time line

Date Term Historical significance

1600s Joint-Stock Company Businesses where investors pooled money to fund colonies. Helped finance English colonization, including the settlement of Jamestown.

1607 House of Burgesses First elected representative assembly in the English colonies, established in Virginia. It became an early example of self-government.

1607–1610s Encomienda A Spanish labor system that gave colonists control over Indigenous labor. It contributed to the exploitation and forced labor of Native peoples.

1618 Headright System Gave settlers land, often based on the number of people they brought to the colony. It encouraged immigration and the growth of Virginia plantations.

1620 Holy Experiment William Penn's vision for Pennsylvania as a colony based on religious tolerance, peaceful government, and Quaker principles.

1630s Antinomianism Religious belief that faith, rather than strict obedience to religious laws, determined salvation. Anne Hutchinson's beliefs led to her banishment from Massachusetts.

1636 Fundamental Orders Governing document of Connecticut and one of the earliest written frameworks of representative government in the English colonies.

1639 Act of Toleration Maryland law that protected Christians from religious persecution and promoted religious toleration, although its protections were limited.

1640s–1660s Triangular Trade Atlantic trading network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas. It helped expand colonial commerce and the transatlantic slave trade.

1651 onward Navigation Acts English laws regulating colonial trade and requiring much colonial commerce to benefit England. They increased tension between colonists and Britain.

1660 Barbados Slave Codes Laws that formally established harsh racial slavery in Barbados and influenced slave laws elsewhere in the English colonies.

1662 Halfway Covenant Massachusetts Puritan policy allowing the children of church members to receive partial church membership. It addressed declining church participation.

1675–1676 King Philip's War Major conflict between New England colonists and Native American groups led by Metacom (King Philip). It devastated Native communities and colonial settlements.

1676 Bacon's Rebellion Virginia uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley. It exposed conflicts over Native policy, political power, and class and contributed to the expansion of racial slavery.

1680 Pueblo Revolt Pueblo peoples in New Mexico revolted against Spanish rule, forced labor, and religious oppression. They temporarily drove the Spanish out of the region.

1692 Salem Witch Trials Mass accusations of witchcraft in Massachusetts resulted in executions and imprisonment. They demonstrated the dangers of religious extremism, fear