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In December 1606, the Virginia Company sent to America three ships which were carrying 104 colonists, all men and boys. In May 1607, they reached Chesapeake Bay. They settled and called the James, in honor of the king. -
A group of 120 people boarded the Mayflower and were headed for the Virginia colony which was where they were going to settle in order to escape religious persecution. Since there was no ruler, all men agreed to sign the Mayflower compact (a group contract to form a civil body politic based on just and civil laws designed for the general good). -
Intended to be a holy commonwealth for Puritans, but the Massachusetts Bay Puritans were different from the pilgrims. In 1629, King Charles first gave a royal charter to the Massachusetts Bay Company, a group of Calvinist Puritans. In 1630, Winthrop and his family joined some 700 Puritan settlers on eleven ships loaded with cows, horses, supplies, and tons of beer. On June 12, his ships landed in Salem where they built a village and called it Boston. -
Indians in the English colonies who fought to keep their lands were forced out or killed. In 1636, settlers in Massachusetts accused a Pequot of murdering two white traders. The English took revenge by burning a Pequot village. The Pequot war was fought because of the issues with trade and colonist expansion of territory. -
Ensured religious freedoms to the Christian settlers of different denominations that settled in Massachusetts. Leaders hoped it would make Massachusetts seem more desirable for immigration. This was the first law to protect religious freedom within the 13 colonies.
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Native American leaders, especially the chief of the Wampanoags, Metacom (referred to as King Philip by the colonists), who resented the efforts of Europeans to take their lands and convert Indians to Christianity. In 1674, John Sassamon, a Christian Indian warned a Plymouth governor that the Wampanoags were preparing for war. A few months later, Sassamon was found dead and colonial authorities believed three Wampanoags caused this and hanged them. Conflict began to rise, thus starting the war. -
Over fourteen months, the fighting resulted in more deaths and destruction in New England in proportion to the population than any conflict since. The colonists launched a surprise attack that killed 300 Narragansett warriors and 400 women and children. A Boston merchant lamented that unless the tide was reversed, "these colonies will soon be ruined." The war and its aftermath slashed New England's Indian population in half, to fewer than 9,000.
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One-fourth of the free white men were landless. They roamed around squatting on private property, working odd jobs, poaching games, and struggling to survive. Bacon's Rebellion quickly became a battle of the landless servants, small farmers, and even some slaves against Virginia's wealthiest planters and political leaders. After conflict with Bacon and Berkeley, Bacon issued a "Declaration of the People of Virginia" accusing Berkeley of corruption. When Bacon died the rebellion disintegrated. -
In 1688, the Dominion of New England added the former Dutch provinces of New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey to its control, just a few months before the Glorious Revolution erupted in England. Catholic James the second fled to France and was replaced by the king's daughter Mary and her husband William the third, the ruling Dutch prince. William the third and Mary the second would govern England as constitutional monarchs, their powers limited by parliament. -
When the treaties and agreements that were reached at the end of King Philip's war weren't adhered to, the war began. The conflict was between England and France in North America and in the end, there was no clear winner.
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In 1689, Americans in Boston staged their own revolution. A group merchants, ministers, and militiamen arrested Governor Andros and his aides and removed Massachusetts Bay Colony from the Dominion of New England. Within a few weeks, the other colonies that had been absorbed into the Dominion also restored their independence. William and Mary appointed new royal governors in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland. The governor removed the requirement that only church members could vote.
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Belief in witchcraft was widespread in the seventeenth century. Prior to the episode in Salem Village, almost 300 New Englanders had been accused of practicing witchcraft, and more than 30 had been hanged.