OUTLINE OF COLONIAL AND STATE HISTORY.
1497. John Cabot discovered Labrador, the basis of the English title to Virginia.
1585. Virginia was so named by Queen Elizabeth in honor of her unmarried state.
1606. Charter granted to the London Company.
1607. Settlement at Jamestown.
John Smith, "the Father of the Colony," rescued from death by
Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, the King of the Pamunkey
Indians.
1608. John Smith President of the Colony.
1609. The London Company receives its second Charter.
1610. "The Starving Time."
1612. Culture of tobacco commenced.
1613. Pocahontas marries John Rolfe.
1617. Death of Pocahontas at Gravesend, England.
1618. "The Great Charter of Virginia" granted by the London Company.
1619. Slaves landed from a Dutch ship.
First Colonial Assembly meets at Jamestown, July 30.
1621. Formal grant of free government by a written charter.
A Council of State and a General Assembly established—the model of every subsequent provincial form of government.
1622. Massacre of settlers by Indians under Opechancanough.
1624. Fall of the London Company.
Virginia becomes a royal province.
1644. Second Indian Massacre. Opechancanough captured and killed.
1652-60. Virginia under the Commonwealth.
1660. Called the "Old Dominion."
Navigation Acts put into operation by British Government.
1673. Grant to Lords Culpeper and Arlington of immense estates by Charles II.
1676. Bacon's Rebellion. 1693. William and Mary College chartered.
Postal System adopted.
1698. The seat of government removed to Williamsburg.
1699. The Huguenots settle in Virginia.
1700. First Commencement of William and Mary College.
1732. Scotch-Irish and Germans settle in the Shenandoah Valley.
George Washington born February 22.
1733. Founding of Richmond at the Falls of the James.
1736. First Virginia Newspaper—"The Virginia Gazette."
Norfolk incorporated.
1737. Richmond laid out by Col. William Byrd.
1742. Richmond incorporated.
1743. Thomas Jefferson born April 2.
1754. The French and Indian War begun. Battle of Great Meadows.
French defeated by Colonists under George Washington.
1755. Braddock defeated in his attack on Fort Duquesne.
1758. Fort Duquesne captured by English and Virginia troops.
1763. "The Parsons' Case." Patrick Henry's Famous Speech.
End of the French and Indian War.
1764. Battle of Point Pleasant (now in West Virginia).
1765. Resolutions of the House of Burgesses against taxation without representation.
1765. The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act.
1766. Stamp Act repealed by Parliament.
1767. Parliament imposes a tax on tea and other articles.
1769. Virginia resolves passed by the House of Burgesses, May 16.
1774. The first Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, September 9.
1775. Convention at Richmond "to organize a provincial form of government and a plan of defense for the Colony."
End of royal government in Virginia. Committee of Safety appointed.
1776. Constitution and Bill of Rights adopted.
Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson signed in
Philadelphia, July 4.
1779. The seat of government removed to Richmond.
Conquest of the Northwest Territory by Col. George Rogers Clarke.
1780. Virginia troops defeat the British at King's Mountain, October 7.
1781. Richmond captured by British under Benedict Arnold, in January.
Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, October 19.
Cession of the Northwest Territory to the Federal Government.
1785. Act of Religious Freedom.
1787. Constitution of the United States adopted in convention of which George Washington was President.
1788. Ratifies the Constitution of the United States.
1789. Washington inaugurated first President of the United States, April 30.
1799. George Washington died December 14.
1807. Robert E. Lee born January 19.
1819. University of Virginia established.
1826. Thomas Jefferson died July 1.
1830. Constitution of the State amended.
1852. Constitution of the State again amended.
1859. John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry.
1861. Ordinance of Secession passed by the Convention.
Richmond the Capital of the Southern Confederacy.
Confederate Congress assembled at Richmond, July 20.
First battle of Manassas, July 21.
1861-65. Virginia the principal battle ground of the "War between the States."
1862. Battle between the "Virginia" and the "Monitor," March 9.
1863. West Virginia formed and admitted to the Union.
1865. Provisional Government established in Virginia, May 9.
1869. Constitution amended.
Virginia readmitted to the Union.
1870. State enacts a liberal system of public education.
Robert E. Lee died October 12.
1881. Centennial of the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
1902. New Constitution in force July 10.