American History Timeline (1626 – 1650)

1626

• Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherlands and later buys Manhattan from the Native Americans for items worth approximately $24. He then names the island New Amsterdam.

1627

• Plymouth Colony and New Amsterdam begin trading.
• A shipload of approximately 1500 kidnapped children is sent from England to the Virginia colony to increase the number of settlers in the colony.

1628

• A group of settlers led by John Endecott settle at Salem. This begins the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1629

• The Massachusetts Bay Colony is given a royal charter.
• The Dutch West India Company begins to give land grants to patroons who will bring at least 50 settlers to the colonies.
• John Winthrop is elected the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• King Charles I grants Sir Robert Heath a territory in North America that is to be called Carolina.

1630

• John Winthrop leads over 900 colonists to settle in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• John Winthrop also begins writing the History of New England Boston is officially established.
• William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth colony, begins writing History of Plymouth Plantation.

1631

• Despite the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter, it is decided that only church members are allowed to become freemen who are allowed to vote for colony officials.
• Sir Ferdinando Gorges is given a land grant and begins to settle which will eventually become Maine.

1632

• In the Massachusetts Bay Colony issues such as no taxation without representation and representative government are beginning to be addressed.
• King Charles I grants Lord Baltimore a royal charter to found Maryland. Since Baltimore is Roman Catholic, the right to religious freedom is granted to Maryland.

1633

• The first town government is organized in the city of Dorchester within the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• The first school in America is founded in New Amsterdam.

1634

• The first settlers for the new Maryland colony arrive in North America.

1635

• Confrontations occur between Virginia and Maryland based on boundary disputes between the two colonies.
• The charter for the Massachusetts Bay Company is revoked. The colony refuses to yield to this, however.
• Roger Williams is ordered banished from Massachusetts after critizing the colony and promoting the idea of separation of church and state.

1636

• The Township Act is passed in the Massachusetts Bay general court giving towns the ability to govern themselves to some extent.
• Thomas Hooker arrive in Hartford Connecticut and founds the first church of the territory.
• Roger Williams founds the present-day city of Providence, Rhode Island.
• Open warfare begins with Pequot Indians after the death of New England trader John Oldham.
• Harvard University is founded.

1637

• After numerous encounters, the Pequot Indians are massacred by a force of Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, and Plymouth colonists. The tribe is virtually eliminated.
• Anne Hutchinson is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1638

• Anne Hutchinson leaves for Rhode Island and founds Portsmouth with William Coddington.
• Peter Minuit dies in a shipwreck.

1639

• The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut are enacted.
• Sir Ferdinando Gorges is named the governor of Maine by royal charter.
• New Hampshire settlers sign the Exeter Compact.

1640

• Dutch colonists settle in the Delaware River area.

1641

• Massachusetts Bay Colony takes over the jurisdiction of New Hampshire.

1642

• New Netherland fights against the Hudson River Valley Indians who have been making raids against the colony. Both sides will later sign a truce that will last a year.

1643

• The United Colonies of New England, a confederation of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Plymouth, and New Hampshire, is formed.
• Anne Hutchinson is murdered by Indians on Long Island.

1644

• Roger Williams is granted a royal charter for Rhode Island.

1645

• The Dutch and the Hudson River Valley Indians conclude peace after four years of warfare.
• The New England Confederation sign a peace treaty with the Naragansett Indians.

1646

• Massachusetts becomes increasingly intolerant as they pass a law making heresy punishable by death.

1647

• Peter Stuyvesant assumes the leadership of New Netherlands.
• Rhode Island General Assembly drafts a constitution allowing for separation of church and state.

1648

• The Dutch and the Swedes compete for the land around present-day Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River. They each build forts and the Swedes burn down the Dutch fort twice.

1649

• King Charles I of the House of Stuart is excommunicated in England. Virginia sides with the house of Stuart.
• Toleration Act is passed in Maryland allowing for religious freedom.
• Maine also passes legislation allowing for religious freedom.

1650

• Maryland is allowed to have a bicameral legislature by order of Lord Baltimore.
• Virginia is blockaded by England after declaring allegiance to the House of Stuart.