Thirteen Colonies Timeline

Date Event
August John White returns to Roanoke and finds deserted land.
After helping establish the first English settlement on the Island of
18, Roanoke, off the coast of modern day North Carolina, John White
reluctantly returned to England for supplies. Delayed by war for three years,
1590 hehappened
returns in 1590 to find the colonists are gone. It is still not known what
to them.

1607
Virginia becomes the first colony.

Virginia is founded under a patent for the London Company and becomes
the first British colony in North America. Jamestown, Virginia is the first
permanent English settlement.

1620
Massachusetts is founded.

The King of England grants a charter to a group of Puritans to allow them to

form a colony along the Massachusetts Bay. The Puritans form the colony
of Massachusetts as a place to spread their religion and extend the empire of
Great Britain.

1623
New Hampshire is founded.

New Hampshire is created as a fishing colony by Captain John Mason. It is

named for Hampshire County in England.

1624
Lord Baltimore founds the colony of Maryland.

The first colonists from England to arrive on the western shore of Maryland
call it St. Mary's. George Calvert, the first Lord of Baltimore, is acting
under a royal charter to create a colony to serve as a refuge for Catholics.

1636
Puritans establish the colony of Connecticut.

Puritan minister Thomas Hooker and Governor John Haynes of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony establish River Colony, later called Connecticut.
Hooker lost support in Massachusetts for his belief in government being led
by the consent of the people, not just God's will.

1636
Rhode Island is founded by Roger Williams.

After being kicked out Massachusetts for his belief in the separation of
church and state, Roger Williams goes to live with the Narragansett Indians.
He forms Providence, which will be the capital of Rhode Island.

1638
Delaware is founded by Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Company.

Peter Minuit of the Netherlands establishes a colony called New Sweden.

Minuit later is forced to give up the colony when King Charles II takes
control of the area called "New Netherland" and tells him to give it to his
brother James, the Duke of York. James renames New Sweden Delaware.
 1653
A group of Virginians establishes Carolina.

Acting on a charter from King Charles II, eight noblemen from Virginia
create a settlement south of Virginia. They call it Carolina, although it is
divided into North Carolina and South Carolina when the crown takes
control of the colony in 1729.

1664
Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret found New Jersey.

James, the Duke of York, gives land from New Netherland to his friends
Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. They call the colony New Jersey
and advertise it as a place of religious freedom.

1664
The Duke of York establishes New York.

With the Duke of York in control of the former Dutch trading post, he
renames it New York. The city the Dutch called New Amsterdam becomes
New York City.

1682
Pennsylvania is established by William Penn.

Acting on a land grant that is owed to his deceased father, William Penn
creates a colony to serve as a refuge for Quakers under persecution in
England. By 1700, it grows to be the third largest colony in the New World.

1732
James Oglethorpe establishes the colony of Georgia.

King Charles II grants James Oglethorpe a royal charter to establish a

colony between Florida and South Carolina. Georgia is created to act as a
barrier between Spain, which owns Florida, and the British colonies. It is
also intended to provide a place for those recently released from debtors
prison to have a fresh start.
The colonies declare their independence from England.
July 4,
With the signing of the Declaration of Independence, all of the colonies of
1776 America declare their independence from England. Independence is won
through the Revolutionary War and the colonies become the United States
of America.
The 13 colonies are represented in the first American flag.
June
The Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that states that the
14, American flag shall have 13 stripes, alternately in red and white, to
represent the 13 colonies. Despite all of the variations of the U.S. flag over
1777 time, the 13 stripes have never changed.