Timeline of United States pre-history (1600-1699)

A 19th century illustration of the Salem Witch Trials

This section of the Timeline of United States history concerns events from 1600 to 1699.

1600s

• Some time between 1600-1650-Mahican Confederacy founded
• 1607-Settlement of Jamestown, Virginia
• 1607-Settlement of Popham Colony in Maine
• 1608-Popham Colony dissolved
• 1608-French establish colony at Quebec
• 1609-Henry Hudson, hired by the Dutch, explores the present-day Hudson River
• 1609-The United Provinces (the Netherlands) lays claim to the Hudson Valley area

1610s

• 1612-Tobacco cultivation introduced to Jamestown by John Rolfe
• 1619-First African slaves arrive at Jamestown

1620s

• 1620-Pilgrims arrive from Plymouth, England, on the Mayflower. They found Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts; Mayflower Compact signed
• 1624-New Netherlands founded by the Dutch West India Company in present-day New York state
• 1626-New Amsterdam founded by the Dutch in present-day New York City
• 1629-Massachusetts Bay Colony founded, led by John Winthrop

1630s

• 1630-Winthrop Fleet travels to Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1634-Province of Maryland founded
• 1634-Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony
• 1635-Connecticut Colony founded
• 1636-Rhode Island Colony founded by Roger Williams
• 1636-Harvard College founded
• 1637-New Haven Colony founded
• 1638-Delaware Colony founded
• 1638-New Sweden established
• 1639-Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony signed
• 1639-Fundamental Orders of Connecticut adopted

1640s

• 1643-New England Confederation created
• 1649-Maryland Toleration Act

1650s

• 1655-English take control of New Sweden

1660s

• 1662-Half Way Covenant adopted
• 1663-King Charles II of England grants charter for a new colony, Province of Carolina
• 1667-Townshend Acts passed by Parliament

1670s

• 1670-Charles Town (Charleston) founded in present-day South Carolina
• 1672-Blue Laws enacted in Connecticut
• 1674-New Netherland ceded to England under Treaty of Breda and Treaty of Westminster (1674)
• 1676-Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia
• 1677-Province of Maine absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony

1680s

• 1682-Province of Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
• King James II reduces colonial autonomy
• 1686-Dominion of New England decreed
• 1688-Glorious Revolution deposes James II and replaces him with William and Mary; Dominion of New England ceases to exist
• 1689-King William's War (1689-1697), part of the wider War of the Grand Alliance, begins

1690s

• 1692-Salem witchcraft trials in Salem Colony in Salem, Massachusetts
• 1697-The War of the Grand Alliance ends with the Treaty of Ryswick