Three attempts to found a settlement
Sir Walter Raleigh and John White make three attempts to found a permanent settlement in the New World, on Roanoke Island, off the coast of what today is North Carolina.
First settlement in Virginia
The first settlement in Virginia (named after the “Virgin Queen”) proves unsuccessful. Later on, the new settlement thrives under the governorship of Captain John Smith.
The Pilgrim Fathers
The Pilgrim Fathers travelling on the Mayflower land in today’s Massachusetts and found the Plymouth Colony.
Settlers found New Hampshire
Settlers from England found New Hampshire.
New Amsterdam
The Dutch establish a colony on Manhattan Island and name it New Amsterdam.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony is founded by Puritans near present-day Boston.
Roger Williams founds Providence
Roger Williams leaves Massachusetts and founds Providence (later Rhode Island).
Colonists in Carolina.
Colonists from Virginia settle in Carolina.
New Amsterdam is stripped from the Dutch
New Amsterdam is stripped from the Dutch and named New York after the Duke of York.
William Penn receives Pennsylvania
William Penn receives Pennsylvania as a grant from King Charles II (in payment of a debt) and founds Philadelphia.
Witch Trials held in Salem
The notorious Witch Trials are held in Salem, Massachusetts. Some twenty people are executed on the basis of hearsay alone.
Foundation of Savannah
In 1730, a group of English philanthropists found Georgia as an alternative to overcrowded debtors’ prisons in England. The first settlers found the city of Savannah in 1733.
The English fight the French and Indian War
The English, the French and their respective allies fight the French and Indian War, after which Britain takes over from France both Canada and all the land east of the Mississippi River.
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Descrizione
Anglo-Saxon tribes were led by a king, who was helped by professional warriors (thanes) linked to him by a strong sense of loyalty. Whereas the Celtic clan system was based on kinship (blood relations), the basis of aristocracy and kingship is a personal tie between the warrior and his lord.
The warriors that conquered the country were soon joined by groups of common people (ceorls) including peasants, women, and children.
Unlike ceorls, thanes were warriors who had been given more land (up to 5 hides) as a reward for their services. In times of war, each family (owning a hide) provided a fully-armed man. As ceorls only fought in cases of need, while thanes specialized in fighting, a sharp class division arose between warriors and peasants. The thane offered defence in exchange for services, and local ceorls would either work for him or pay him a sort of rent ‘in kind’ (a part of their produce).
The social structure of Britain was about to develop into a feudal system: the thane was about to become a feudal lord, while ceorls, bordars (those owning less than a hide) and cottars (who owned only a cot = small house, or hut) were becoming serfs. Besides ceorls and thanes, there was a third social class: the clergy, or class of priests.
Being the only ones able to read and write, clergymen promoted civilisation and culture. Priests and monks were the earliest legal advisers, teaching kings how to draw up documents and charters and change the law of the country, which had always been based on custom only
