Early Modern
Bacon's Rebellion (1676): Uprising Against Virginia's Governor
The rebellion collapsed after Bacon's death in October 1676; Berkeley was recalled to England and the Crown tightened its control over Virginia.
Region
Americas
Early Modern
Pueblo Revolt (1680): Popé Drives the Spanish from New Mexico
The Pueblo peoples expelled Spanish colonists and missionaries from New Mexico until Diego de Vargas began the reconquest in 1692.
Early Modern
William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania (1681)
Penn received a vast proprietary colony, which he organised as a refuge for Quakers with broad religious freedom and a planned capital at Philadelphia.
Early Modern
La Salle's Mississippi Expedition (1682): Claiming Louisiana
La Salle reached the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the whole Mississippi basin for France as Louisiana; his later attempt to settle the river mouth ended in disaster.
Early Modern
Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery (1688)
Quaker meetings declined to rule on the petition, but it became the earliest known written protest against slavery in English America.
Early Modern
Salem Witch Trials (1692): Accusations, Trials and Executions
Nineteen people were hanged and one pressed to death before the governor halted the trials; the colony later admitted the injustice, reversed convictions and paid compensation.
Early Modern
Brazilian Gold Rush (1690s): The Discovery of Minas Gerais Gold
Brazil became the world's leading gold producer for much of the 18th century, transforming its population, economy and capital and pouring wealth into Portugal and, through trade, Britain.
Early Modern
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714): The Fight for Spain
Philip V kept Spain and its American empire but renounced the French throne; Austria took Spain's European lands in Italy and the Netherlands, and Britain gained Gibraltar and Menorca.
Early Modern
Treaty of Utrecht (1713): The Peace That Reshaped Europe
Philip V kept Spain and its American empire but renounced the French throne; Britain gained Gibraltar, Minorca and North American territory, and Austria received most of Spain's European lands.
Early Modern
Asiento of 1713: Britain's Slave-Trade Contract with Spain
Britain won a 30-year monopoly on supplying enslaved Africans to Spanish America, run by the South Sea Company until it was surrendered in 1750.
Early Modern
1715 Treasure Fleet Disaster: Spanish Galleons Lost off Florida
Eleven of twelve ships were wrecked and roughly 1,000 people died; much of the silver was salvaged by Spain, but wrecks and coins are still being found today.
Early Modern
Founding of New Orleans (1718): Bienville's French Colonial City
La Nouvelle-Orléans was established on a bend of the Mississippi and became the capital of French Louisiana in 1722–1723.