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Jamestown is the first permanent British colony in North America. Its founding also marks the dawn of the colony of Virginia.
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The arrival of slaves in America ushers in the beginning of slavery in British colonies and later the United States.
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Separatist "Pilgrims" sign the Mayflower Compact, the first North American government document, before leaving the ship to settle in Plymouth, Massachusetts
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The Massachusetts Bay Company founds the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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Charles I gives the Catholic Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, the colony of Maryland. Calvert wishes for Maryland to be a place of religious freedom, especially for his fellow Catholics. Many anti-Anglicans come, however, and push out Catholicism.
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The Dutch colony of New Netherland falls to the British without any bloodshed. It is named New York for its proprietor, James, the Duke of York. New Jersey also comes out of New Netherland as East and West Jersey.
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William Penn receives Pennsylvania colony as payment for debts. He uses the colony to create a haven for Quakers.
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In New England, the witch-hunting craze known as the Salem Witch Trials comes to an end
