US History Before 1700 Chronology

In Roanoke, Virginia, Manteo became the first American Indian converted to Protestantism, and was baptized into the Church of England by members of Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to the New World.

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1590

Aug 17

John White, the leader of 117 colonists sent in 1587 to Roanoke Island (North Carolina) to establish a colony, returns from a trip to England to find the settlement deserted. No trace of the settlers is ever found.

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1598

Apr 30

First theater performance in America (Spanish comedy-Rio Grande).

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1605

Aug 14

The Popham expedition reaches the Sagadahoc River in present-day Maine and settles there.

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Aug 19

First English colonists arrive in America and land at what is now Maine.

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1606

Dec 20

The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery set sail from London. Their destination: America. Captain Christopher Newport commanded the three tiny ships (and, we do mean tiny -- check out Jamestown village in Virginia to see for yourself. The ships are on display and you can climb aboard) for the royally chartered Virginia Company. Their landing at Jamestown, VA was the start of the first permanent English settlement in America.

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1607

Apr 26

An expedition of English colonists went ashore at Cape Henry, Va., to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

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May 09

First Protestant religious service celebrated in America at Cape Henry, VA.

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May 13

Some one hundred English colonists settle along the west bank of the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Ref

May 14

First permanent English settlement in New World, Jamestown VA.

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May 24

Captain Christopher Newport and 105 followers found the colony of Jamestown at the mouth of the James River on the coast of Virginia.

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Jun 15

Colonists in North America complete James Fort in Jamestown.

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1608

Jan 05

Captain John Smith captured by Indians; later saved by Indian princess Pocahontas.

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John Smith's account of the early days of the Jamestown Colony is submitted for publication in London.

Sep 10

John Smith is elected president of the Jamestown, Virginia colony council.

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1610

Feb 28

Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, is appointed governor of Virginia.

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May 24

Sir Thomas Gates institutes "laws divine moral and marshal, " a harsh civil code for Jamestown.

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Jun 10

First Dutch settlers arrive (from NJ), to colonize Manhattan Island.

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1614

Apr 05

Pocahontas, daughter of chief Powhatan, marries colonist/planter John Rolfe.

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Jun 26

First lottery in America held by the Virginia Company. Prize 4,500 crowns.

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1617

Dec 23

First penal colony in US established in Virginia.

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1619

Jul 30

The House of Burgesses becomes the first legislative assembly in America when it convenes at Jamestown, Va.

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Aug 20

The first group of twenty Africans is brought to Jamestown, Virginia.

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Dec 04

America's first Thanksgiving Day (Virginia).

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1620

Jan 31

Virginia colony leaders write to the Virginia Company in England, asking for more orphaned apprentices for employment.

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Apr 15

After terrible winter of 1620-21, when half of the colonists died, Mayflower sails back to England.

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Jul 22

A small congregation of English Separatists, led by John Robinson, began their emigration to the New World. Today, this historic group of religious refugees has come tobe known as the 'Pilgrims.'

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Sep 06

Pilgrims set sail from Plymouth England to the New World.

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Sep 16

After two false starts, The "Mayflower" set sail from Plymouth, England under Captain Myles Standish, bound for the New World. On board were 48 crew members and 101 colonists (including 35 Separatists from Leiden, Holland, known afterward as the Pilgrims). During the three-month voyage, two passengers died and two babies were born. (TWA, 1964)

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Nov 02

The "Mayflower Compact" was signed by the 41 Separatists among the passengers of the "Mayflower," serving as the basis for combining themselves "into a civil body politic." Democratic in form, the Compact comprised the first written American constitution, and remained in force until 1691. ("Who Was Who In America 1607-1896")

Nov 03

Great Patent granted to Plymouth Colony.

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Nov 09

Pilgrims reach Cape Cod, MA and begin exploring the coast; 149 aboard 1/3 Pilgrims.

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Nov 19

The Pilgrims reach Cape Cod.

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Dec 21

(12/11 Old Style) 103 Pilgrims aboard the "Mayflower" go ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. (TWA, 1958)

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Dec 21

(12/11 Old Style) Leaders of the Mayflower expedition frame the "Mayflower Compact," designed to bolster unity among the settlers.Plymouth Rock. (TWA, 1986)

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1621

Feb 17

Miles Standish is appointed 1st commander of Plymouth colony.

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Mar 16

The first Indian appears to colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

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In colonial Massachusetts, the Plymouth Colony made a treaty with the neighboring Massasoit Indians which both sides kept for fifty years.

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Apr 01

Pilgrims sign first peace treaty with Indians-Massasoit, war chief of the Wampanoags.

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Apr 05

The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth MA on a return trip to England.

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May 12

Edward Winslow and Susanna White become the first couple to marry in the colony of Plymouth.

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Jun 18

The first duel in America reportedly took place in the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

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Nov 24

Pilgrims begin celebrating 3 day Thanksgiving; 6 women cook for 56 settlers & 91 Indian guests.

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Dec 13

Under the care of Robert Cushman, the first American furs to be exported from the continent leave for England aboard the Fortune.

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Dec 25

The governor of New Plymouth prevents newcomers from playing cards.

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1622

First Indian (Powhattan) massacre of whites, Jamestown VA; 347 slain.

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Aug 10

Province of Maine granted to John Mason and Ferdinando Gorges.

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1623

Mar 05

The first temperance law in the colonies was enacted in Virginia.

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Jun 14

First breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev Gerville Pooley, VA files against Cicely Jordan. He loses.

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Sep 10

Lumber and furs are the first cargo to leave New Plymouth in North America for England.

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1624

Mar 05

Class-based legislation is passed in the colony of Virginia, exempting the upper class from punishment by whipping.

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May 24

After years of unprofitable operation, Virginia's charter is revoked and it becomes a royal colony.

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Sir Francis Wyatt is officially appointed governor of the royal Virginia Colony.

Dec 21

First Swedish colony in America granted but no takers until 1638.

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1625

Sep 24

Dutch attack San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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1626

May 06

Peter Minuet buys Manhattan from Indians for trinkets, valued at $24. (TWA, 1964)

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Nov 15

The original Mayflower "pilgrims" (Separatists), having lived in their American colony for six years, bought out their London investors for 1,800 pounds.

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1627

Jul 23

Sir George Calvert arrives in Newfoundland to develop his land grant.

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1628

Mar 19

Massachusetts colony founded by Englishmen.

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May 01

Meiboom in Quincy MA degenerates into orgy with Indian women.

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Jun 09

First deportation from what is now US, Thomas Morton from Mass.

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Sep 08

John Endecott arrives with colonists at Salem, Massachusetts, where he will become the governor.

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1629

Mar 14

England grants a royal charter to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

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Mar 24

First game law passed in American colonies, by Virginia.

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Apr 17

Horses were first imported into the colonies by the Massachusetts Bay Colony on this day.

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Jul 10

The first non-separatist Congregational church in America was established at Salem, MA.

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Aug 26

Cambridge Agreement pledged. Massachusetts Bay Co. stockholders agree to emigrate to New England.

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1630

The first legislation prohibiting gambling is enacted in Boston.

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Sep 07

The town of Trimontaine, in Massachusetts, is renamed Boston, and becomes the state capital.

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Sep 16

The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston.

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Sep 17

The town of Boston is founded by John Winthrop as an extension of the colony at Salem. It is named after the town of the same name in Lincolnshire, England.

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1631

Feb 05

A ship from Bristol, the Lyon, arrives with provisions for the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Roger Williams and his wife, who would later found the colony of Rhode Island.

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Apr 12

The first militia established by Massachusetts Bay Colony.

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May 18

The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decrees that 'no man shall be admitted to the body politic but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits' of the colony. (Separation of church and state was an unthinkable concept in early American colonialism.)

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May 18

First election in colonial America;John Winthrrop elected Governor of Massachusetts.

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1632

Jun 20

Britain grants 2nd Lord Baltimore rights to Chesapeake Bay area.

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1633

Feb 01

The tobacco laws of Virginia are codified, limiting tobacco production to reduce dependence on a single-crop economy.

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Nov 22

Irish Catholic Cecil Calvert, 27, sent two ships (the Ark and the Dove) from Ireland to establish a colony in America as a refuge for fellow Catholics. His work later earned Lord Calvert the nickname, "Colonizer of Maryland."

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1634

Mar 03

First tavern in Boston opens (Samuel Cole).

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Mar 04

Samuel Cole opens the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Mar 25

The Catholic Church gained a foothold in colonial America when the ships "Dove" and "Ark" arrived in Maryland with 128 Catholic colonists, selected by Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore. The colony was under the leadership of Leonard Calvert, Lord Baltimore's brother.

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May 14

May 31

US colony Massachusetts Bay annexes Maine colony.

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1635

Apr 23

First naval battle fought by caucasians in America at Wicomoco River, E. Maryland.

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Apr 28

Virginia Governor John Harvey is accused of treason and removed from office.

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Aug 17

English Puritan Richard Mather, 39, first arrives in Boston. A staunch defender of the congregational form of church government, Mather is remembered today for founding the "dynasty" to which is born his son Increase Mather in 1639, and his grandson Cotton Mather in 1663.

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Oct 09

Colonial American Separatist Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts for preaching that civil government had no right to interfere in religious affairs. (Williams was seeking to establish freedom of worship through the separation of church and state.).

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1636

Jul 04

City of Providence, Rhode Island form.

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Massachusetts Governor John Endecott organizes a military force for the Pequot Indian War.

Oct 04

First code of law for Plymouth Colony.

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1637

May 26

First battle of Pequot at New Haven CT kills 500 Indians.

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Jun 05

American settlers in New England massacre a Pequot Indian village.

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Jul 23

King Charles of England hands over the American colony of Massachusetts to Sir Fernando Gorges, one of the founders of the Council of New England.

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Nov 20

Peter Minuit & first Swedish immigrants to Delaware sail from Sweden.

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1638

Mar 01

First settlers from Sweden arrive in U.S. and begin building log cabins.

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Mar 07

Controversial colonial churchwoman Anne Hutchinson, 47, and nineteen other exiles from the Massachusetts Bay Colony settle in Rhode Island, at the site of modern Portsmouth.

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Mar 29

The first Swedish colonists in America established a Lutheran settlement at Fort Christiana in the Colony of Delaware.

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May 31

Colonial clergyman Thomas Hooker, 51, first arrived at the site of New Haven, CT, having migrated there with his church members who repudiated the autocratic rule of Puritanism in Boston. Hooker (the founder of Connecticut) believed Boston had become corrupt, and that church authority should rest in the people's consent.

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1639

Jan 06

The Virginia General Assembly orders that half of the year's tobacco crop be burned so planters could earn more from the remainder. (XDG, p 4A, 1/6/2001)

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Jan 14

In Hartford, Connecticut, the first constitution in the American colonies, the "Fundamental Orders," is adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford.

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Jan 15

Governor Kieft purchases part of Long Island from Indians on behalf of New Netherlands.

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Jan 24

Representatives from three Connecticut towns band together to write the Fundamental Orders, the first constitution in the New World.

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May 08

William Coddington founds Newport RI

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Jun 06

Massachusetts grants 500 acres of land to erect a gunpowder mill.

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Jun 10

First American log cabin at Fort Christina (Wilmington Delaware).

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1640

Dec 09

Settler Hugh Bewitt banished from Massachusetts colony when he declares himself to be free of original sin.

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1641

Mar 16

General court declares Rhode Island a democracy & adopts new constitution.

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Mar 19

A General Court ended which declared the Colony of Rhode Island a democracy. The Court also adopted a constitution granting religious freedom to all its citizens.

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Dec 01

Massachusetts becomes first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery.

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1642

Feb 25

Dutch settlers slaughter lower Hudson Valley Indians in New Netherland, North America, who sought refuge from Mohawk attackers.

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Mar 01

Georgeana (York) ME became the first incorporated American city.

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1643

Jan 05

In the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies, Anne Clarke of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a divorce from her absent and adulterous husband, Denis Clarke, by the Quarter Court of Boston, Massachusetts.

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Feb 25

Dutch US colonists kill Algonquin-Indians.

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May 19

New England Confederation formed of colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Haven and Plymouth. (XDG, p 4A, 5/19/2001)

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1644

Feb 05

First US livestock branding law passed, by Connecticut.

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Mar 07

Massachusetts establishes first 2-chamber legislature in colonies.

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Mar 14

England grants patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island).

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Sep 08

The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam surrenders to the British fleet that sails into its harbor. Five years later, the British change the name to New York.

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Nov 29

The Massachusetts General Court issued a call for local pastors to learn the dialects of neighboring Indian tribes, as an aid toward converting them to the Christian faith.

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1645

May 14

Boston: Thomas Dudley is elected governor.

Aug 30

A peace treaty is arranged with the Naragansett Indians in Boston, Massachusetts.

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1646

Feb 28

Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church.

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1647

May 11

Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor.

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May 26

A new law bans Catholic priests from the colony of Massachusetts. The penalty is banishment or death for a second offense.

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Nov 10

All Dutch-held areas of New York are returned to English control by the treaty of Westminster.

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1648

Jan 21

In Maryland, the first woman lawyer in the colonies, Margaret Brent, is denied a vote in the Maryland Assembly.

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Oct 04

Peter Stuyvesant establishes Americas first volunteer firemen.

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1649

Apr 21

The Toleration Act was passed by the Maryland Assembly. It protected Roman Catholics within the American colony against Protestant harassment, which had been rising as Oliver Cromwell's power in England increased.

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Oct 16

The American colony of Maine passed legislation granting religious freedom to all its citizens, on condition that those of contrary religious persuasions behave acceptably.

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1651

Litchfield, CT founded.

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Oct 14

Laws are passed in Massachusetts forbidding the poor to adopt excessive styles of dress.

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1652

Jun 10

First mint in America established at Boston by silversmith John Hull; issues silver Pine Tree Shilling.

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Jun 27

First traffic law passed in America by New Amsterdam (New York).

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Jun 29

Massachusetts declares itself an independent commonwealth.

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1653

Nov 05

The Iroquois League signs a peace treaty with the French, vowing not to wage war with other tribes under French protection.

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1654

May 03

A bridge in Rowley MA is permitted to charge a toll for crossing animals while people crossed for free. (XDG, p 4A, 5/3/2000)

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Nov 09

Peter Stuyvesant signs resolution to establish America's first orphanage in NY.

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1655

Mar 25

Puritans jail Governor Stone after a military victory over Catholic forces in the colony of Maryland.

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1656

Jan 24

First Jewish doctor in US, Jacob Lumbrozo, arrives in Maryland.

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Mar 10

In the colony of Virginia, suffrage is extended to all free men regardless of their religion.

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Jul 11

Ann Austin and Mary Fisher became the first Quakers to arrive in America, from Barbados, and were promptly arrested. Five weeks later, they were deported back to England.

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Sep 17

Massachusetts enacts severe laws against the Quakers. (At the time, government and religion were intricately interwoven; the line between blasphemy and treason was virtually nonexistent; and non-sacramental Quakerism gave the impression that the denomination was anti-government.)

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Oct 14

The first punitive legislation in Massachusetts against Quakers was enacted. (The marriage of church-and-state in Puritanism made them regard the ritual-free Quakers as spiritually apostate and politically subversive).

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1657

Apr 20

Jews in New Amsterdam win right to full citizenship; a landmark in American religious freedom.

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1658

Aug 12

The first police force in the U.S. is established in New York City.

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1660

Mar 13

A statute is passed limiting the sale of slaves in the colony of Virginia.

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1661

Dec 07

Under pressure from the British Parliament, the American Colony of Massachusetts suspended its Corporal Punishment Act of 1656, which had imposed harsh penalties on Quakers and other religious Nonconformists.

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1662

Jan 27

First American lime kiln begins operation (Providence RI).

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Apr 23

Connecticut chartered as an English colony.

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May 03

Royal charter granted Connecticut.

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Sep 12

Governor Berkley of Virginia is denied his attempts to repeal the Navigation Acts.

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Nov 27

First American lime kiln begins operation (Providence RI).

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1663

Mar 24

Charles II of England awards lands known as Carolina in North America to eight members of the nobility who assisted in his restoration.

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Apr 06

King Charles II signs Carolina Charter.

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Jul 08

Following restoration of the English monarchy, King Charles II grants a new charter was issued to the American colony of Rhode Island. It guaranteed religious freedom regardless of 'differencesin opinion in matters of religion.'

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1664

Mar 12

New Jersey became a British colony as King Charles II grants land in the New World to his brother James, the Duke of York.

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Mar 12

First naturalization act in American colonies.

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Charles II gives large tracks of land from west of the Connecticut River to the east of Delaware Bay in North America to his brother James, the Duke of York.

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Mar 24

In London, Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island.

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May 27

Colonial theologian Increase Mather, 24, was installed as minister of Boston's Second (Congregational) Church. He remained there until his death in 1723.

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Jun 15

NJ established.

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Jun 24

The colony of New Jersey, named after the Isle of Jersey, is founded.

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Jul 23

Wealthy non-church members in Massachusetts are given the right to vote.

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Sep 05

After days of negotiation, the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam surrenders to the British, who will rename it New York.

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Dec 15

English colonizing Connecticut.

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1665

Mar 11

New York's English Deputies approved a new legal code, which guaranteed all Protestants the right to practice their religious observances unhindered. (There were currently a host of Protestant groups thriving within this now_English colony, acquired only seven months earlier from the Dutch.).

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Jun 12

England installs municipal government in New York which had been under Dutch rule as New Amsterdam.

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1668

May 27

Three colonists are expelled from Massachusetts for being Baptists.

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1669

Dec 20

First jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery. This was the first rebellion against a British governor in North America.

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1672

May 15

First copyright law enacted by Massachusetts.

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1673

Mar 18

Lord Berkeley of England sold his half of the American colony of New Jersey to the Quakers.

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1674

Feb 09

The English re-conquer New York from Netherlands.

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Feb 19

Netherlands & England sign Peace of Westminster (NYC becomes English).

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Dec 04

French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette erected a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan, in present day IL. His log cabin became the first building of a settlement that afterward grew to become the city of Chicago.

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1675

Jan 08

The New York Fishing Company becomes the first corporation chartered in the United States.

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Jun 24

King Philip's War begins; colonists at Plymouth massacred by Indians under Wampanoag leader Philip.

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1676

Feb 10

Wampanoag Indians under King Philip kill all men in Lancaster MA.

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Apr 18

Sudbury, Massachusetts is attacked by Indians.

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May 10

Bacon's Rebellion, frontiersmen vs Virginia Government begins

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Jun 20

First formally declared "Day of Thanksgiving", Charlestown, MA.

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Aug 12

A bloody Indian war in New England ends. King Philip, Wampanoag chief, and many Narragansett Indians killed. (TWA, 1997)

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America's first court-martial trial held in Newport, R.I.-Indian Sowagonish found guilty.

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Aug 28

Indian chief King Philip, also known as Metacom, is killed by English soldiers, ending the war between Indians and colonists.

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Sep 01

Nathaniel Bacon leads an uprising against English Governor William Berkeley at Jamestown, Virginia, resulting in the settlement being burned to the ground. Bacon's Rebellion came in response to the governor's repeated refusal to defend the colonists against the Indians.

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Nov 16

On Nantucket Island, located in the English colony of Massachusetts, local authorities hire William Bunker to establish the first prison in the America colonies.

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1677

Mar 13

Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000.

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1678

Aug 03

Robert LaSalle builds first ship in America, Griffon.

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1679

Jul 10

The British crown claims New Hampshire as a royal colony.

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1680

Aug 10

Pueblo revolt starts between Pueblo Indians and their Spanish rulers.

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War starts when the Spanish are expelled from Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Indians under Chief Pope.

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Aug 21

Pueblo Indians took possession of Santa Fe, New Mexico, after driving out the Spanish.

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1681

Mar 04

William Penn is given land by King Charles II for a "holy experiment" of a Colony in Pennsylvania.

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Mar 10

English Quaker William Penn, 26, receives a charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of the colonial American territory known today as the state of Pennsylvania.

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Dec 23

Colonists repeal New England ban on Christmas celebrations after 22 years.

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1682

May 11

The General Court of Massachusetts repealed two laws which had been passed two years earlier: one forbade the keeping of Christmas, and the second mandated capital punishment for Quakers who returned to the colony after being banished.

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The first Welsh immigrants to the American colonies arrived in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and settled near modern Philadelphia.

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