CHAPTER ONE 1010 FOUNDING OF THE 13 COLONIES European exploration of the New World began in the late 15th century with the goal of finding a water passage to Asia The first expeditions to North America explored the continent’s coastlines and those that followed embarked on expeditions deeper into the interior Eventually explorers were sent to the New World to establish colonies The first English attempts to establish a colony in the New World failed In July 1587 a party under John White landed at Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina The following month White sailed back to England When he returned three years later the entire settlement had disappeared No one knows what hap pened to the colonists The first permanent English settlement in North America was organized by the London Company later called the Virginia Company On May 14 1607 a group of 105 colonists landed in Virginia and established
FOUNDING OF THE 13 COLONIES 11 Jamestown Here they built huts for homes a store house a church and a fort The strong leadership of Captain John Smith protected the colony from starva tion and unfriendly Indians One of Virginia’s chief sources of wealth was the growing of tobacco By 1619 Virginia was secure enough to organize the first representative assembly in America This was the House of Burgesses or citizens Its 22 members passed local laws To further strengthen the colony a shipload of young women arrived in 1619 The settlers then selected wives from among these newcomers Located in Virginia Jamestown was England’s first permanent settlement in the New World It was a fort in the shape of a triangle with wooden walls protecting a storehouse a church and houses Captain John Smith proved an able leader
12 THE COLONIAL PERIOD THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES The second English colony to be established in America was Plymouth in 1620 On December 21 more than 100 colonists landed at Plymouth Rock in what is now Massachusetts The core group among the founders of Plymouth was the Pilgrims They were Puritans Protestants who disagreed with some practices of England’s official church the Church of England Persecuted for their beliefs they fled England in search of religious freedom The Pilgrims are also known as Separatists because they chose to separate from the Church of England Their ship was the Mayflower Before they left the ship the Plymouth settlers adopted the Mayflower Compact the first plan for self-government in the New World In 1620 the first year of settle ment nearly half the settlers died of malnutrition or disease From that time forward however despite
FOUNDING OF THE 13 COLONIES 13 The weary Pilgrims landed on the shores of Plymouth Massachusetts on December 21 1620 after a long and treacherous journey
