| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1620 | - 1620: Estimated colonial population — 2,300.
- 6 Sep 1620: 102 Pilgrims and crew onboard the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, Devon, England to America.
- 23 Dec 1620: The Pilgrims begin construction of Plymouth Colony in what is now Plymouth County, Massachusetts.
|
| 2 | 1624 | - 1624: The Dutch West India Company establishes the province of New Netherland. New Amsterdam becomes a trading post on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Fort Orange is built on the site of what is now Albany, Albany County, New York. A village around Fort Orange will soon be named Beverwyck.
|
| 3 | 1630 | - 1630: Estimated colonial population – 4,600.
|
| 4 | 1634 | - 1634: Henrico Shire [County] is established as 1 of the 8 original shires of the Virginia Colony.
- 1634: Warrosquyoake Shire [County] is established as 1 of the 8 original shires of the Virginia Colony. It is named after a local Indian tribe.
- 25 Mar 1634: First settlers arrive in Maria’s Land [later to be Maryland].
|
| 5 | 1636 | - 28 Oct 1636: Harvard College is founded in Newtowne [later to be Cambridge] in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
|
| 6 | 1637 | - 1637: Isle of Wight Shire [County] becomes the new name for Warrosquyoake Shire [County] in the Virginia Colony.
|
| 7 | 1640 | - 1640: Estimated colonial population — 26,600.
|
| 8 | 1646 | - 1646: Nansemond County, Virginia becomes the new name for Upper Norfolk County, Virginia. It is named for the Nansemond Indians.
|
| 9 | 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.
|
| 10 | 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.
|
| 11 | 1650 | - 1650: Estimated colonial population – 50,400.
|
| 12 | 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.
|
| 13 | 1654 | - 20 Nov 1654: New Kent County, Virginia is formed with land from York County, Virginia.
|
| 14 | 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.
|
| 15 | 1660 | - 1660: Estimated colonial population – 75,100.
|
| 16 | 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.
|
| 17 | 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.
|
| 18 | 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.
|
| 19 | 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.
|
| 20 | 1670 | - 1670: Estimated colonial population — 111,900.
|
| 21 | 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.
|
| 22 | 1676 | - 19 Sep 1676: Nathaniel Bacon leads a rebellion against Governor William Berkeley and burns Jamestown in the Virginia Colony. Nathaniel is age 29.
|
| 23 | 1680 | - 1680: Estimated colonial population — 151,500.
|
| 24 | 1681 | - 4 Mar 1681: William Penn is granted a charter for the Pennsylvania Colony at about age 36.
|
| 25 | 1682 | - 10 Mar 1682: Philadelphia County and Bucks County are formed in the Pennsylvania Colony.
|
| 26 | 1683 | - 1 Nov 1683: Albany County is established as 1 of 12 original counties in the Province of New York.
|
| 27 | 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.
|
Bef 1613 - Bef 1684 (< 71 years)