Virginia was the first of the famous 13 Colonies that England set up, with the first town being Jamestown, which also makes Jamestown the first permanent settlement in North America. Jamestown was started by the London Company for the purpose of finding gold or other resources and shipping them back to England. It was started in 1607 and has managed to survive, unlike many other settlements, all the way to the current day. It was also the capital of Virginia until 1699, when Williamsburg was built. It was turned into a crown colony, or royal colony, by King James I, since it was profitable enough that he wanted it for himself, and didn’t want the London Company getting all the proceeds. After that, many colonies were started or stolen by the crown.
Pennsylvania was a much later colony, being founded by Sir William Penn in 1681, and named it after himself, since Pennsylvania translates into “Penn’s woods” since Pennsylvania was a well forested area. Penn was a Quaker, an offshoot of the Protestants, but he was also extremely accepting of religions, and was fine with pretty much all monotheistic believers. It was also a much, much more peaceful colony with regards to the Native Americans, since it only ever bought land from them, not taking it by force. Pennsylvania never joined the Indian wars, and was extremely open to trade with the natives. Philadelphia, the early capital of Pennsylvania, was temporarily the most important city in North America, being the home of Benjamin Franklin, the site of the college of Philadelphia, and the eventual site of the continental congress, which was the seat of the rebellion against Britain.
Georgia was the last of the colonies to be founded by England, and the farthest south. It was founded by General James (don’t laugh) Oglethorpe in 1732, and he intended it to be a place where the outcasts of society, the prisoners, those in debt, the idle fortune hunters, and the overall ne’er-do-wells. This may sound like a bad plan, and indeed it was, but not quite as bad as it sounds. By putting all the lazy and unproductive people in one place he forced them to be productive. He also attempted to force them into productivity by being extremely harsh, with a multitude of laws, such as no alcohol and no slaves, as well as regulating how much land a person could have. It took a while for him to realize people didn’t like it there, and that the restrictions were limiting Georgia’s growth, and that it would be better if they weren’t there. This was proven when the restrictions were lifted and the productivity and wealth of the people skyrocketed.
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