by Larik Sonfar

Created on: May 27, 2008

The early history of America is obviously filled with numerous people, places, and events. Reading and understanding early and colonial America would be impossible if one tried to master all of these factoids. For purposes of common knowledge, test taking, or personal satisfaction, comprehension of the most important parts of early US history will more than suffice.

The process of colonization began in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, involving the participating of numerous European nations. These included Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, among others. Spain and Portugal, quarreling over colonization rights, had their conflict adjudicated by the Pope's Line of Demarcation. This line effectively divided the world along a line stretching down the eastern side of South America, giving Spain everything to the west and Portugal everything to the east. This explains why Brazil speaks Portuguese while the rest of South and Central America speak Spanish. The other major colonizing countries created colonies mainly in North America and its surrounding islands.

The most relevant colonies to US History are, of course, the original thirteen British colonies along the eastern seaboard of North America. Jamestown was the first permanent British settlement in North America. This later evolved into the Virginia colony, which was settled primarily for profit. Important figures like John Rolfe led the colony and helped to develop tobacco farming techniques that gave the middle and southern colonies a reliable source of income. Several other colonies were settled for the purpose of profit, while others were settled for religious freedom. Massachusetts was originally two colonies, the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Plymouth Colony. These were home to two groups of Puritans who were unwanted in England for their opposition to the Anglican church. The Pilgrims were most notable for the Mayflower Compact, which was a general document drawn up by the people themselves for basic democratic government. From here, religious dissidents left and settled Rhode Island and Connecticut because of disagreements with the strict Puritan church of Massachusetts. Maryland was settled by Lord Baltimore as a haven for Catholics, although it eventually become predominantly Protestant and its laws soon discriminated against Catholics. Pennsylvania was settled by William Penn as a safe haven for Quakers. Many of these colonies settled for religious reasons, with the exception

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