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104 English men and boys arrived and wanted to make a settlement. They decided upon Jamestown, Virginia as this settlement. Named after King James the first, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
The colony of Jamestown nearly starves to extinction, with only 60 people remaining. There had originally been trade established with local native tribes; however, issues arose in the relations between the people of Jamestown and the tribes the colonists traded with. Supplies were lost at sea, and there was no outside support for food. The people of Jamestown resorted to eating dug up corpses. -
The 60 remaining people of Jamestown discovered tobacco during this time, which they sent to England. This crop became the first major one of the English Atlantic trade, despite having been grown for hundreds of years before that. -
The White Lion, a Dutch ship, brought 20 African slaves to Jamestown. These African slaves were taken from the Portugese slave ship, Sao Jao Bautista. -
The House of Burgesses stemmed from the General Assembly of Virginia, which was the first elective governing body in Britain's overseas colonies. It was established by Governor George Yeardley at Jamestown. -
The adult male passengers of the Mayflower signed the Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, known today as the Mayflower Compact. This was the first governing document of the colony of Plymouth. It established that the colonists would remain loyal subjects to King James (this clearly didn't last long), create laws for the good of their colony, abide by such created laws, create one society that would work together, and live in line with the Christian faith. -
The Mayflower, carrying 102 passengers, arrived at Plymouth Harbor on this day. The colonists began building the town; until their houses were built, the colonists lived on the ship. -
This act set up the first amendment of the Constitution. It established the freedom of religion for only Christian settlers of diverse persuasions in the colony of Maryland. This act also made the blaspheme of God, the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, or the early apostles and evangelists, punishable by law.
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During the month of December, Virginia established a law that made the children of an enslaved woman also slaves. There were no exceptions to the children with a father that was not a slave himself. -
Over 40 years after the Dutch first settled along the Hudson River, their colony of New Amsterdam is taken over by the English. The English re-named it New York. In March of this year, the England's king, Charles II, gave this land to his brother, the Duke of York, despite it belonging to the Dutch. The Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, basically surrendered the land. It was signed over on September 9th, 1664. -
This law, passed by Virginia in 1667, made sure that, even slaves who were baptized, still had to work as slaves. This was despite the fact that many religious figures, like preachers, justified the enslavement of Africans because they were God's choice to be converted.
