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Jan 1, 1577
Queen Elizbeth I authorizes Francis Drake to Attack Spanish Ships
Since his early 20s, Drake had been robbing Spanish ships. Now Drake was asked by Elizabeth to set off on an expedition against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast. He became the first Englishman to navigate the Straits of Magellan as well the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. -
Humphrey Gilbert lands in Newfoundland
Gilbert believed that America was the lost continent of Atlantis (a legendary but fictional continent that is said to have sunk in ancient times). Queen Elizbeth I gave Gilbert permission to establish a colony, which he did in St. Johns, Newfoundland, but it failed. -
Scrooby Separatists (Pilgrims) Leave for Holland
Most English were satisfied with Queen Elizabeth’s reformation of the Church of England. But some reformers believed that she had not rid the Church of England of all Catholic practices. The enemies of these reformers called them Puritans. Some Puritans started to form their own congregations and thus became known as separatists. One group came from Scrooby village and they became the core of the Plymouth colony. -
Scrooby Separatists (Pilgrims) Leave Holland for New World
Although they could worship in peace there, many struggled to make a living and feared that their children were being tempted by the worldly pleasures of Dutch city life. Some Scrooby separatists contemplated moving to America and contacted the Plymouth Company. Called Pilgrims because they thought of themselves as spiritual wanderers, they were joined by other separatists and by nonseparatist "strangers" hired to help get the colony started. In all, 102 men, women and children set sail on th -
Mayflower Compact signed at Plymouth Colony
This document was signed by all men regardless of wealth and status. It was social contract in which all signers agreed to abide by the decisions of the majority. William Bradford becomes the first leader. -
John Winthrop and 700 Puritans Leave for Massachusetts
After receiving a charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony from King Charles I, the Puritans set off for the New World. These Puritans were concerned about Charles I Catholic leanings. John Winthrop will write about the Massachusetts Bay Colony being a "city upon a hill" that the whole world will watch in his sermon "A Model of Christian Charity". -
Roger Williams Flees Massachusetts and Founds Rhode Island
Williams was a minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony whose radical ideas got him in trouble. He believed that the Puritans should completely separate from the Church of England, not merely reform it. He also insisted that land must be purchased from the Indians, rather than taken from them forcefully. Wiliams was put on trial, found guilty and banished. He founded Providence in RI, in which there was complete separation of church and state. -
Anne Hutchinson is banished from Massachusetts
Hutchinson was intelligent and well-versed in the Bible; she held meetings in her home for theological discussions. Some of her ideas challenged the authority of the clergy and government (she emphasized the importance of the direct experience of God). She tried and banished from the Colony. Hutchinson joined other dissenters in the establishment of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. -
William Bradford finishes writing "Of Plymouth Plantation"
Writing over a 20 year period, Bradford's history details the Pilgrims experiences from their time in the Dutch Republic in 1608 to their lives in Plymouth colony in 1647.
