Colonial America Timeline: Exploration to Colonies
1497: John Cabot reaches the shores of North America during the reign of King Henry VII. This would be the last time the English would make it to the New World until the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
1585: The colony of Roanoke is founded. The colony would eventually disappear without a trace and remains a mystery to this day.
1607: The Jamestown Settlement is founded and would become England's first permanent colony in the New World.
1619: The first Africans arrive in Virginia. Contrary to what is now taught the first Africans that arrived came on a slave ship that was blown off course. The Jamestown colony allowed the Africans to work as indentured servants and after they had served their allotted time they would be freed. There would be many Africans that gained their freedom and had multiple generations of children by the time of the Revolutionary War.
1620: The Pilgrims found Plymouth Colony.
1629: New Hampshire Colony and Carolina are founded
1630: The Puritans found Boston and ten other settlements. The settlements become known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It would become the most successful colony in the New World.
1632: The Province of Maryland was established. Maryland would become the first settlement to allow Catholics to settle.
1636: Connecticut Colony, Colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation are all founded.
July 1636: The Pequot War ignited in the colonies. By the war's end the Pequot tribe would be significantly weakened and almost destroyed.
1637: The founding of the New Haven Colony
1638: The first Swedish peoples settle in Delaware
1642: The First English Civil War begins. This is significant to the colonies because many colonists came over during the Great Migration. They fled England from religious persecution and then returned to help Oliver Cromwell fight against the Monarchy. Many would not return to the colonies after Cromwell took control.
1663: The Province of Carolina is established. This would eventually become North Carolina Colony and South Carolina Colony.
1664: The English capture New Netherland and establish the province of New York. Delaware becomes an English Colony.
1670: Charleston, Carolina Founded.
1675 - 1678: King Philip's War begins and ends. The colonists defeat four tribes including the Wampanoag Tribe.
1681: William Penn was given a charter for Pennsylvania.
1682: William Penn founded the "city of brotherly love." Philadelphia would become the largest city in the colonies.
1685: James II consolidates the New England colonies into the Dominion of New England. The colonists despise this.
1688: King James II is imprisoned and William of Orange takes control of England after the Glorious Revolution ends. This ended many anti-Puritan laws and freed the colonists. It gave them more autonomy and increased migration.
1691: Plymouth is absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1733: Savannah was founded.
Colonial America Timeline: Road To Revolution
1734: The Great Awakening begins in Massachusetts when Jonathan Edwards delivers his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
1739: James Oglethorpe is granted a charter for Georgia.
1756: Beginning of the Seven Years' War, also known as the French and Indian War. The war would end in 1763.
1765: There were prior acts that were controversial, but nothing was more of a lightning rod than the Stamp Act. It would eventually be repealed, but not before it helped unify the colonies.
1767: In an effort to increase revenue from the colonies after the war the British enact the Townshend Acts which are controversial and increase disdain for England.
1770: The Boston Massacre occurs and sends shockwaves throughout the colonies.
1773: The Tea Act is passed which eventually leads to the Boston Tea Party that costs Great Britain millions of pounds. King George III becomes irate at the losses and seeks to punish them.
1774: The Intolerable Acts are passed and within it are some acts that directly target Boston. This would lead to the Massachusetts Minutemen storing ammunition which would eventually lead to the Battles of Lexington and Concord.