1600-1650 In 1603 Samuel de Champlain explored St. Lawrence River and Niagara Falls. Two years later, 1605, Weymouth explored the New England coast. In 1606 the first charter was granted to the Virginia Company, named after Elizabeth I, The Virgin Queen. In 1607 Captain John Smith first encountered Iroquois Indians in the Chesapeake Bay. In the same year, Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the new world, was founded and an English colony was established at Fort St. George, on the Kennebec river in Maine. In 1609 Samuel de Champlain made war against the Iroquois, the first time guns were used against Indians. In the same year, Hendrik "Henry" Hudson explored the east coast of North America for the Netherlands. He later explored the valley in New York now named for him. The Dutch established Fort Orange (later Albany NY) as a fur trading post. Also in 1609 Santa Fe, New Mexico, was settled by Spanish colonist and during the same year Kepler first described planetary motions and laws. In 1610 Henry Hudson discovered Hudson Bay and Thomas West, 3rd Lord de la Warr (Delaware), rescued the Jamestown colony from starvation. In 1612 England colonized Bermuda and French explorers discovered Lake Huron. In 1614 Thomas Hunt kidnaped 24 Indians from the Cape Cod area and sold them as slaves. In 1615 the French, under Champlain, began trading with local Indians on Georgian Bay. In 1616 Captain John Smith published "A Description of New England." Pocahontas visited England, posed for a portrait and later died there. This was the year white settlers introduce smallpox to New England, nearly wiping out the Indians. In 1619 black slavery was introduced at Jamestown by Dutch traders. Also, on July 30 the first legislative assembly in America was held in Virginia. In 1620 the Charter of New England was granted by King James to a proprietary group. This was the year that Puritan Pilgrims wrote the Mayflower Compact and landed at Plymouth Rock. In 1621 Pilgrims made their first contact with an Indian, Squanto, who greeted them in English! He had been captured in 1614, sold intoslavery in Spain, escaped to England and learned English before returning to America. This event alone should have convinced settlers that Native Americans were NOT stupid savages. In 1622 Maine was granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. In 1623 settlements began in New Hampshire. In 1626, Indians bartered away Manhattan Island for about $24.00 to the Dutch who began settlements there. The Charter of Massachusetts Bay was granted March 4, 1629, and New Netherlands (New York) was granted the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions. The Puritans settled the Boston area calling themselves The Massachusetts-Bay Co. On June 20, 1632, Maryland's charter was granted by King Charles I and named for Queen Henrietta Maria. In 1635 Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts for espousing democracy. He then founded Providence Plantations in Rhode Island in 1636. Also in 1636 the first college in the colonies was founded, later named after Rev. John Harvard. In 1637 Mrs. Anne Hutchinson was tried in court and banished from Massachusetts for holding worship services in her home in competition with the church. In 1643 the New England Confederation was founded and in 1645 the first ironworks in America was founded in Saugus, Massachusetts. It is believed that John, Henry, or Robert Laughter (Lawter) landed at Philadelphia about 1645. In 1648 the Iroquois defeated the Hurons and drove them north from the Great Lakes into Canada. In 1649 Charles I was beheaded and Oliver Cromwell established the first Commonwealth. Also in 1649 the Toleration Act was enacted by the first assembly in Maryland, freeing religion. About this time slave codes begin to appear in the colonies to deal with "unruly" blacks. And in 1650, the Taj Mahal was completed at Agra, India. It was built by 20,000 workers and under construction for over 20 years.