history of America people

Christopher Columbus

Explorer who initiated permanent European contact with the Americas in 1492, triggering the Columbian Exchange.

Roger Williams

Founder of Rhode Island based on principles of religious freedom and separation of church and state after banishment from Massachusetts.

William Bradford

Governor of Plymouth Colony who signed the Mayflower Compact and helped the Pilgrims survive early hardships.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan figure banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for challenging religious authorities and preaching antinomianism.

Pocahontas

Powhatan's daughter who promoted peaceful relations between Jamestown colonists and Native Americans.

Benjamin Franklin

Enlightenment thinker, scientist, and diplomat who became a key leader in the American Revolution.

1492

The year of Columbus's voyage and first landfall in the Americas.

1607

The year Jamestown was founded as the first permanent English settlement.

1620

The year of the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth and the signing of the Mayflower Compact.

1763

The year marking the end of the French and Indian War and the Treaty of Paris, ending salutary neglect.

1776

The year the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Columbian Exchange

The massive transfer of plants, animals, culture, populations, and devastating diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Founding Motivations: Jamestown vs. Plymouth

Jamestown was founded primarily for profit (tobacco crop), while Plymouth was established by Separatists seeking religious freedom.

1763 British Policy Transition

The shift toward strict enforcement of taxation after the French and Indian War to pay off massive war debts, triggering colonial resistance.