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Jamestown to the French and Indian War: the making of colonial America.

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Colonial America · 1492-1763
Thirteen Colonies · 1492-1763

Colonial America

From Columbus's landfall and the first permanent settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth, through the growth of thirteen distinct colonies, the tragic rise of slavery, and the religious fervor of the Great Awakening, to the imperial wars that left Britain master of eastern North America. Slide across the years to trace the colonial roots of the United States.

1492 AD
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Columbus reaches the Americas

Sailing for Spain, Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Caribbean, opening the Americas to European colonization and the vast, often catastrophic Columbian Exchange.

1492 AD

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  • Event

    Columbus reaches the Americas

    Sailing for Spain, Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Caribbean, opening the Americas to European colonization and the vast, often catastrophic Columbian Exchange.

9 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 1492 AD

Full Chronicle

Colonial America

From Columbus's landfall and the first permanent settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth, through the growth of thirteen distinct colonies, the tragic rise of slavery, and the religious fervor of the Great Awakening, to the imperial wars that left Britain master of eastern North America. Slide across the years to trace the colonial roots of the United States.

  1. Contact

    • Columbus reaches the Americas

      Sailing for Spain, Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Caribbean, opening the Americas to European colonization and the vast, often catastrophic Columbian Exchange.

  2. First Settlements

    • Jamestown founded in Virginia

      English colonists plant Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America; after early starvation it survives on tobacco, a crop that will shape the Southern economy.

  3. Slavery Takes Root

    • The first enslaved Africans in Virginia

      A ship brings the first recorded enslaved Africans to Virginia, the beginning of a brutal system of racial slavery that will underpin the colonial economy for generations.

  4. New England

    • The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact

      Separatist Pilgrims land at Plymouth and sign the Mayflower Compact, an early agreement of self-government, founding a Puritan New England built around church and town meeting.

  5. Proprietary Colonies

    • William Penn founds Pennsylvania

      Quaker William Penn establishes Pennsylvania as a haven of religious tolerance, and lays out Philadelphia — soon one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the colonies.

  6. Fear and Faith

    • The Salem witch trials

      In Puritan Massachusetts a wave of witchcraft accusations leads to the execution of twenty people, a lasting emblem of mass hysteria and the dangers of religious zeal.

  7. The Great Awakening

    • A religious revival sweeps the colonies

      Fiery preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield spark the Great Awakening, an emotional revival that crosses colonial lines and fosters a shared American identity.

  8. Imperial War

    • The French and Indian War

      Britain and France, each allied with Indigenous nations, fight for control of North America. British victory removes the French threat but leaves London with enormous war debts.

  9. Aftermath of Victory

    • Treaty of Paris and the Proclamation Line

      The 1763 Treaty of Paris gives Britain a vast North American empire, but a royal proclamation barring settlement west of the Appalachians angers colonists eager for land.