The 13 Original Colonies: Part 1

On May 16, 1607 a small fleet of English ships carrying Capitan John Smith, Christopher Newport and over one hundred others, lost course in a storm and landed on a river bank in Virginia. They settled on this river bank, naming it The James River, after King James and before long forts and buildings came up and the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia was founded.

The first year was the hardest, over half of the settlers did not survive the winter and many others were killed in attacks with the Native Americans. John Smith was appointed leader of the colony after Wingfield and Radcliffe both failed in that position. Smith gained the confidence of the settlers, was captured by the Powhatan Indians only to be rescued by the chiefs daughter Pocahontas. With the help of Pocahontas, Smith was able to gain the trust of the Indians, who supplied the colony with food and taught the settlers how to grow crops. Wheat, corn and especially tobacco became very important cash industries in the the Virginia colony.

In September 1620 a ship named the Mayflower landed near the tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as Massachusetts. There were 102 passengers, called Pilgrims, aboard the Mayflower including men, women and children. The men all signed an agreement stating the rules of the new settlement they were creating. The agreement known as the Mayflower Compact was signed on November 21, 1620 and served as the constitution for the colony, the Plymouth Colony, for years.

Many of the Pilgrims died that first winter in Plymouth, mostly from disease and illness. The following spring a native Indian named Samoset from the Wampanoag Indians. Samoset spoke English and he introduced the Pilgrims to Squanto who also spoke English. Squanto stayed at the Plymouth Colony and taught the Pilgrims the needed skills to survive. Agriculture and later manufacturing were Massachusetts leading industries. In 1628, the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts and began Naumkeag and John Winthrop founded Boston in 1630.