Page 3 - 1600-1699

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1604: Nova Scotia founded

A French colony was established on the island of St. Croix, in the Bay of Fundy. That following winter proved the island to be so exposed to the severe winter as to be unlivable. Upon spring the colony was moved across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal (now Annapolis Basin).

1606: The Virginia Company

British King James I Chartered The Virginia Company of London and The Virginia Company of Plymouth. The London Company was granted lands in America from Cape Fear to the Potomac River. The Plymouth Company was granted lands from the Northern part of Maine to Long Island Sound. Each company was governed by its own council in England and both were under a royal council which represented the King. Both companies sent colonists to America in 1606.
    The Plymouth Company (Aug. 1607) settled 120 men at Sagadahok, on the Kennebec River, in what is now Maine. They built a fort, some houses, and a thirty ton ship which was named Virginia. That winter was harsh and many died from hunger and cold. The next year those who were still alive abandoned the colony and sailed back to England
    The London Company dispatched 100 men in three ships (Susan Constance, Goodspeed, and Discovery). They explored the coast and sailed up the James river. Jamestown was established on the James River in May 1607. The colony was re-supplied in 1608 and another group of 800 arrived. Then in 1610 another 300 colonist arrived. The colony of Virginia was firmly established, but in an area of hostile Indians.
    During this time in England, the established church was the English Church (Anglican). The British thought was that if anyone refused obedience to the Anglican Church they would disobey the law in other matters. Some people who believed that the Church needed to be purified formed a sect within the Church, calling themselves Puritans. Others refused to belong to the Anglican Church at all and were considered rebels against the Church and the King, which wrought severe persecution against them. Many of this religious sect found refuge in Holland and were called Pilgrims. About 100 of these managed to join a group of English merchant adventurers who had been promised land in America by The London Company.

1607: The Voyages of Henry Hudson

Voyage 1: On May 1, 1607, Henry Hudson and his son set sail from England with 11 crewmembers in the vessel Hopewell. They spent the summer looking for a Northwest passage to the Orient. Finding no passage through the ice they returned to England.

Voyage 2: On April 22, 1608, Henry Hudson again sailed with his son in the Hopewell and returned.

Voyage 3: In 1608, this time in the Dutch ship Half Moon, Henry Hudson and his son sailed. This time he landed at the coast of (present day) Maine, then sailed southward to explore the Hudson river, named it, and claimed the region for the Dutch. The territory claimed by the Dutch included much of the present state of New York and this area was named New Netherland. Subsequently Holland offered large tracts of land along the Hudson River to any man who would bring in 50 or more settlers. Soon the Hudson River valley became well settled.

Voyage 4: In 1610 Henry Hudson and his son sailed in a British ship, The Discovery. They found and sailed through a strait (The Hudson Strait), and in August he sighted a large body of water he thought to be the Atlantic Ocean, but later discovered to be a large inland sea, which he named Hudson Bay. The Discovery became locked in ice in the bay and remained ice locked until the spring of 1611, upon which the crew mutinied and cast Hudson and his son off in a small boat. (At least that is what the crew later told.) Neither Hudson nor his son were heard from since. A few of the crew returned the Discovery to England, where the Admiralty recovered the ships log.

1613 Port Royal Captured

Port Royal (Nova Scotia) was captured by in a raid by Samuel Argall, from the British Colony of Virginia.

1620: HMS Mayflower

The HMS Mayflower, out of Southampton, chartered by The London Company and carrying a group of 102 persons, plus its crew, was bound for the coast of New Jersey. Instead, navigation errors caused them to land at what is now Provincetown, Mass, near Cape Cod. In the group landed were a mixture of well-to-do merchants and Puritans. King James never gave them a charter as a colony, but The New England Company (formerly The Plymouth Company) granted them permission to remain and settle there.

1620: Plymouth, Mass.

The Pilgrims of New England had their first hostile encounter with the Nausite Indian tribe whose arrows were tipped with horn, eagle claws and brass. Such encounters with various local Indian tribes became commonplace throughout the colonies. The nature of these encounters were local by individual village people who perceived they had been wronged by the settlers. It was only during the phases of French and British wars that Indian warriors were recruited to accumulate into large forces to be allied with either the French or the British. Usually the pay to the Indians for such alliances in battles was the right to scavenge the battle sites.

1621: Nova Scotia given away

British King James I granted Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander of Scotland. In the grant, Alexander would have regal powers. He was to establish "baronites" by parceling the land into 6 by 3 mile properties to be given to gentry who would populate the parcels with settlers. In all, 111 barons were appointed and given parcels of that dimensions. (Even today, the Baronets of Nova Scotia is a distinct order of the British aristocracy, having a provincial flag bearing the saltier of Sir William Alexander and the lion of Scotland on gold.)

1625: King Charles I succeeds Henry IV

King Charles' rule was tentative due to friction between him and the House of Commons after a failed expedition against Spain in 1626, and another to assist the Hugenots of Rochelle (1627). Internal conflicts with the Irish and the Scots added to the turmoil in England. The House of Commons undertook to reduce the Crown's powers to its becoming only ceremonial. In 1642 Charles headed an armed retinue and attempted to arrest five members of the Commons. These five retired to the city and was protected by the city militia. There followed a miniature civil war within England. On Jan. 20 1649 King Charles was seized, stripped of all marks of royalty and brought before a special court created for his trial on the charge of high treason against the people. On Jan. 30, 1649, King Charles I submitted to the broad axe of the executioner and was beheaded. He was 49 years of age. The executed King was succeeded by his son Charles II during a time of revolution with the Scots.

1628: War broke out between France and Britain

French colonies along the St. Lawrence were raided by the British, some changing hands.

1628: Salem settled

After more religious persecution in England, other Puritans bought the right to settle on land between the Charles and Merrimac Rivers. They arrived that year and founded Salem. Then the following year still another group of Puritans arrived. By 1634 Salem had grown to more than 5000.

1629: Carolana

Charles I granted the Province of Carolana to Sir Robert Heath, but no attempt was made to settle the region. Over the years restless men from Virginia and other colonies re-settled there and lived under no law or government but their own free will. The many creeks and inlets along the coast became havens used by pirates and buccaneers. In 1663 King Charles II granted to eight Lords as proprietors a territory south of Virginia 350 miles along the coast and extending clear to the Pacific Coast. This was called Carolina. That colony grew, around Charlestown, faster than any in the northern province and in 1691 was divided into three parts, North Carolina, Albermarie, and Charlestown. For a while the Tuscarora Indians repeatedly attacked the colonists but were eventually driven away to join the Five Nations of Iroquois Confederacy of the north to become the sixth nation of the confederacy.

1632-1755: The Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye

This treaty restored to France her possessions in North America. Prior to this time, Port Royal and Quebec had hardly advanced beyond the status of convenient landing points. Tadoussac and Trois-Rivieres were mere rendezvous places for barter. The next 123 years would see France develop its colonies in North America. During this time Britain and France fought the war of the Austrian Succession (1744-48), during which the hostilities spread between the French and British Colonies in North America. Bitter and bloody conflicts occurred across the St. Lawrence area and included Indian allies on both sides. In 1748, The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle terminated that war, only returning the two sides to "pre-status-quo." Britain and France would continue to be at odds in North America.

1634: The Colony of Maryland was established

George Calvert, who King James I had made Lord of Baltimore, became out of favor because he converted his faith to Catholicism. Calvert wanted to found a colony where all Christians would have freedom of worship. At that time Catholics were being persecuted in England. King James granted him a charter (to be rid of him), and made him Lord Proprietor of a large tract of land north of the Potomac river where the states of Maryland and Delaware are now. (Calvert was related to King James by marriage). It is ironic that later, the Puritans became influential in the Maryland Colony and there was continual religious strife between them and the Catholics.

1638: New Sweden

Swedish Queen Christina sent a group to settle a colony on the Delaware River. The colony was named New Sweden. The Dutch in New York would not agree that Sweden had any right to this land and Peter Stuyvesant, the one legged governor of New Netherland made them yield to his power. This was the beginning of the Colony of Delaware.

1654-1667: Acadie (Nova Scotia)

Captured by Britain in 1654, then restored to France by the Treaty of Breda in 1667.

1664: New York: New Netherland becomes British

The British had always claimed all of North America by rights of first discovery by John Cabot. After King Charles II was restored to the throne and British internal strife ended, a fleet was sent to New Amsterdam and their surrender was demanded. Both the colony of New Netherland and the town of New Amsterdam were re-named as New York.

1670: Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company was chartered by King Charles II. Chartering was a method for trade and territorial expansion by rights of exploration. By this Charter, the HBC became an instrument of the Crown, completely independent of the various British Colonies in North America. The charter gave HBC "control of all lands whose rivers and streams drain into Hudson Bay." These vast lands would become known as "Rupert's Land." The trade aspect of the HBC charter would become its driving force and result in the establishment of many trading posts, first along the shores of Hudson Bay, and then throughout the Interior. Yet the Crown was mindful of its rights of claim by exploration.

1674: Defections

Two French traders, Pierre Esprit de Radisson and Médart Chouart, sieur de Groseillier, who had originally brought the notice of the British Crown to the fur riches of Canada, switched their allegiance back to France and together formed a new company, "La Compagnie du Nord", which would become a fierce competitor of HBC in the fur trade. For many years, these two companies carried on brisk competing trade for furs. They were antagonists not just in trade but in territorial claims as well. In the beginning, the French company roamed outward while the HBC established trading posts and depended upon the Natives to visit the posts for trade. As a result the French became dominant in the interior, and the HBC was dominant along the coast of Hudson Bay and some rivers.

1681: Pennslyvania

King Charles II gave William Penn a large tract of land lying west of the Delaware River. Penn and his descendants were to own the land as the Calvert family also owned Delaware. William Penn gave a great deal of planning to the sort of colonist he wanted. Many English Quakers came, as well as Scotch, Irish, and Welsh, but Penn especially encouraged farmers and craftsmen from the Rhine valley, Switzerland, and Sweden. He made friends with the Indians and crafted wise laws for the colony.

1689-1815: Britain and France at War

Britain and France were at war almost continuously over North American interests. Important events will be listed by dates that follow sequentially with others.

1684: King James II and the Bay Company

King James II took away the Bay Company's charter and all of New England, New York, and New Jersey were placed under one Governor, Sir Edmund Andros. For the next 60 years the people of the colonies were affected by the continuing wars on the continent between France and Britain, and they played an important role in the conflict.

1689-97: King William's War (The war of the Palatinate in Europe)

    The Governor of New York led this off by stirring up the Iroquois tribe to make an attack upon the French village of Lachine near Montreal. Then the French led their Indian allies in attacks upon New England and New York. The English Colonies sent expeditions to capture Port Royal.

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