1649 - Act of toleration in Maryland
1620 - Pilgrims sail on the Mayflower to Plymouth Bay
1624 - Dutch found New Netherlands
1629 - Charles 1 dismisses Parliament and persecutes Puritans
1630 - Puritans found Massachusetts Bay Colony
1635-6 - Roger Williams founds Rhode Island after being convicted of heresy
1638 - Anne Hutchinson banished from Massachusetts colony
1642-1648 English Civil War