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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1640 | - 1640: Estimated colonial population — 26,600.
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| 2 | 1646 | - 1646: Nansemond County, Virginia becomes the new name for Upper Norfolk County, Virginia. It is named for the Nansemond Indians.
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| 3 | 1648 | - 30 Jan 1648: The Netherlands gains full independence from Spain at the close of the Eighty Years' War. This is done in 1 of the series of treaties of the Peace of Westphalia.
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| 4 | 1649 | - 30 Jan 1649: Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland is beheaded at age 48. During his 23-year reign, Charles I was unpopular because he was thought to have moved the Church of England too close to Catholicism. He also levied taxes without Parliament's consent and lost the two English Civil Wars before he was captured. His execution ended the monarchy for 11 years. It was replaced by the Rump Parliament in a republic known as the Commonwealth of England. Puritanism became dominant.
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| 5 | 1650 | - 1650: Estimated colonial population – 50,400.
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| 6 | 1653 | - 20 Apr 1653: Military and political leader Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament of the Commonwealth of England.
- 16 Dec 1653: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was focused on uniting these peoples and largely left the American colonies alone.
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| 7 | 1654 | - 20 Nov 1654: New Kent County, Virginia is formed with land from York County, Virginia.
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| 8 | 1658 | - 3 Sep 1658: Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, dies at age 59. He is succeeded by his son Richard Cromwell who governs ineffectively and resigns in 8 months.
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| 9 | 1660 | - 1660: Estimated colonial population – 75,100.
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| 10 | 1661 | - 30 Jan 1661: The corpse of Oliver Cromwell is exhumed, hung in chains and beheaded. Cromwell's head will be displayed outside Westminister Hall until 1685.
- 23 Apr 1661: Charles II is crowned King of England, Scotland and Ireland at age 30 after a 9-year exile in France. His reign is known as the Restoration, and his Parliament enacted anti-Puritan laws. Charles II eventually gave indications that he would convert to Catholicism in the future, but he did not convert until he was about to die in 1685.
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| 11 | 1662 | - 1662: The first settlement of Schenectady is established in what is now Schenectady County, New York. Its first settlers were citizens of Beverwyck [later to be Albany], which is about 18 miles to the southeast. All but one of the first settlers were natives of the Netherlands.
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| 12 | 1664 | - 27 Aug 1664: The English take New Netherland from the Dutch without a fight and soon rename it New York. Beverwyck is soon renamed Albany, and New Amsterdam is soon renamed New York.
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| 13 | 1669 | - 4 Oct 1669: Rembrandt van Rijn dies at age 63 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He is considered the most important Dutch painter of the Dutch Golden Age occurring in the 17th century.
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| 14 | 1670 | - 1670: Estimated colonial population — 111,900.
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| 15 | 1673 | - 17 Jun 1673: French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet and French missionary and explorer Jacques Marquette [Père Marquette] explore the upper Mississippi River. They are the first Europeans to explore it to the mouth of the Arkansas River. [The mouth of the Arkansas River is in what is now southeast Arkansas about 600 miles north of what is now New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana.] Jolliet is about age 28, and Marquette is about age 36.
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| 16 | 1676 | - 19 Sep 1676: Nathaniel Bacon leads a rebellion against Governor William Berkeley and burns Jamestown in the Virginia Colony. Nathaniel is age 29.
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| 17 | 1680 | - 1680: Estimated colonial population — 151,500.
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| 18 | 1681 | - 4 Mar 1681: William Penn is granted a charter for the Pennsylvania Colony at about age 36.
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| 19 | 1682 | - 10 Mar 1682: Philadelphia County and Bucks County are formed in the Pennsylvania Colony.
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| 20 | 1683 | - 1 Nov 1683: Albany County is established as 1 of 12 original counties in the Province of New York.
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| 21 | 1684 | - 4 Nov 1684: The Schenectady settlement is patented as a township with municipal rights. It is located in what is now Schenectady County, New York.
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| 22 | 1686 | - 22 Jul 1686: Albany, New York is incorporated as a city.
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| 23 | 1690 | - 1690: Estimated colonial population — 210,400.
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| 24 | 1691 | - 12 May 1691: King and Queen County, Virginia is formed with land from New Kent County, Virginia.
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| 25 | 1699 | - Jun 1699: The seat of government of the Virginia Colony is moved from Jamestown about 10 miles east to Middle Plantation in what is now James City County, Virginia. Middle Plantation is soon renamed Williamsburg.
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| 26 | 1700 | - 1700: Estimated colonial population – 250,900.
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| 27 | 1701 | - 12 Sep 1701: King William County, Virginia is formed with land from King and Queen County, Virginia.
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| 28 | 1702 | - 8 Mar 1702: Queen Anne begins her 12-year reign as Queen of England at age 37.
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| 29 | 1706 | - 17 Jan 1706: Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
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| 30 | 1707 | - 1 May 1707: Great Britain is formed by the union of England and Scotland.
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| 31 | 1710 | - 1710: Estimated colonial population – 331,700.
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| 32 | 1711 | - 1711: About 600-700 Palatine Germans travel from temporary camps on the Hudson River to establish the first settlements in what is now Schoharie County, New York. The German settlements are on the east side of Schoharie Creek. [The settlements are about 25 miles southwest of Schenectady and about 30 miles west of Albany.] The southernmost dorf [village] is in what is now Middleburgh. That dorf is called Weiser's Dorf, and it is headed by John Conrad Weiser.
- 1711: England's Queen Anne induces Germans to emigrate to New York to increase the population of the English colony. She promises that the land on which they settled will be free.
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| 33 | 1715 | - 1715: The Palatine Germans in the Schoharie Valley of New York are poor, speak little English and do not understand what is necessary to take clear title to their lands. Unlike the wealthier Dutch landholders, the Germans are tardy in seeking patents for the land they are occupying. They resist all attempts by the government in Albany to provide clear individual titles to their lands. Instead, they insist that Queen Anne’s promise of free land is sufficient by itself. They abuse government agents and are increasingly suspicious of Dutch landholders moving into the Schoharie Valley. The Germans believe that the Dutch landholders are either trying to take their lands or trying to isolate them. The Germans are growing increasingly more threatening and more violent.
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| 34 | 1720 | - 1720: Spotsylvania County, Virginia is formed with land from Essex County, King and Queen County and King William County, Virginia.
- 1720: Estimated colonial population – 466,200.
- 20 Nov 1720: Hanover County, Virginia is formed with land from New Kent County, Virginia.
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| 35 | 1722 | - 1722: Carteret County, North Carolina is formed with land from Craven Precinct of the Bath District.
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| 36 | 1727 | - 6 Mar 1727: Goochland County, Virginia is formed with land from Henrico County, Virginia.
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| 37 | 1728 | - 14 Oct 1728: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Chester County, Pennsylvania.
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| 38 | 1729 | - 1729: King George II purchases Carolina lands from a group of proprietors and designates North Carolina and South Carolina as royal colonies. King George II is age 45.
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| 39 | 1730 | - 1730: Estimated colonial population — 629,400.
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| 40 | 1732 | - 1732: Winchester, Spotsylvania County [later to be Orange County, then Frederick County], Virginia is established by Pennsylvania Quakers.
- 22 Feb 1732: George Washington is born in Bridges Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia. This area is located just inland from the Potomac River and is not far from the Potomac's entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
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| 41 | 1734 | - 20 Sep 1734: Orange County [later to be Frederick County], Virginia, is formed with land from Spotsylvania County.
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| 42 | 1738 | - 1738: Frederick County, Virginia is authorized to be established with land from Orange County, Virginia. [The government for Frederick County will not be formed until 1743.]
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| 43 | 1743 | - 13 Apr 1743: Thomas Jefferson is born at Shadwell in Goochland County [later to be Albemarle County], Virginia near what will be Monticello and what is now Charlottesville, Virginia.
- 11 Nov 1743: The government of Frederick County, Virginia is established. Frederick County's land is formed with land from Orange County, Virginia. [Frederick County was originally authorized on December 15, 1738.]
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| 44 | 1748 | - 23 Mar 1748: Cumberland County, Virginia is formed with land from Goochland County, Virginia.
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| 45 | 1749 | - 14 Oct 1749: York County, Pennsylvania is formed with land from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
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