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Jamestown 1607
Is founded by clononsts of the London Company -
duntch east india company
The Dutch East India Company sponsors a seven month voyage of exploration to North America by Henry Hudson. In September he sails up the Hudson River to Albany. -
starving time
Approximately 440 Jamestown settles die during the Starving Time. -
virginia's green gold
Virginians plant their first tobacco crop. Tobacco became known as Virginia's Green Gold. -
manhattan island
A Dutch trading post is set up on lower Manhattan Island. -
squant
Thomas Hunt, an English sea captain, kidnapped about twenty-seven Indians off the Massachusetts coast and took them to Spain, where they were sold as slaves. One of these men was a Patuxet Indian named Tisquantum, or Squanto. -
pocahontas
Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, marries tobacco farmer, John Rolfe, which helps establish temporary peace between the Powhatans and the English. -
virginia
Tobacco becomes an export staple for Virginia. -
MAYFLOWER COMPACT
November 9, the Mayflower ship lands at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with 101 colonists. Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims and showed them how to plant corn, fish with nets, and hunt deer. On November 11, the Mayflower Compact is signed by the 41 men, establishing a form of local government in which the colonists agree to abide by majority rule and to cooperate for the general good of the colony. The Compact sets the precedent for other colonies as they set up governments. -
dutch west india
Thirty families of Dutch colonists, sponsored by the Dutch West India Company arrive in New York. -
king charles 1
In England, King Charles I dissolves parliament and attempts to rule as absolute monarch, spurring many to leave for the American colonies. -
JOHN WINTHROP
In March, John Winthrop leads a Puritan migration of 900 colonists to Massachusetts Bay, where he will serve as the first governor. In September, Boston is officially established and serves as the site of Winthrop's government. -
roger williams
In June, Roger Williams founds Providence and Rhode Island. Williams had been banished from Massachusetts for "new and dangerous opinions" calling for religious and political freedoms, including separation of church and state, not granted under the Puritan rules. Providence then becomes a haven for many other colonists fleeing religious intolerance -
anne hutchinton
Anne Hutchinson is banished from Massachusetts for nonconformist religious views that advocate personal revelation over the role of the clergy. She then travels with her family to Rhode Island. -
navigation act
Navigation Act of 1663 requires that most imports to the colonies must be transported via England on English ships. -
william penn
Pennsylvania is founded as William Penn, a Quaker, receives a Royal charter with a large land grant from King Charles II. -
la selle
French explorer La Salle explores the lower Mississippi Valley region and claims it for France, naming the area Louisiana for King Louis XIV. -
benjamin franklin
January 17, Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston. In November, South Carolina establishes the Anglican Church as its official church -
george washington
February 22, George Washington is born in Virginia. Also in February, the first mass is celebrated in the only Catholic church in colonial America, in Philadelphia. In June, Georgia, the 13th English colony, is founded. -
french and india war
Seven Years' War or The French and Indian War takes place between the French and Algonquin Indians and the Iroquois, allied by the English. -
G.E.B.
In February, English General Edward Braddock arrives in Virginia with two regiments of English troops. Gen. Braddock assumes the post of commander in chief of all English forces in America. In April, Gen. Braddock and Lt. Col. George Washington set out with nearly 2000 men to battle the French in the Ohio territory. In July, a force of about 900 French and Indians defeat those English forces. Braddock is mortally wounded. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley then becomes the new commander in c -
WAR ON FRANCE
England declares war on France, as the French and Indian War in the colonies now spreads to Europe. -
WILLIAM PITT
In June, William Pitt becomes England's Secretary of State and escalates the French and Indian War in the colonies by establishing a policy of unlimited warfare. In July, Benjamin Franklin begins a five year stay in London. -
FORT TICONDEROGA
In July, a devastating defeat occurs for English forces at Lake George, New York, as nearly two thousand men are lost during a frontal attack against well entrenched French forces at Fort Ticonderoga. French losses are 377. In November, the French abandon Fort Duquesne in the Ohio territory. Settlers then rush into the territory to establish homes. Also in 1758, the first Indian reservation in America is founded, in New Jersey, on 3000 acres. -
FRENCH FORT NIAGARA
French Fort Niagara is captured by the English. Also in 1759, war erupts between Cherokee Indians and southern colonists -
GEORGE 3
The population of colonists in America reaches 1,500,000. In March, much of Boston is destroyed by a raging fire. In September, Quebec surrenders to the English. In October, George III becomes the new English King. -
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
The French and Indian War, known in Europe as the Seven Year's War, ends with the Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up east and west Florida to the English in return for Cuba. -
PROCLAMATION OF 1763
In May, the Ottawa Native Americans under Chief Pontiac begin all-out warfare against the British west of Niagara, destroying several British forts and conducting a siege against the British at Detroit. In August, Pontiac's forces are defeated by the British near Pittsburgh. The siege of Detroit ends in November, but hostilities between the British and Chief Pontiac continue for several years.