U.S. History - Colonial Period
(1584-1700) last modified December 20, 2001
Although they were often violent, the Puritans were the idealistic generation of the Colonial Cycle. They were, for the most part, children and grandchildren of the violent Protestant Reformation in Europe. They were raised in the aftermath of the defeat of the Spanish Armada by England and in a time of great promise for mankind. They left England determined to build a perfectly moral society in America. They accomplished much of what 21st century Americans still remember of the colonial experience. Their accomplishments were sometimes referred to as the "Puritan Awakening." Two generations later, a determined a civic-minded generation called the "Glorious Generation" reacted to unrest and uncertainty in the colonies by beating back all their foes from the French to the Native Americans to other colonists. They even imagined that they had fought off the devil itself in the Salem witch trials of 1692. Fanatics of the time referred to these secular events as the "Glorious Revolution." Does this remind you of the Taliban?
How many so-called witches were put to death there? Isn't that similar to the Spanish Inquisition?
The English colonization of the Atlantic Coast of North America took place from about 1620 through end end of the 17th century. Prior to this time there had been Spanish settlements in Florida; the French had a colony in South Carolina, and Champlain was contemplating his colony on the St. Lawrence river; De Soto had discovered the Mississippi River and Sir Francis Drake as well as the Spanish in their galleons had explored the Pacific coast. Of course, the Spanish had a large presence in the Caribbean and Southern North America. The products of the New World were already being sampled in Europe as tobacco was introduced by slave traders in England as early as 1565; sugar cane and its byproduct rum were produced in the Caribbean; and fish and furs were harvested from the Northern continent. By the end of the 17th century, a dozen American colonies were functioning as roough but valuable components of the British colonial empire.
The 13 Original Colonies - The Founding of the American Colonies
Elizabethan Renaissance Era (1589-1620) Cohorts: Puritan Generation - Idealist Type (1584-1614) Miles Standish, John Winthrop, Roger Williams, William Bradford, Anne Hutchinson, Peter Stuyvesant, Edward Winslow, Thomas Hooker, Lord Baltimore, Pocahontas, Virginia Dare (the last two were native born). A one-page history of Pocahontas is available by email from André Fairchild.Timeline events: Outer-Driven Era
Sir Walter Raleigh landed on Roanoke Island in what is now North Carolina, and named the land Virginia in honor of the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth (1584). Sir Walter sent a colonizing expedition to Roanoke island (1585), but most of the Roanoke settlers gave up and returned to England with Sir Francis Drake (1585). John White returned to Roanoke and, finding nobody left alive there, he left another group of hardy settlers (1587). John White's grandchild Virginia Dare was first English child born in America (1587), Manteo was the first American Indian converted to Christianity (1587). Thomas Harriot published a book about the Roanoke settlement (1588), the legend of the "Lost Colony" was born when John White returned to Roanoke to find no trace of the settlers he had left (1590), Juan de Onate claimed territory in SW North America for Spain (1598), first Englishman to land in New England was Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold in Massachusetts (1602), Champlain sailed up the Saint Lawrence and French establish fur trade in New England and Canada (1603), Virginia Company of London and Virginia Company of Plymouth granted Royal Charters (1606), first Plymouth Company expedition waylayed by Spanish in Caribbean (1606), Jamestown, founded by the London Company, established the colony of Virginia (1607), Capt. John Smith saved by Pocahontas (1607), Jamestown faced disaster as hardship and dissention took their toll (1608), Pilgrims fled from England to escape religious persecution and ended up in The Netherlands (1608), Henry Hudson searched for NW passage (1609), Virginia was incorporated and many new settlers arrive (1609), the Spanish found Santa Fe (1609), Lord Delaware arrived in Jamestown to take control for the Virginia Co. (1610). In 1612, the Dutch settle what would become New York City, and tobacco was established as a crop in Virginia by John Rolfe. Sir Samuel Argall attacked Dutch and French settlements in New England (1613), John Rolfe married young Pocahontas (Christian name Rebecca)(1614).Foreign Timeline events:
Mary "Queen of Scots" beheaded (1587), defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), Bubonic Plague ravaged London (1593), Shakespeare completed "Romeo and Juliet" (1594), Boris Godunov made Czar of Russia (1598), Dutch East India company founded (1602), James VI of Scotland became James I, King of England, on the death of Queen Elizabeth (1603), Galileo demonstrated Law of Gravity (1604), Cervantes published Don Quixote (1605), Galileo's telescope (1609), Gustavus II became King of Sweden (1611), King James' version of the Bible published (1611), Japan expelled all foreign Missionaries (1614).
Puritan Awakening Era (1621-1640)
Cohorts: Cavalier Generation - Reactive Type (1615-1647)
Timeline events: Awakening Era
Samuel Champlain discovered Lake Huron for the French (1615), Pocahontas was presented at the Court of King James I (1616), the Dutch settled in Albany, NY (1617), Pilgrims granted a charter to settle in Virginia (1619), the Virginia House of Burgesses was elected (1619), first slaves were sold in Virginia (1619), Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock aboard the Mayflower establishing the colony of Massachusetts (1620), Virginia settlers organized the first public library (1620), Pilgrims reached a treaty with Chief Massassoit of the Wampanoag Tribe with Squanto as an interpreter (1621), William Bradford made second Governor of Plymouth when John Carver died (1621), first Thanksgiving celebrated (1621), Dutch West India Company formed (1621), [Puritan Awakening] (1621>), in England the lottery was banned and the Virginia Company went into receivership (1622), first Jamestown massacre (1622), Plymouth neighbor settlement at Wessagusset was abandoned (1623), Pilgrims began to cultivate corn (1623), laws based on social status instituted in Virginia (1623), Virginia Co. charter revoked and Virginia became a royal colony (1624), strong social code dictated in Virginia and Dutch colonies (1624), Peter Minuit buys Manhattan Island for 60 Dutch gilders and named it Nieuw Amsterdam, later to be known as the colony of New York (1626), Pilgrims buy out their London stockholders (1626), Roger Conant settled Naumkeag(Salem)(1626), John Winthrop arrived in Salem (1628), the Massachusetts Bay Company was formed in England with John Winthrop as its Governor (1629), the Council for New England granted New Hampshire to John Mason and King Charles granted Robert Heath the territory named Carolina (1629), Puritans settled Salem for the Massachusetts Bay Co. (1630>), John Winthrop began his "History of New England" (1630), Boston founded (1630), William Bradford began to write "History of Plymouth Plantation" (1630), Roger Williams arrived in Boston (1631), Sir Ferdinando Gorges began settlement of Maine/New Hampshire area (1631), Lord Baltimore was granted the Maryland charter by Charles I (1632), The Dutch formed first school in New Amsterdam and the first public school (The Boston Latin School) was formed in Boston (1633).
The colony of Maryland was settled (1633), boundary disputes erupted between Maryland and Virginia (1635), advocate of religious tolerance Roger Williams banished from Boston to found Rhode Island (1636), the radical mystical religious views of Anne Hutchinson are heard in Boston (1636), Thomas Hooker arrived in Hartford to found the colony of Connecticut (1636), Harvard College founded (1636), Pequot Indian wars involved a lot of killing (1637), Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts for sedition (1638), in Hartford Thomas Hooker espoused the radical view that political power should rest on the consent of the governed (1638), Peter Minuet led a group of Swedish settlers in founding New Sweden which later became Delaware (1638). Banished from Boston John Wheelwright founded the colony of New Hampshire (1638), the Fundamental orders were enacted in Connecticut, giving rise to government by popular consent (1639), Massachusetts adopted the "Body of Liberties" legal code based on the Old Testiment (1641), civil war broke out in England between the Puritans and supporters of Charles I (1642). Connecticut, Massachusetts, Plymouth and New Hampshire confederated as the "United Colonies of New England (1643), Roger Williams received formal charter for Rhode Island (1644), peace treaties achieved with local Indian tribes (1645); Massachusetts instituted the death penalty for heresy (1646), Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam (1647), Massachusetts required public education for citizens (1647), Rhode Island formally adopted separation of Church and State (1647). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Foreign Contemporaries: Charles II, John Locke, Louis XIV, William Penn, Louis Jolliet, René Robert de La Salle, Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Samuel Pepys, James II, John Murray (Earl of Atholl), John Dryden, Mary of Orange, William II, Blaise Pascal, Gottfried Leibniz, Prince Rupert, Jan Vermeer, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Robert Boyle
Foreign Timeline events
:Europeans vie for the Spice trade (1615), Tarters invade China (1616), Thirty Years War began (1618), Charles I succeeded James I to the English crown (1625), Rembrandt paints the "Money Changer" (1627), work was begun on the Taj Mahal (1628), King Charles dissolved parliament (1629), Cardinal Richelieu struggled with Marie de Medici for power in France (1630), René Descartes published "Discourse on Method" (1637), Portugal obtains independence from Spain (1640), income and property taxes were introduced in England (1642), Presbyterian Church established in England (1643), the Chinese Ming Dynasty fell to the Manchus (1644), Cromwell defeated Charles I at Naseby (1645), Pascal invented a hypodermic syringe (1646), first newspaper advertisement in England (1647).
Era of Religious Intolerance (1641-1674)
Cohorts: Glorious Generation - Civic Type (1648-1673)
Cotton Mather, William Fitzhugh, Robert Beverly, Jonathon Swift, Samuel Sewall, Joseph Talcott
Timeline events: Inner-Driven Era
Margaret Jones hanged for witchcraft in Boston (1648), Swedish and Dutch settlers feud (1648), Massachusetts grants shoemakers first recognition of a labor organization (1648), religious freedom was official in Maryland and Maine (1649), England tried to block Dutch trade from the colonies (1651), Swedish and Dutch colonists feud on the Delaware River (1651), colonial leaders who declare loyalty to Charles II are removed from Authority by English officials (1652), Rhode Island declared slavery illegal (1652), Massachusetts claims Maine (1652), war between English and Dutch effects colonial affairs (1652), Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaims itself independent (1652), settlers from Virginia begin to settle the area that eventually became North Carolina (1653), John Eliot published "Catechism in the Indian Language" the first book printed in a native language (1653), first Jewish immigration to North America (1654), Massachusetts continued its practice of religious intolerance by beating, imprisoning and banishing Quakers (1656). An all woman jury acquits woman charged with abortion in Maryland (1656), following Massachusetts' lead several colonies mistreated and banished Quakers (1657), John Eliot published the Bible in the Algonquin Language (1661), Connecticut received official charter (1662), King Charles II officially designated the colony of Carolina which included both North and South Carolina (1663), Duke of York obtained a grant that included all Dutch holdings in North America (1664), New Jersey formed by a grant from the Duke of York (1664), Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to English forces and New Amsterdam was renamed New York (1664), North Carolina adopts "Concessions and Agreements" as a governmental form (1664), colonies begin passing laws of servitude for slaves to get around English legal precedents which allow freeing of slaves who convert to Christianity (1664), except for the Massachusetts Bay Colony the colonies reluctantly agreed to swear allegiance to Crown and allow freedom of religion (1665), "Fundamental Constitutions" proposed in Carolina (1669), Hudson Bay Company formed (1670), Plymouth officials deal with "King Phillip" (Metacomet) son of Massassoit of the Wampanoag tribe (1671), the Royal Africa Company was granted a monopoly over slave trade (1672), first copyright law passed in Massachusetts (1672), Marquette and Jolliet explored the Mississippi (1673)
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Foreign Contemporaries: Queen Anne, Peter the Great, King William III, [Author's ancestor Robert Murray (born in Scotland)]
Foreign Timeline events:
Charles I was executed and the Commonwealth was established (1649), war between English and Dutch (1652), Charles II restored (1660), the English Crown expanded its Navigation Act (1660), English-Dutch hostilities resume (1673),
Glorious Revolution Era (1675-1692)
Cohorts: Enlightenment Generation - Adaptive Type (1674-1700)
William Shirley, Samuel Johnson, Daniel Dulany, Ebenezer Gay, Elisha Cooke, Jr.
Timeline events: Crisis Era
French Jesuit explorer Father Marquette established mission at site of present Chicago (1674), LaSalle obtains a patent to explore the Mississippi (1674), William Penn began to obtain rights to land for Quakers (1674), Indian Chief "King Phillip"'s War (1675), Bacon's Rebellion (1676), New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts (1680), Quakers settle Pennsylvania (1682), LaSalle reached and named the Louisiana Territory (1682), the planning for Philadelphia was begun (1682), William Penn negotiated a treaty with the Indians under the Treaty Elm (1683), Mennonites settle Germantown Pennsylvania (1683), Massachusetts Bay Colony charter revoked (1684), French Protestants (Huguenots) fled from Louis IV to settle in the Carolinas (1685), James II revoked Charters of Liberty in Colonies that required consent of governed for taxation (1686), Governor Edmond Andros took over New England and New York governments in the name of James II to become ruler of the northern colonies, proclaiming Anglican worship (1687), Governor Andros limits town meetings and took over local militias (1688), Quakers formally disowned slavery (1688), (the so-called Glorious Revolution resulted in the overthrow of King James II and reversal of his harsh policies)(1689), Royal government was tossed out and colonial self rule was reestablished (1689), Count Frontenac returned to Canada from France with military supplies to conquer the colonies (1689), King William's War began as French stage attacks on northern colonial towns (1690), Delaware separated from Pennsylvania(1692), Salem witch trials (1692), a system of Colonial post offices was planned (1692), College of William and Mary founded (1693), English colonists formed alliances with Iroquois indians (1694), another Navigation act was passed (1696), William Penn proposed an inter-colonial congress with a president appointed by the King (1697), King Williams War ended (1697), Captain Kidd the pirate was captured in Boston and sent to England (1699), Massachusetts and New York expelled Catholics (1700), population of colonies estimated to be around 275,000 (in 1700).
Foreign Contemporaries: Voltaire, Robert Walpole, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, James Edward Oglethorpe, Charles-Louis Montesquieu,
Foreign Timeline events:
The Duke of York became King James II of England (1685), deposition of James II and reversal of his harsh policies as he was replaced by William and Mary of Orange (1689)
posted by Andre Fairchild
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