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Oct 21, 1492
Columbus Sales the ocean Blue
After trying to find a new route to the Indies Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Bahamas. -
May 4, 1493
New World Territories
Pope Alexander VI establishes a demarcation line between those New World territories that belong to Spain and to Portugal. -
Apr 2, 1513
Landing on Florida
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon lands in Florida. -
Getting a Charter
The London Company, which will establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in Virginia, receives a charter from King James I. -
Jamestown Founded
First permanent English colony in North America founded at Jamestown. 105 colonists arrived. -
Tobacco
John Rolfe of Virginia discovers a method for curing the tobacco leaf. -
Pocahontas
Pocahontas, a daughter of the Indian leader Powhatan, marries English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia. Rolfe is credited with introducing tobacco cultivation in Virginia. -
Smallpox Kills Indians
Smallpox virus wipes out most New England Indians -
First African American
A Dutch ship brings the first Africans to Jamestown -
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Busy yea for Americas Beginning
-Spanish found Santa Fe, New Mexico
-The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, England, with 101 passengers and a crew of 48. The voyage to New England takes 65 days.
-Off the coast of Cape Cod, 41 passengers aboard the "Mayflower," sign the Mayflower Compact, a plan for a self-governing colony.
- Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower go ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, -
Indians Attack
Nearly 350 Virginia colonists, about a third of the colony’s population, are killed in Indian attacks. -
Roman Catholic Refuge
Maryland, is established as a refuge for Roman Catholics. -
Church and State Argument
The Massachusetts General Court banishes Roger Williams from Salem. Williams argued that church and state must be separated and that a variety of religious sects should be tolerated. -
Killing Indians
Massachusetts and Connecticut Puritans and Narragansett Indians set fire to the main Pequot village on the Mystic River, killing between six and seven hundred men, women, and children. -
First Witch Burned
The first recorded American execution of a witch in the American colonies takes place in Massachusetts. -
Freedom of Worship
Maryland’s assembly enacts the Toleration Act, which provides for freedom of worship for all Christians. -
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New York
The Dutch surrender New Amsterdam to an English naval force, which renames it New York. The Dutch recapture New York in 1673 but return it to England in 1674. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Jamestown is burned to the ground during Bacon’s Rebellion, a revolt against Virginia’s government led by a planter Nathaniel Bacon. Beginning as a conflict with neighboring Indians, Bacon’s Rebellion revealed deep discontent among the colony’s indentured servants and poorer settlers. -
Salem Witch Trials
Salem witchcraft trials result in the execution of 18 people. -
French/ Indians Attack
Some 50 French soldiers and 200 Indian allies attack Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing about 50 and taking 111 prisoner. -
Tea Introduced
Tea is introduced in the colonies by the English. -
Electricity!
Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and demonstrates that lightning is electricity -
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French and Indian War
French and Indian War, the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763, begins in May 1754. -
Proclamation of 1763
The British issue Proclamation of 1763. The purpose of the proclamation was to organize Great Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. The proclamation forbids settlement west of Appalachian Mountains to prevent Indian conflicts. -
End of French and Indian Waar
France cedes Canada to Britain under the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War -
Sugar Tax
Parliament passes Sugar Act to provide revenue for the debt accumulated in the French and Indian war. The Sugar Act reduced the original tax of sixpence per gallon for molasses, but instead of ignoring violations, the government fully intended to collect the three-pence duty. -
Boston Tea Party
Boston patriots board British ships and dump more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest British taxes on tea and British favoritism toward the East India Tea Company. -
Beggining of the Revolutionary War
Battle of Lexington and Concord: An unordered "shot heard around the world" begins the American Revolution. British forces retreat from Lexington back to Boston and are harassed and shot at all along the way by farmers and rebels. News of the events at Lexington and Concord spreads like wildfire throughout the colonies. -
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Revolutionary War
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Declaration of Independance Signed
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Articles of the Confederation
Congress approves Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States of America that specifies how the national government is to operate. -
End of Revolutionary War
The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Confederation Congress adopts the Northwest Ordinance, which states that Congress would create three to five states in the Northwest Territory, which would be equals with the older states. The measure also bars slavery from territory. -
Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights ratified as part of Constitution. -
Gold Rush Begins
In his annual message, President James Knox Polk announces the discovery of gold in California, touching off the California Gold Rush. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina officially secedes from the Union. -
Confederate States of America formed
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Confederete Election
Jefferson Davis is elected the Confederacy’s first and only president. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves in rebellious states "forever free"
