A Brief Timeline of Events in America - 1626 - 1650

A Brief Timeline of Events in America - 1626 - 1650 1626 Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland 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 settles 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 patrons 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 EnglandBoston 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 what 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 the Maryland Colony. 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 criticizing 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 arrives 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 Colony 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 New England Confederation, also known as 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 Netherland.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. Source Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M., ed. The Almanac of American History. Barnes Nobles Books: Greenwich, CT, 1993.