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Jamestown
Sometime in April 1607, the English reached the site of Jamestown in Virginia, having sailed across the Atlantic on the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. Jamestown was not a great place to build a city. The surrounding terrain was marshy and bad for growing crops. However, this city would become influential in later years. -
Tobacco in Jamestown
In 1616, John Rolfe planted the first tobacco crop in Jamestown. Before this time, Jamestown had fared very poorly, with four out of five immigrants having died, many of starvation and disease. In future years, tobacco would bring wealth and prosperity to Jametown. -
First Slave Imports
The first African slaves were imported into America in 1619. -
Mayflower Compact
On November 11, 1620, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact. The Pilgrims were religious fugitives from England who after sojourning in Holland decided to sail to the New World. They had been blown off their original course and ended up in Cape Cod. They decided to make a settlement where they had reached the New World and signed the Mayflower compact in order to make clear their king-honoring intentions and organize a government before they left their ship. -
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King Charles I
Charles I was a strict monarch who was eventually overthrown and executed following a civil war started in 1642. -
English Settlers Reach Maryland
In March 1634, English settlers reached Maryland. Two years ago, the King Charles I of England had granted the colony to the Cecilius Calvert, a Catholic who wanted to establish a mixed Protestant and Catholic colony in the New World. However, the colony would grow to contain mostly relocated Virginian colonists, mostly Protestant. -
First Paper Money
In 1690, Massachusetts issued the first paper money in the Western world. These notes were called "bills of credit".