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Period: Jan 1, 1580 to
English Colonization
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Colonists arrive at Roanoke Island
Sir Walter Raleigh sent a group of colonists to America, to settle on Roanoke Island, located today in North Carolina. They were led by John White, an Englishman who had been a member of the first colony. Their colony will later on be "lost." -
Jamestown Founded by Virginia Company
James I granted a charter to the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that sold shares to investors (who expected a profit in return) to raise money for colonization.
John Smith become the leader of the Jamestown colony its first winter at age 28. He was a tough leader who told the settlers: “If any would not work, neither should he eat.”
Her developed a relationship with the Powhatan tribe -
Marriage between Pocahontas and John Rolfe
John Rolfe's experiments with tobacco resulted in the Virginia Colony successfully developing a type of tobacco that the English favored, thereby creating the first profitable export. His marriage to Pocahontas eased the tensions between the settlers and the Powhatans. -
Head right system instituted at Jamestown
In order to get more colonists, the Virginia Company instituted a head right system, which gave 50 acres to anyone who paid his own way to Virginia and an additional 50 acres for each person or “head” he brought with him. -
Powhatan dies, Opechancanough succeeds him
When Powhatan died, he was succeeded by his brother, Opechancanough, a chief who's resentful of the colonists. -
Three New Developments at Jamestown
Virginia Company began to transport women to become wives for planters and induce them to stay in the colony. The first Africans were brought to the colony. The company created the first legislative body in English America, the House of Burgesses, setting a precedent for the establishment of self-government in other English colonies. Landowners elected representatives to the House of Burgesses, which, subject to the approval of the company, made laws for Virginia. -
Good Friday Massacre
Hundreds of Indian men traveled to the English settlements, bringing various goods and supplies as if they were seeking to visit or trade. Instead, they attacked the colonists, killing 347 of them, which was about 1/4 of the population. English forced struck at native villages, killing the inhabitants and burning cornfields. Years of war followed. -
King James I dissolves the Virginia Company
The company went bankrupt, and a royal commission was shocked to discover that nearly 10 times more colonists had died from starvation and disease rather than from skirmishes with Indians. Virginia became a royal colony the following year. The settlers continued to enjoy self-government through the House of Burgesses, but now the king chose the colony’s governor and council, and royal advisers monitored its affairs -
King Charles I gives land to Lord Baltimore (Maryland)
Charles I granted 10 million acres of land north of Virginia to the nobleman George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. Unlike Virginia, which was founded by a joint-stock company, Maryland was a proprietary colony – the sole possession of Calvert and his heirs. They owned all the land, which they could divide up as they pleased, and had the right to set up the colony’s government. Calvert, who was Catholic, intended Maryland to be refuge for other of his faith. -
Act of Religious Toleration passed in Maryland
The colonial assembly approved Cecilius Calvert's draft of a religious toleration law. The law granted religious freedom to all Christians. After the law was passed, a band of Puritans fled from Virginia came to Maryland. Maryland became famous for its religious freedom.
