istoryworld
Events relating to north america
Virginia Dare becomes the first English child to be born in America, on Roanoke Island
An English ship, the first to arrive at Roanoke Island since 1587, finds no remaining trace of the settlers or their settlement
Colonists establish the first lasting British settlement in the new world, at Jamestown
The Jamestown settlers meet an unfriendly reception from the local Powhatan Indians, having to use their muskets to beat off an attack within two weeks of their arrival
Quebec is founded by Samuel de Champlain as a centre for the French fur trade
John Smith claims (many years later) that when captured by Indians he was saved from execution by Pocahontas, daughter of the chief
Henry Hudson reaches the inlet of New York Bay and explores the river now known by his name
Henry Hudson, after wintering in Hudson Bay, is set adrift in an open boat by his mutinous crew
The American Indian princess Pocahontas is taken hostage by Jamestown colonists in the first Anglo-Powhatan war
Pocahontas is baptized a Christian and marries John Rolfe, one of the Jamestown colonists
Pocahontas fascinates Londoners when she arrives with her husband to publicize Jamestown
John Smith publishes A Description of New England, an account of his exploration of the region in 1614
The Pilgrims (or Pilgrim Fathers), a group of 102 English settlers, sail in the Mayflower to the new world
Ten days after their first landfall, at Cape Cod, the adult males on the Mayflower agree a form of government for their new colony
The Pilgrims on the Mayflower select a place for their settlement, and give it the name of Plymouth, their port of departure in England
William Bradford begins a journal of the Pilgrims' experience in New England, subsequently published (in 1856) as History of Plymouth Plantation
The Mayflower settlers in Plymouth offer thanksgiving for their first harvest, eating turkeys in a celebration shared by local Indians
William Bradford, one of the Pilgrims from the Mayflower, is elected governor of the new Plymouth Colony
A sudden attack by Powhatan Indians, led by their chieftain Opechancanough against the English colony at Jamestown, results in the death of more than 300 settlers
Tne English settlers in Virginia arrange a peace conference with the Powhatan Indians, using it as an opportunity to murder the Powhatan delegates
Peter Minuit purchases the island of Manhattan from local Indians and calls the place New Amsterdam
John Winthrop, appointed governor of the new Massachusetts Bay Company, sails from England with 700 settlers
John Winthrop selects the site of Boston for the first Massachusetts settlement
John Winthrop, arriving in Massachusetts, begins the journal that is eventually published as The History Of New England
Maryland is granted to Lord Baltimore as a haven for English Roman Catholics
