The Colonial Period (1513-1775)
The history of the Spanish, English, French, Dutch, and Swedish colonies between Ponce de Leon's first expedition in 1513 to the start of the American Revolution in 1775.
Recommended Reading
- Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving - Joseph Bruchac
- The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter R. Borneman
- Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739 (New Narratives in American History) - Peter Charles Hoffer
- The Infortunate: The Voyage and Adventures of William Moraley, an Indentured Servant - William Moraley
- Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion (Norton Library) - Peter H. Wood
- The Atlantic Slave Trade (Problems in World History) - David Northrup
- The Mayflower Compact (We the People: Exploration and Colonization) - Philip Brooks
Florida Hist. Society -- "Ponce de Leon and Florida's Fountain of Youth"
Ponce de Leon, founder of Spanish Florida, is known for having sought the "Fountain of Youth", but in fact this story is most likely a myth.
Timeline
- 1539 - Hernando de Soto's expedition lands on the gulf coast of Florida, marauds through the region, and crosses the Mississippi River.
- 1565 - St. Augustine, Florida is founded -- currently the oldest European-established town in the United States.
- 1607 - Jamestown is founded by the Virginia Company of London as a profit-making venture.
- 1619 - First Africans are imported to the colonies as indentured servants. Over the next fifty years a racial caste system develops, culminating in slavery.
- 1620 - Plymouth Colony founded by the Mayflower pilgrims, who missed their target of Virginia by a wide margin.
- 1625 - New Amsterdam is founded by Dutch settlers, will later become New York.
- 1718 - New Orleans is founded by the French to protect the base of the Mississippi River.
- 1730-1750 - The "Great Awakening" religious movement sweeps the east coast, revitalizing religious life.
- 1739-1740 - Stono Rebellion (slave revolt) in South Carolina ends in failure -- 44 slaves and 21 whites killed. Gruesome reprisals ensue.
- 1773 - The Boston Tea Party occurs, and the British place Massachusetts under military rule.
ERAS:
Pre-Contact - Colonial - Revolutionary - Antebellum - Civil War - Gilded Age - Depression/World War II - Modern
PEOPLE:
American Indian - Anglo/Scottish - Black - Hispanic - Women - Asian - LGBT - Irish - Jewish - Children
