COLUMBUS DAY (OCTOBER 8th)

What is Colonial America?

Colonial America was the time period when permanent settlements began in the newly discovered Americas. The vast land was settled by Spanish, Dutch, French and English immigrants. The British founded the first colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 which thrived for 100 years before it was abandoned for neighboring Williamsburg. But the settlement in North America is St. Augustine in Florida. On September 8, 1565, Spanish explorer Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed on the eastern coast of today’s Florida. Little by little, more and more settlers arrived to settle what would become the 13 colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) – seeking religious freedom and an escape from persecution.