1565–1799 ∼ Establishing Towns in Colonial America
Establishment of St. Augustine (1565), Jamestown (1607), Santa Fe (1610), Boston (1630) / New England port towns connect English trade routes to many parts of the world (1650–1750) / Annapolis, a seaport with considerable commerce, becomes the capital of Maryland (1694) / Puritan towns develop, through cooperative efforts, a public school system, town meeting government, and the comprehensive organization of the Congregational Church. (1700–1775) / By 1700, 120 towns are established in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire with more than 100 new towns founded in the next fifty years / By 1765, almost one-fifth of Pennsylvanians live in towns / Industrial Revolution reaches New England, generating a new type of town, the textile mill town; by 1812 there are twenty-two textile mills in New England (1780–1812)
MILESTONES: First African slaves arrive in America at Jamestown, Virginia (1619) • Savannah, Georgia is established as America’s first planned city (1733)
1800–1899 ∼ Opening the Frontier to Settlement
Number of incorporated towns grows from 56 in 1820 to 368 in 1860 / The transportation revolution of canals and railroads causes towns to quickly grow (1815–1860) / Half of all American commercial shipping is carried on the Mississippi River system (1840) / Discovery of Gold in California and Colorado cause mass migration westward and many new mining towns to be established (1848–1859) / Between 1867 and 1887, some 5.5 million cattle are driven north from Texas through central and western Kansas / Homestead Act of 1862 offers 160 acres of free public land to anyone who is 21 years old or the head of a family / Population west of the Mississippi River rises from 6.8 million in 1870 to 16.8 million in 1890
MILESTONES: The first public railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio (B & O) begins operations (1830) • Steamboat era causes towns to flourish along major rivers (1830–1930s) • Steampowered railroad opens the American West to settlement (1840–1950s) • Debates rage over restricting slavery in the western territories (1850) • Irish and Chinese laborers build a transcontinental railroad across the U.S.
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