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13 Colonies Timeline
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Virginia is established
Based on George Weymouth's accounts of voyages to the New England area in 1606, two private companies were formed to seek a patent for colonization on the Atlantic Coast. One of these companies was called the London Company and it was given the southern Virginia territory. The other company was called the Plymouth Company and its patent was for northern Virginia. -
Jamestown is established
In 1607, 105 London Company sponsored settlers arrived from England to begin the story that we all remember from our school days. Since they were there representing England and its King, James I, they settled in an encampment they called Jamestown on a river they named the James River. -
Mayflower sets sail for the new world
On Sept. 16, 1620 the ship "Mayflower" set off from Plymouth, England on it journey to the New World. There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower including 41 Christian Puritan Separatists known collectively as the Leiden group. After spending many years in Holland exiled from the English Church, the Puritans were seeking a new life of religious freedom in America. -
Mayflower Compact Signed
When the mayflower arrived they anchored off the tip of Cape Cod, in an area now known as Massachusetts, and before they even set foot on shore they wrote, and all the men signed, an agreement called the "Mayflower Compact" that would set the rules to guide them through the early, hard times of establishing a new community. The Compact, which was signed on November 21, 1620 (modern date, see note below.), served as the official Constitution of the Plymouth Colony for many years. -
New Hampshire establishes
In 1623 two groups of English settlers, sent by Captain John Mason, arrived in what is now called New Hampshire (after John Masons home County of Hampshire) and established a fishing village near the mouth of the Piscataqua River. New Hampshire would remain an English colony throughout the colonial period even though, at various times, it came under Massachusetts jurisdiction -
New York Founded
Although the Dutch West India Co. explored and began to settle the New York area as early as 1614, the principal occupation of the area did not occur until 1624 when Dutch settlers arrived at Governors Island and then spread to other areas in the region. -
New Jersey Founded
Along with their holdings in New York, New Jersey was originally settled in 1623 by the Dutch as New Netherlands but actually founed in 1624 a colony -
Maryland is established
In 1632 Charles I granted a Maryland Charter to Lord Baltimore (George Calvert, Baron of Baltimore). Lord Baltimore wanted very much to see the Colony become a reality and his son Cecil saw to it that the new Colony was settled. In 1633 the first group of settlers set sail for Maryland to establish a colony of freemen led by Leonard Calvert, Cecil Calvert's younger brother. -
Jamestown Destroyed
In 1676 the village of Jamestown was nearly destroyed during "Bacon's Rebellion." -
Georgia granted to James Edward Oglethorpe
King George II, in 1732, granted Georgia to James Edward Oglethorpe, an English general.
