American colonies: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	colonial America • thirteen colonies
Date	May 14, 1607 - September 3, 1783

Photos and Videos

Map showing English colonies along the eastern coast of North America in 1689

Painting of the early 1600s Jamestown village on the James River in Virginia, showing a fortified settlement, ships in the water, and a winding river through forested land.

John Smith: Map of Virginia

Painting by Bernard Gribble showing Pilgrim Fathers and families boarding small boats at a busy harbor to board the Mayflower, with the large ship anchored nearby.

Pilgrims signing the Mayflower Compact

Map showing the present-day state of Massachusetts with colonial boundaries highlighted for the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629) and Plymouth Colony (1630). Indigenous groups such as the Mohican, Pocumtuc, Nipmuc, Pennacook, Wampanoag, and Nauset are labeled in their respective regions. Key colonial settlements like Boston, Salem, and Plymouth are marked, and a red arrow indicates the Pilgrims' 1620 route to Cape Cod Bay. The map is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and features major bays including

“A Vindication of the Government of New-England Churches”

Engraving of Roger Williams seated at a desk, holding an open book and a quill, with papers and writing materials in front of him.

What was life like in colonial America?

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The remarkable resilience of enslaved people in colonial America

Learn about the first battles of the American Revolution, which made famous Paul Revere and the minutemen

The word semiquincentennial appears in white text on a blue background.

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Topics

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Major Events

The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

American Revolution

Painting of Edward Braddock and British troops in uniform advancing through dense forest, facing Native American and French fighters during the French and Indian War near Fort Duquesne.

French and Indian War

Boston Massacre

Boston Massacre

John Trumbull: Surrender of General Burgoyne

Battles of Saratoga

Bacon's Rebellion

Bacon’s Rebellion

Charles Cornwallis

Battle of Kings Mountain

Battle of Monmouth

Battle of Monmouth

Charles Cornwallis

Battle of Guilford Courthouse

Cowpens National Battlefield

Battle of Cowpens

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

Siege of Yorktown

Navigation Acts: Dutch ships masquerading as Spanish vessels

Navigation Acts

Stamp Act warning

Stamp Act

Boston Harbor

Intolerable Acts

Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

An American colonist in a blue coat reads a posted notice of a tax on tea with a concerned expression, while a British soldier with a rifle and bayonet stands guard nearby.

Townshend Acts

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Treaties of Fort Stanwix

“Join, or Die”

Albany Congress

Battle of Lexington

Battles of Lexington and Concord

Pontiac and Robert Rogers

Proclamation of 1763

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Sugar Act

World map showing the British Empire at its greatest extent, with the United Kingdom highlighted in red and its global holdings in pink, including Canada, Australia, India, large parts of Africa, and numerous islands and territories across the Caribbean, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Areas that left the empire before 1939 are shaded green, and territories added between 1901 and 1939 are shaded purple.

British Empire

historical state, United Kingdom

Connecticut: flag

Connecticut

state, United States

Delaware

state, United States

Georgia

state, United States

Reconstructed timber-framed houses and outbuildings surrounded by trees at Jamestown Settlement living history museum in Virginia.

Jamestown Colony

English colony, North America

Maine

state, United States

Maryland

state, United States

Massachusetts

state, United States

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

American history

New Hampshire: flag

New Hampshire

state, United States

the Green, New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven

Connecticut, United States

New Jersey: flag

New Jersey

state, United States

New York

state, United States

North Carolina: flag

North Carolina

state, United States

Pennsylvania: flag

Pennsylvania

state, United States

Key People

Digitally restored vector painting of President Thomas Jefferson, shown from the chest up wearing a dark coat and white cravat, with a neutral background.

Thomas Jefferson

president of United States

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

American publisher, author, and scientist

Full-length portrait of King George III in a red military uniform and black bicorne hat, standing outdoors with a distant building and cloudy sky in the background.

George III

king of Great Britain

William Pitt, the Elder

William Pitt, the Elder

prime minister of United Kingdom

Burke, Edmund

Edmund Burke

British philosopher and statesman

Engraved portrait of William Penn wearing a dark coat, white cravat, and wide-brimmed hat, with shoulder-length curly hair.

William Penn

English religious leader

Portrait painting of Thomas Paine by John Wesley Jarvis, showing Paine with graying hair, a white cravat, and dark coat against a plain brown background.

Thomas Paine

British-American author

John Winthrop

John Winthrop

American colonial governor

Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson

English navigator and explorer

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams

American politician

Engraving by J. Pofselwhite of Walter Raleigh wearing an ornate, patterned doublet, ruffled collar, and feathered hat, with one hand on his hip.

Sir Walter Raleigh

English explorer

John Smith

John Smith

British explorer

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry

American statesman

Engraving of Roger Williams seated at a desk, holding an open book and a quill, with papers and writing materials in front of him.

Roger Williams

American religious leader

Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold

American general

Portrait of Paul Revere showing Revere seated at a table, holding a silver teapot and resting his chin on his hand.

Paul Revere

United States military officer and silversmith

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Rush

United States statesman and physician

Lord North

Frederick North, Lord North

prime minister of United Kingdom

Nathanael Greene

Nathanael Greene

United States general

James Otis

James Otis

American politician

Mayflower. Plymouth. Photograph of the Mayflower II a full-scale reproduction of the Mayflower. The Mayflower II built in Devon, England, crossed the Atlantic in 1957 maintained by Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA.

Early America

Engraving of Solomon Northup, c. 1853. (Twelve Years a Slave, 12 Years a Slave, slavery, African-American, Black History)

The History of Slavery in North America Quiz