CHRONOLOGY.

The Political Development of the Present Mainland of the United States of America from the Accepted Date of Discovery to the "Declaration of Independence."

1498. Sebastian Cabot, under letters patent of Henry VII., dated March 5, 1495/6, issued to John Cabot and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, coasted the shores southerly as far as Albemarle Sound, landing at several places.

History and legend states that John Cabot sailed from the port of Bristow (Bristol), England, May 2, 1497, with one small vessel and eighteen persons, in the ship "Matthew." On June 24, St. John's Day, he sighted the north part of Cape Breton Island, which he named "Prima Tierra Vista.

In May, 1498, with six ships and 800 men, he set sail on his second voyage, and there is reason to believe that in this voyage he ran down the coast of America as far as 36° north latitude.

1513. March 27, Juan Ponce de Leon, in the interest of Spain, discovered the mainland, anchoring April 2 in 30° 8'; he landed and took possession in the name of the King of Spain (Florida). 1517. Francis Hernandez de Cordova landed on the Florida coast. 1519. Francis de Garay discovered the Mississippi, naming it "Rio del Espiritu Santo."

1520. Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon (Spanish) entered St. Helena Sound, South Carolina, and anchored at the mouth of the Cambahee River. The country named "Chicora"; the river, "Jordan."

1521. Francisco Gordillo, in charge of expedition of Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, arrived on the Florida coast in latitude 33° 30'.

1524. Giovanni da Verrazano (John Verrazani), in the service of Francis I., King of France, coasted between the 28th and 50th degrees of north latitude, and called the country NEW FRANCE. He anchored between the mouth of Cape Fear River and Pamlico Sound, at New York, Newport, and on the New England coast.

1524. Stephen Gomez, a Portuguese navigator sent out by the Spanish government, explored the coast from Maine to Florida.

1525. Expedition of de Ayllon under Pedro de Quexos explored the coast 250 leagues north of the St. John, taking land in name of Charles V.

1526. Vasquez de Ayllon sailed from 33° 40' north to the Chesapeake, where he made a settlement, "San Miguel de Guandape."

The next century the English here located "Jamestown."

1527. Captain John Rut of England coasted as far as South Carolina. 1527. Pamphilo de Narvaez received a patent from Charles V. styling him governor of Florida, Rio de Palmas, and Espiritu Santo (the Mississippi). Landed April 15 at Apalachee Bay.

1527. Antonio Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca found the Seven Cities in New Mexico, having been lost by the Narvaez expedition.

1528. Pamphilo de Narvaez in April arrived at "Tampa Bay," Florida, having the year before been appointed governor by Charles V.

1528. October 30. Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca crossed the mouth of the Mississippi.

1539. May 25. Hernando de Soto, with his expedition, landed at the Bay Espiritu Santo, taking formal possession of the land in the name of the King of Spain, June 3, 1539.

1539. Fray Marcos de Nizza (of Nice), a monk, took possession of the Land of the Seven Cities in the name of the viceroy and gov

ernor of New Spain on behalf of the Emperor, giving it the name of the "New Kingdom of St. Francis."

1540. Hernando Alarcon ascended the Colorado from the Gulf of California.

1542. Jehan, or Jean Allefonsee, a native of Cognac, France, entered Massachusetts Bay.

1543. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese in the Spanish service, explored the Pacific coast as far as 38° north latitude, his vessel under Ferrelo going to 40° 26', "Cape Mendocino."

1549. Father Luis Cancer de Barbastro, a Dominican under Spanish direction, reached the coast of Florida at latitude 28°.

1558. Guido de Labazares visited Pensacola Bay in the interests of Spanish settlements.

1559. Don Tristan de Luna y Arellano landed at Ichuse (Santa Rosa Bay).

1561. May 27. Angel de Villafañe reached Santa Elena, now Port Royal Sound, South Carolina. Subsequently doubled Cape Hatteras, June 14.

This determined the Spaniards against further attempts at settlements on either coast, it being decided by them there would be no attempt on the part of the French. 1562. Jean Ribault, commanding a number of French Protestants (Calvinists), took possession of Port Royal-Santa Elenaand founded Charlesfort.

This was the earliest attempt at settlement as distinct from exploration.

1563. René Laudonnière made a Huguenot settlement at the mouth of the St. John's River, named "Fort Caroline."

1565. Pedro Menendez de Aviles made the coast of Florida near Cape Cañaveral, August 25, to drive out the French.

1565. June. John Hawkins of England passed along the whole coast of Florida, being the first Englishman to give any account of the country.

1565. August 28.

Menendez discovered and named the harbor of "St. Augustine" where he landed September 6, ultimately taking possession of the land in the name of Philip II., King of Spain.

1566. Captain Juan Pardo penetrated to the region of the Cherokees Florida.

1567. Dominique de Gourges, with a French expedition of three ships, arrived in April to avenge the death of Ribault. He assaulted and took the Spanish forts, murdering great numbers.

1570. Menendez established a mission under Father Segura at Axacan, on the Chesapeake Bay waters, probably the Rappahannock. 1579. Francis Drake took possession of New Albion (California) in the name of Queen Elizabeth (June 26).

1584. July 4.

Raleigh's expedition under charter of Queen Elizabeth, March 25, 1584, in command of Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, reached the coast of Virginia, taking possession in the name of the Queen.

1585. June 26. Raleigh's second expedition, under Sir Richard Grenville, arrived at Ocracoke Inlet. He left a colony of 107 men at Roanoke Island, Virginia.

The colonists were the first settlers, of the English race, in America.

1586. June 10. Sir Francis Drake, after sacking St. Augustine, came to anchor near Roanoke Island, taking back to England the colony left by Grenville.

1587. July 22. Raleigh's third expedition, under Simon Ferdinando, arrived at Hatorask (Hatteras), landing 120 people. August 18, the first English child born.

1602. May 14. Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, sailing from Dartmouth, England, sighted the coast of Maine near Casco Bay, calling the place Northland, exploring Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, south to Cuttyhunk.

1602. Sebastian Viscaino reached latitude 43° on the Pacific coast.

1603. June 2. Martin Pring, of England, sighted the islands of Maine and Massachusetts Bay, entering the present harbor of Plymouth.

1604. Samuel de Champlain, in the interest of the French, ascended the Penobscot River, Maine.

1605. George Waymouth, sailing from Dartmouth, explored the Kennebec.

1606. April 10. Sir Fernando Gorges despatched an expedition under Thomas Hanam.

1607. April 26. An English expedition for colonization, left the Downs January 1, 1607, and reached Chesapeake Bay. It consisted of the "Susan Constant," Captain Christopher Newport, with 71 persons; "God-Speed," Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, with 52 persons; 66 Discovery," Captain John Ratcliffe, with 20 persons; crews, 39; total, 105 persons. May 13, landed, and settled Jamestown, Virginia.

The political history of the United States begins with the founding of Jamestown. 1609. Expedition of Thomas West (Lord de la Ware) arrived at Jamestown, Virginia.

1609. August 28. Hendrik Hudson, under the auspices of the East India Company (Dutch), entered Delaware Bay. September 4, he discovered and entered the Hudson River (New York). 1609. July 29. Champlain reached Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain. 1610. The Dutch sent six ships and occupied New Amsterdam (New York).

1614. Captain John Smith explored the coast from "Cape Cod" to the "Penobscot River," and gave the name, "New England," to the country.

1818. Danes emigrated, making a settlement at "Bergen," on the Hudson River. The first settlement in New Jersey.

1818. Jean Nicolet of Cherbourg, France, entered Lake Michigan, and coasted south to "Grand Bay," an inlet on its western shore.

1620. November 11. A large number of the English congregation at Leyden, formed of PURITANS, who sailed from Holland in July, anchored in the harbor of "Cape Cod." They named the place "New Plymouth." This was the first permanent settlement in New England.

1623. First settlement in New Hampshire at Little Harbor, on the Piscataqua, by a Scotchman named David Thomson.

1624. June 16. The charter of the London Company dissolved.

1627. Swedes and Finns landed at Cape Henlopen, and purchased from the natives the land from that cape to the falls of the

Delaware.

1628. Foundation of the colony of Massachusetts laid.

"The Council

for New England," March 19, sold to six residents of Dorchester, England, a belt of land stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, extending three miles south of the river Charles and Massachusetts Bay, and three miles north of every part of the Merrimac River. John Endicott, as governor, laid the foundation of Salem.

1629. November 7. John Mason procured a patent granting him the territory between the Merrimac and Piscataqua rivers; afterward called "New Hampshire."

1631. March 19. The Earl of Warwick's grant of land (1630), afterward formed into and known as the "Connecticut Colony"; assigned over to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, John Hampden, and others.

1632. June 20. Cecilius, second Lord Baltimore, granted a patent by King Charles I. of the tract of land bounded by the ocean, the fortieth degree of latitude, the meridian of the western head of the Potomac, the river itself from its source to its mouth, and a line drawn due east from Watkins Point to the Atlantic, now known as

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Maryland."

1643. The colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut united in a confederation for amity, offence, and defence, and mutual advice and assistance, under the title of "The United Colonies of New England."

1643. The English Parliament passed an ordinance appointing the Earl of Warwick governor-in-chief and lord-high-admiral of the American colonies.

1655. The Dutch, under Governor Stuyvesant, sailed from New Amsterdam against the Swedes on the Delaware. The Dutch victorious; the Swedes not taking the oath of allegiance to the Dutch returned to Sweden.

1659. Medard Chouart (Sieur des Groseilliers) and Pierre d'Esprit (Sieur Radisson) traversed the southern shores of Lake Superior.

1662. April 23.

Connecticut Colony obtained a charter from King

Charles II.