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Colonial era
Americans born before 1700 — settlement, the Puritan colonies and the first contact conflicts.
–1699
Colonial era
9
1700–1779
Founding era
46
1780–1819
Early Republic
77
1820–1864
Antebellum & Civil War era
132
1865–1899
Industrial & Progressive era
156
1900–1929
Early 20th century
327
1930–1949
Mid-20th century
251
1950–1969
Late 20th century
127
1970–1999
Contemporary era
51
2000–
Digital era
9 people, oldest first
The people
Powhatan 1547–1618Reform & RightsParamount chief whose confederacy confronted the first permanent English colony at Jamestown.
John Winthrop 1588–1649Government & PoliticsLong-serving Massachusetts Bay governor whose vision of a covenant community influenced New England political culture.
Anne Hutchinson 1591–1643Ideas & MediaReligious dissenter whose trial and banishment exposed tensions over authority, gender, and conscience in Puritan New England.
Pocahontas 1596–1617Reform & RightsPowhatan woman whose life and later myth became central to American narratives of early colonization.
Roger Williams 1603–1683Ideas & MediaFounder of Rhode Island and early advocate of religious liberty and separation of church and state.
Metacom 1638–1676Reform & RightsWampanoag leader whose war against New England colonies marked a decisive struggle over Indigenous sovereignty.
William Penn 1644–1718Government & PoliticsFounder of Pennsylvania who advanced representative government and religious toleration in colonial America.
Cotton Mather 1663–1728Ideas & MediaPuritan minister who wrote the official defense of the Salem witch court and later campaigned for smallpox inoculation.Zabdiel Boylston 1679–1766Science & MedicineThe first physician to perform smallpox inoculation in North America