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Sep 6, 1492
Christopher Columbus
The first letters and journals were writen by Columbus on his voyages to the Americas. -
Puritan Beliefs
Many of the settlers in the 1600s were Puritans. Puritains were a group of English Protestants who had sought to "purify" the Church of England and return to simpler ways of worshiping. After being unwelcomed and persecuted in England, they left the counrty for America. -
Jamestown
Jamestown was the first permanent colony established. -
The Meeting of Two Worlds
The earliest writers wrote down how the Europeans and Native Americans viewed each other. William Woods said that the Native Americans "took the first ship they saw for a walking island, the mast to be a tree, the sail white clouds." William Bradford described North America as "a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men." -
Bay Psalm Book
The first book issued in North American colonies. The Bibile's pasalm's was rewiten. -
The Enlightenment
In the 1700s, there was a new found intellectual energy in Europe that came to be known as the Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers began the question the truths about who should hold power. -
From Colony to Country
English colonies spanned along the Atlantic coast and became increasingly self-reliant and practiced local self-rule. -
The Great Awakening
Religious enthusiasm that arises because of the fear that Puritain values were being lost. -
French and Indian War(start)
The first coloniests thought of themselfves as English subjects so they exported raw materials to support England economically and imported Britain's manufactured goods and in turn, Britain protected its territory. It sent soldiers t ofight when France allied with a number of Native American groups to drive the British out of North America. -
French and Indian War(end)
After a long and costly war, Great Britain claimed all of North American east of the Mississippi River. -
A Break With England
The colonies declare that they are "free and independent" and fought and defeated one of the greatest military powers on the earth. -
Constitution of the United States
Constitution is approved! The United States is born.