Colonial America

1700 - 1760

1719

South Carolina becomes a separate royal colony.
The New Jersey colonial assembly passes a statue regulating the institution of marriage. This law forbids the marriage of persons under the age of 21 without the consent of their parent or guardian.
After South Carolina suffers through Spanish and French attacks and the Yamassee India War, all of which weaken the power of the proprietorship, rebellious colonists institute a revolutionary government and eject Robert Johnson the proprietary governor. James Moore is appointed interim governor and the South Carolina colony becomes a royal colony. The proprietors are allowed to keep their land rights.
The French build Fort Quiataon on the Wabash River to guard the route from Canada to the French settlement in the Mississippi River valley.

1720

Robert Walpole becomes the British prime minister and serves until 1742.
The estimated American colonial population is 474,000. The three largest cities are Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. The French continue to expand in the Mississippi Valley. They construct the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island to regulate traffic into the St. Lawrence River. They also build Fort Niagara to protect the territory surrounding the lower Great Lakes and to serve as a bulwark against Iroquois Indian attacks.

1721

The English Crown proclaims South Carolina a royal colony and appoints Francis Nicholson as governor. The proprietors of South Carolina do not surrender their proprietary charter until 1729, and seven of the eight proprietors sell their land holdings for £2500.
Lord Carteret, the eighth proprietor of Maryland, trades his land claim for a grant south of the Virginia.
Sir Robert Walpole as the English Chancellor of the Exchequer initiates a period of benign neglect of the American colonies. Walpole's trade policies, or the lack of them, result in the negligent enforcement of the navigation acts.

1722

In a series of additional trade acts, the English Parliaments adds copper, beaver and other furs to the list enumerated items to be exported only to England. Parliament removes hemp, lumber and naval stores form the list of items subject to import duties. Parliament's currency regulation permits the minting of copper coins by the American colonies
Virginia governor negotiates a peace treat with Iroquois Confederation of Six Nations, agreeing not to cross the Potomac River or the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In the Spanish settlement of San Antonio, Texas, the Alamo is built as a Franciscan mission.
New Jersey colonist Daniel Coxe publishes a plan for the political unification of American colonies.

1723

Construction of Old North Church, known as Christ Church, in Boston begins. The earliest Georgian-style church in the New England colonies, it is designed by William Prince, who has been influenced by the London church designs of Christopher Wren. The Georgian architectural style is to gain wide popularity in the American colonies.
In Williamsburg, Virginia, at William and Mary College, Brafferton Hall is constructed to provide space for the first permanent Indian school in the American colonies.
A petition is presented to the Pennsylvania assembly requesting action on the problem of intermarriage between black and whites.
Benjamin Franklin moves to Philadelphia from Boston.
The Maryland representative assembly mandates public schools in all counties of the colony.

1724

The introduction of irrigation and the cultivation of rice in the southern colonies greatly increases harvest yields.
In New England Paul Dudley publishes a work on fruit trees, thus becoming the first American horticulturist.
The Rhodes Island colony institutes property ownership requirements for the right to vote.
In New Orleans, French Louisiana Governor de Beinville establishes a code to regulate the activities of blacks. At the same time all Jewish settlers are exiled from the Louisiana Colony

1725

The slave population in the colonies is estimated at about 75,000.
The Virginia assembly, grant slaves the right to have a separate Baptist church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Sir Robert Walpole
First British Prime Minister
(1721–42)

British statesman , generally regarded as the first British prime minister. He deliberately cultivated a frank, hearty manner, but his political subtlety has scarcely been equaled.

Slave Transport

William and Mary College, Virginia
The College of William and Mary founded in 1693

Christ Church, Boston, 1723

Worship, was central to the life of the new building. The builders of Christ Church, determined that it should represent the best of recent English architecture, looked to London churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren for inspiration. They built a church inspired by Wren but unmistakably unique. What was achieved is a building of perfect proportions and sensitive detail. A design that unites a complex of elegant details and centers attention on the altar as the focal point of worship.