on the ST. Lawrence River and Engage in the Fur Trade
-
Tobacco Introduced to Virginia Colony by John Rolfe
-
First African Slaves Arrive in Jamestown, Virginia Colony
First enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown, setting the stage for slavery in North America. On August 20, 1619, “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrive in the British colony of Virginia and are then bought by English colonists. -
Virginia 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 with each county sending two burgesses. The House of Burgesses is important because the ideas and leaders from this House helped bring about the American Revolutionary War. -
Plymouth, Massachusetts Colony Founded
-
Mayflower Compact
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 with each county sending two burgesses. The House of Burgesses is important because the ideas and leaders from this House helped bring about the American Revolutionary War. -
New Hampshire Founded
New Hampshire was founded in 1622 when John Mason and Fernando Gorges got a land grant from the council of New England in 1638. In 1641, New Hampshire was claimed by the Massachusetts colony. There were several Native American tribes that lived there when the colonists arrived. -
Dutch New Amsterdam Becomes Capital of New Netherlands
-
"City Upon a Hill" John Winthrop
-
The Great Migration to Massachusetts Bay Colony
-
Maryland Founded
-
Thomas Hooker Founds Connecticut
-
Roger Williams Founds Rhode Island
-
Harvard College Founded in Massachusetts
-
Delaware Founded
-
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
-
Maryland Toleration Act
-
North Carolina Founded
-
Iroquois Confederacy Formed
-
Navigation Acts and Mercantilism
-
South Carolina Founded
-
New York Founded
-
New Jersey Founded
-
King Philips War
-
Bacon's Rebellion
-
Pueblo Revolt
-
Quaker William Penn Founds Pennsylvania
-
Period: to
Enlightenment Era
-
John Locke's Two Treatises of Government Published
-
English Bill of Rights
-
Salem Witch Trials
-
Period: to
Salutary Neglect Policy
-
The Great Awakening
-
Georgia Founded as as Debtors Colony
-
Stono Rebellion
-
French and Indian War Begins
-
French and Indian War Ends
-
Proclamation Line of 1763
-
Period: to
Revolutionary Era
-
Period: to
Republican Motherhood
-
Sugar Act
-
Stamp Act
-
Quartering Act
-
Townshend Acts
-
Boston Massacre
-
Tea Act
-
Boston Tea Party
-
Intolerable Acts
-
First Continental Congress
-
Thomas Paine's Common Sense Published
-
Battle of Lexington and Concord
-
Second Continental Congress
-
Continental Army Led by General George Washington
-
Declaration of Independence
-
Benjamin Franklin Becomes French Ambassador
-
Adam Smith Publishes "The Wealth of Nations"
-
Winter at Valley Forge
-
Battle of Saratoga
-
Battle of Yorktown
-
Treaty of Paris of 1783
