Captain John Smith and the ARIES

Some key dates in the Early History of English Speaking North America

1492 Columbus ‘discovers’ the New World on behalf of Spain; (Henry VII of England was invited to sponsor the voyage but declined to do so.)

1580s Sir Walter Raleigh names the east coast of North America 'Virginia' in honour of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen; he tries three times to establish a colony at Roanoke Island, but fails, and the colonists disappear

1564 William Shakespeare born

1580 John Smith baptized in St Helena's Church, Willoughby, on 9^th January; Sir Frances Drake returns from his voyage around the World later in the same year

1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada

1590s Four years of bad harvests in England; Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' first performed

1595? Pocahontas born somewhere in Virginia; John Smith works for a merchant in Lynn

1596 John Smith’s father dies and he breaks his indentures, becoming a soldier, fighting for the Dutch against the Spanish in the Low Countries

1600? Smith goes off to fight the Turks in SE Europe

1603 James VI of Scotland succeeds Elizabeth as James I of England

1604 Smith is back in London; James I meets with Bishops and Puritans at the Hampton Court Conference

1605 Gunpowder Plot fails

1606 First Virginia Company Charter; in December, 105 English men and boys, including Smith sail in three small ships for Virginia,

1607 Ships arrive in Virginia; May 13th Jamestown Colony settled

1608 Smith elected President of Virginia; Scrooby Separatists, later known as the Pilgrim Fathers, leave England for Holland

1609 Smith has to return to England, badly injured; 1609 2nd Virginia Company Charter appointing a Governor, rather than rule by Council; 1612 3rd Virginia Company Charter extends boundaries to include Bermuda

1614 Pocahontas marries John Rolfe in Virginia

1616 Pocahontas and John Rolfe visit England; Pocahontas dies in 1617 at Gravesend

1619 First cargo of Africans landed in Virginia and used as 'indentured servants'

1620 Pilgrim Fathers leave Holland and settle at Plymouth, Massachusetts

1625 Charles I becomes king

1630 Boston, Massachusetts, founded by Puritans from Lincolnshire and Suffolk led by John Winthrop

1631 John Smith dies in London

1643 William Brewster dies in New England

1649 Charles I executed

1703 John Wesley born in Epworth

1735 John and Charles Wesley go to Georgia

1759 William Wilberforce born in Hull, England

1776 American Declaration of Independence

1791 John Wesley dies

1807 Bill to Abolish the Slave Trade passed in the British Parliament

1833 Bill to Abolish Slavery throughout British Empire passed