Colonial America Timeline (1492-1763)
| 1000 | Leif Ericson explores the North American East Coast. |
|---|---|
| 1492 | Aug 3. Christopher Columbus sails on First Voyage. |
| 1497 | July. John Cabot on his first voyage searching for the Northwest Passage. |
| 1499 | Amerigo Vespucci finds the South American Coast. |
| 1507 | “America” is first used in a book, referring to the New World. Amerigo Vespucci receives credit for the discovery of the continent. |
| 1513 | Spaniard Ponce de Leon makes landfall in Florida. |
| 1517 | Oct 31. Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther is launched in Europe. |
| 1524 | French sponsored navigator Giovanni da Verrazano discovers the Hudson River. |
| 1534 | Sep. Jacques Cartier sails from France to explore the New World. |
| 1541 | Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto explores the Mississippi River. |
| 1565 | Spain establishes the first European Colony in North America, St. Augustine, Florida. |
| 1577 | Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth to return to England. |
| 1584 | July 4. First Expedition, led by Sir Walter Raleigh, arrives at Roanoke Island. |
| 1585 | The first English settlement, the Roanoke Colony, is established. |
| 1587 | Aug 18. Virginia Dare is the first English child born in the Roanoke Colony. |
| 1607 | May 14. Jamestown, Virginia is the first established colony of the 13 Colonies. |
| 1607 | Dec. Captain John Smith is captured by the Powhatans at Werowocomoco. |
| 1609 | Colonists’ plant and harvest native tobacco in Virginia. |
| 1609 | Aug. 4. Henry Hudson sailed into Cape Cod. |
| 1610 | During that winter of 1609-1610, nearly 440 settlers of Jamestown die because of what is known as Starving Time. |
| 1614 | Tobacco farmer John Rolfe marries Pocahontas, daughter of Cheif Powhatan. |
| 1620 | Nov. 11. Earliest Plymouth Colony document is known as the Mayflower Compact |
| 1620 | Dec. 21 Landing party arrives what is to become the Plymouth Colony. |
| 1621 | Nov. The Pilgrims celebrate the First Thanksgiving at Plymouth. |
| 1626 | Manhattan Island was bought by Peter Minuit from Native Americans. |
| 1629 | King Charles I try to rule as absolute Monarch, leading people to leave for the American Colonies. |
| 1629 | Massachusetts Bay Colony Royal charter was issued by Parliament. |
| 1635 | The first public school in America is established, Boston Latin School. |
| 1636 | Harvard College in Massachusetts is founded. |
| 1638 | Cambridge, Massachusetts is where the first Colonial printing press is located. |
| 1641 | New England makes Slavery legal. |
| 1652 | Rhode Island passes the first law within the colonies making slavery illegal. |
| 1663 | Feb. 12. Cotton Mather was born in Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 1673 | May. Marquette and Joliet cross Lake Michigan into Wisconsin |
| 1675 | July 8. Earliest attacks against Colonists begins King Philip’s War. |
| 1676 | July 30. Declaration of the People of Virginia leads to Bacon’s Rebellion. |
| 1677 | Colonists in North Carolina rebel against taxation by the English. |
| 1681 | Pennsylvania is established by William Penn. |
| 1690 | King William’s War starts to spread to the colonies. |
| 1692 | Feb. Salem Witch trials take place in a village in Massachusetts. |
| 1699 | The parliament in England passes the Wool Act. |
| 1705 | The Virginia Black Code is passed in Virginia. |
| 1706 | Jan. 17. Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 1707 | Act of the Union combines England, Scotland, and Wales as part of the United Kingdom. |
| 1710 | Post Office Act passes in the English parliament. Begins a postal system in the colonies. |
| 1718 | May 7. The French establishes New Orleans. |
| 1720 | Population of the American colonists number 475,000. |
| 1732 | Feb. 22. George Washington of Virginia is born. |
| 1737 | First copper Coins of the Colony are minted in Connecticut. |
| 1754 | June 19. Delegates from seven colonies met at the Albany Congress. |
| 1763 | Feb. 10. French and Indian War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. |