This is a timeline of the Thirteen Colonies, tracing the European exploration and settlement of eastern North America from the late 16th century through the American Revolution and the recognition of American independence in 1783. It covers the founding of English colonies including Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, alongside competing Spanish, French, and Dutch colonial ventures, conflicts with Native American nations, and the political developments that led to the Thirteen Colonies' break from British rule and the American Revolutionary War. 1553–1603 - Reigns of Mary I of England (1553-1558) and Elizabeth I of England
1560–1603 – "Elizabethan Sea Dogs" (privateers), state-sanctioned attacks and plunder of Spanish ships 1570 – Spanish attempt to found the Ajacán Mission in Virginia 1585 – The Roanoke Colony is founded. English. 1587 – Virginia Dare born; first English child born in North America. 1588 – Thomas Harriot publishes A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, an account of his voyage to Roanoke; contains an early account of the Native American population encountered by the expedition; it proved very influential upon later English explorers and colonists. 1590 – John White discovers Roanoke abandoned. 1595 – Spanish attempt to found the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato in Georgia.
1603-1625 - Reign of James VI and I 1603 – Martin Pring maps Cape Cod and Massachusetts. 1605 – George Weymouth explores New England. 1606 – The London Company and the Plymouth Company are granted charters by the crown. 1607 – Founding of the Jamestown, Virginia, first permanent English overseas colony. Attempted colony at Sagadahoc fails. 1609–10 – The Starving Time at Jamestown. 1609 – Henry Hudson explores the Hudson River, establishes Dutch claim to New Netherland 1609-1646 Anglo-Powhatan Wars between Indigenous peoples of Virginia and English settlers appropriating their territory 1611–1616 – Thomas Dale and Thomas Gates serve as Governor of Virginia. 1613 – Shirley Plantation is founded. Oldest continually operated farm in the United States. Deputy Governor of Virginia Samuel Argall raids Saint-Saveur in Port-Royal (Acadia), now Maine. 1614 – Peace between the Virginia colony and the Powhatan Confederacy. 1619 – First meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses. First enslaved Africans in Virginia. 1620 – The Council for New England founded. The Pilgrims found the Plymouth Colony. 1622 – Indian massacre of 1622 in Virginia. 1624 – Virginia Company collapses and Virginia becomes a crown colony. Dutch West India Company founds New Netherland. 1624–1626 – Massachusetts Bay Colony founded. 1624–1628 – Mohawks defeat the Mahicans.
1625-1649 - reign of Charles I of England 1626 – Founding of Salem, Massachusetts (originally called "Naumkeag"). 1626 – Peter Minuit purchases Manhattan. 1628 – Dorchester Company reorganized as the New England Company. 1629 – New England Company reorganized as the Massachusetts Bay Company. John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges agree to split their land claims into New Hampshire and Maine. 1629 – Kiliaen van Rensselaer institutes the patroon system in New Netherland. 1630 – Puritans found Boston and ten other settlements in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Winthrop preaches his City upon a Hill sermon. First meeting of the Massachusetts General Court. 1632 - George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore obtains charter to found the Province of Maryland. 1634 – Creation of the shires of Virginia. Council members insist on viewing the Massachusetts charter. 1634 - First English settlers arrive in Maryland. 1634–1636 – First English settlements in the Connecticut River Valley. 1635 – Roger Williams expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1635 - First meeting of the Maryland General Assembly. 1635 - Saybrook Colony founded. 1636 – Connecticut Colony founded. 1636 - Roger Williams founds the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 1636 - Harvard University founded, oldest English university in America. 1637 – The Pequot War results in the killing of many of the Pequot people. 1637 - New Haven Colony is founded. 1637 - Anne Hutchinson expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1638 – Founding of New Sweden. First mention of slavery in the laws of the Province of Maryland. 1639 – Crown formally recognizes the Virginia Assembly. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut adopted. 1641 – First meeting of representatives in New Netherland. Four New Hampshire towns vote to join Massachusetts. Massachusetts Body of Liberties adopted by General Court. 1643 – The New England Confederation is founded. 1643–1645 – Kieft's War between the Native Americans and the Dutch settlers. 1644 – Parliament grants charter to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Saybrook Colony incorporated into the Connecticut Colony. 1644–1646 – Second Native American Massacre. The Plundering Time in Maryland. 1646 – Peter Stuyvesant becomes Director-General of New Netherland. 1647 – Witch trials in Connecticut begin. 1648 – The Cambridge Platform. 1649 – Death of John Winthrop.
1649-1660 - English Commonwealth 1650 - Virginia targeted by Parliament for supporting the Royalist cause. 1651 – First Navigation Act issued. Virginia acknowledges the authority of the Parliament of England rather than the monarchy. 1652 – Massachusetts Bay Colony authorizes John Hull and Robert Sanderson to issue colonial coinage. Maine incorporated into Massachusetts. 1655 – Dutch conquer New Sweden. The Peach Tree War between Dutch settlers and the Susquehannock and allied tribes. Maryland fights the Battle of the Severn. 1656 – First Quakers arrive in New England. 1657 – Jews allowed to become burghers of New Amsterdam. Flushing Remonstrance lays groundwork for religious freedom in America.
1660-1685 - Reign of Charles II of England 1660 – William Berkeley restored as governor of Virginia as part of the Stuart Restoration. 1660 - First of the Navigation Acts enumerates exports from the colonies. Execution of Mary Dyer. 1662 – Crown confirms the charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut. New Haven Colony incorporated into the Connecticut Colony. Half-Way Covenant in New England. In the Colony of Virginia, the House of Burgesses passes a law declaring that, with respect to slavery, children take the status of their mother. 1663 – Second Navigation Act regulates exports to the colonies. Crown grants proprietary charter creating the Province of Carolina. 1664 – Royal Commission of 1664 investigates conditions in New England. As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, England captures New Netherland and renames it the Province of New York. 1665 – The Duke's Laws are issued. Royal commission establishes royally controlled Province of Maine. 1668 – Massachusetts Bay Colony reasserts control over Province of Maine 1669 – The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina are drawn up. Revolt of the Long Swede in Delaware. 1670 – Charleston, South Carolina is founded, originally as Charles Town. 1672–1674 – Third Anglo-Dutch War. 1673 – Third Navigation Act regulates intercolonial trade. Virginia land rights given to Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper and Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington. 1674 – East Jersey and West Jersey chartered. 1675-1678 – King Philip's War between Native Americans and English settlers; Northfield, Massachusetts abandoned. 1676 – Bacon's Rebellion quashed. Metacomet defeated; war continues in Maine as First Abenaki War. William Penn and the Quakers purchase West Jersey. 1677 – Colonists in North Carolina rebel against Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper. Edmund Andros, Governor of New York, negotiates the Covenant Chain with the Iroquois. 1680 – Destruction of the Westo people in South Carolina. Charleston, South Carolina relocated to its current location. Province of New Hampshire becomes a royal colony. 1681 – William Penn granted charter to establish Province of Pennsylvania. Edward Randolph appointed customs collector for New England. City of London loses its charter. 1682 – Philadelphia founded. Plant cutter riots in Gloucester County, Virginia. Edward Cranfield first royally appointed and imposed governor in New England. 1683 – "Hull Mint" closed. John Hull dies. Gove's Rebellion occurs for 1 day in Province of New Hampshire 1683 – Province of New York holds first assembly and issues the Charter of Liberties. Institution of quo warranto proceedings against the Province of Massachusetts.
1685-1689 - Reign of James II of England 1685 – Articles of misdemeanor drawn up against provinces of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Creation of the Dominion of New England. 1686 – Edmund Andros becomes Governor General of the Dominion of New England. First German Pietists arrive in Pennsylvania. 1687 – New England protests against arbitrary taxes. Reverend John Wise jailed. 1688 – Province of New York added to the Dominion of New England.
1689-1694 - Reign of William III and Mary II 1689 – April: Dominion of New England overthrown in Boston. June: Leisler's Rebellion. July: Proprietary government overthrown in Maryland. Beginning of King William's War in the colonies. George Keith controversy divides Pennsylvania Quakers. 1690 – Schenectady, New York devastated by French and Native American troops. Massachusetts Bay Colony becomes first colony to issue paper money. 1691 – The Province of Carolina passes a law for the better ordering of slaves. Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and Nova Scotia combine to form Province of Massachusetts Bay. 1692 – First of the Salem witch trials. 1693 – The College of William & Mary founded in Williamsburg. Rice culture introduced in the Province of Carolina.
1694-1702 - Reign of William III of England (as sole monarch) 1697 – Treaty of Ryswick signed, ending King William's War. 1699 – Parliament bans export of colonial woolens. Free blacks ordered to leave the Colony of Virginia. Mary Allerton, last surviving passenger on the Mayflower, dies. 1700 – William Kidd arrested in Boston. 1701 – William Penn issues his last frame of government. Delaware Colony granted charter, separating it from Pennsylvania. Yale College founded. 1702 – East Jersey and West Jersey merge, becoming the Province of New Jersey. Beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession in Europe / Queen Anne's War in the colonies. Province of Carolina attacks St. Augustine.
1702-1714 - Reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain 1704 – Raid on Deerfield. The Province of Carolina allows the arming of slaves during time of war. 1705 – The House of Burgesses passes the Virginia Slave Codes of 1705. 1706 – Benjamin Franklin born, oldest US founding father. 1711–12 – North Carolina begins the Tuscarora War in fighting with the Tuscarora people. 1712 – New York Slave Revolt of 1712. 1713 – Treaty of Utrecht ends Queen Anne's War.
1714-1727 - Reign of George I of Great Britain 1715 – South Carolina begins the Yamasee War against the Yamasee people. 1718 – Blackbeard killed by naval forces of the Colony of Virginia. 1719 – Rebellion against proprietary officials in South Carolina; Carolina converted to a crown colony. 1720 – =Slaves become the majority of the population in South Carolina. 1721 – 1721 Boston smallpox outbreak leads to first public inoculation drive. 1722 – Beginning of Dummer's War 1723 – Colony of Virginia passes an act to deal with slave conspiracies.
1727-1760 - Reign of George II of Great Britain 1729 – Proprietary rights to South and North Carolina are surrendered. ca. 1730 – For the first time, the majority of slaves in Chesapeake, Virginia were born in the New World. 1732 – The Province of South Carolina attempts to ban the import of slaves. The Province of Georgia is founded. 1735 – The Province of Georgia bans slavery. 1736 – Bellevue Hospital founded in New York City.