Massachusetts
New England Colony
Settled In 1630
Massachusetts played a large part in the making of the United States of America. The first settlers to live in this place were British and came on the Mayflower. At first, they planned to come on two boats, the Speedwell, and the Mayflower, but the Speedwell had troubles with leaking, and after two attempts, the settlers simply decided to all merge on one boat, the Mayflower. After a few hardships, the Mayflower finally reached land. They had planned to go to Virginia, but had traveled too far north, and when they had tried to go south they were met by storms. So they ended up at Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. A few men went out and looked around, trying to find a good place to settle, but by then, it was November, and I'm positive it was freezing. There was sickness everywhere, so they all stayed in the big ship, except for those who were exploring. Cape Cod wasn't a good place to live, and the settlers realized that. So they sailed a bit more, and finally found a nice place. It had good soil, a lot of fish, and good hunting grounds. This place was called Plymouth.
Some people don't know this, (including my mother until she looked it up,) but the pilgrims that came in the Mayflower, didn't name the place they found. John Smith named Plymouth. He was correcting a map of America, and he was adding in what he knew of the new continent. The map wasn't completely correct, but it was one step up, out of like, 50 (get it? There are 50 states. One step for each state).
The pilgrims began getting set up immediately, with more problems than they expected. They elected a governor, John Carver, who tried to build houses, got sick and died, and had a hard time fishing because their fishing hooks were to big. It was also winter, and the crops were having trouble growing.
John Carver died and in his place William Bradford was elected governor of the Pilgrims. One day, an Indian went up to them. In English, he said, ''Hello, I am Samoset. Welcome!" Or something like that. He later brought his chief, Massasoit, and introduced him to the white men. He worked as a translator as well, and most importantly, he brought Squanto to them. Squanto could speak English, and so didn't need Samoset as a translator. He told the English how to fish, properly grow plants, hunt, and he also told them his story.
'When he was only 12 years old, a trading ship came by. Squanto was used to trading ships like this, and so wasn't worried about them. He told a few people from his tribe, the Patuxet, and they went up to the strangers and greeted them. The travelers seemed ok, so they started to trade with each other. Everything was going fine, when suddenly the Englishmen attacked. They took Squanto and a couple of the tribesman. They brought them to their boat and set sail for Spain. The Indians were forced off the boat and were sold as slaves. Squanto was sold to a few monks. The monks taught him about God and a little bit of English. But Squanto wanted to go home and the monks realized that. They let him go to London and there he found somebody who could help him get on a boat for America. However, there were not any available at the time. So Squanto worked for the man who would help him and he also learned more English. Finally a boat arrived that was heading for America. Squanto went back to his home, but when he landed it was empty because they had all died from an illness! Squanto wandered to a nearby tribe that was led by Massasoit and Samoset. Later he taught the new Englishmen, the Pilgrims, how to live in the new land.'
William Bradford and the new settlers decided to have a big meal and invite their new Indian friends. This meal is now a national holiday and is called Thanksgiving, maybe you have heard of it. The Pilgrims' self-governing laws and their holiday feast inspired the future America and made Massachusetts a very a influential colony.
Some people don't know this, (including my mother until she looked it up,) but the pilgrims that came in the Mayflower, didn't name the place they found. John Smith named Plymouth. He was correcting a map of America, and he was adding in what he knew of the new continent. The map wasn't completely correct, but it was one step up, out of like, 50 (get it? There are 50 states. One step for each state).
The pilgrims began getting set up immediately, with more problems than they expected. They elected a governor, John Carver, who tried to build houses, got sick and died, and had a hard time fishing because their fishing hooks were to big. It was also winter, and the crops were having trouble growing.
John Carver died and in his place William Bradford was elected governor of the Pilgrims. One day, an Indian went up to them. In English, he said, ''Hello, I am Samoset. Welcome!" Or something like that. He later brought his chief, Massasoit, and introduced him to the white men. He worked as a translator as well, and most importantly, he brought Squanto to them. Squanto could speak English, and so didn't need Samoset as a translator. He told the English how to fish, properly grow plants, hunt, and he also told them his story.
'When he was only 12 years old, a trading ship came by. Squanto was used to trading ships like this, and so wasn't worried about them. He told a few people from his tribe, the Patuxet, and they went up to the strangers and greeted them. The travelers seemed ok, so they started to trade with each other. Everything was going fine, when suddenly the Englishmen attacked. They took Squanto and a couple of the tribesman. They brought them to their boat and set sail for Spain. The Indians were forced off the boat and were sold as slaves. Squanto was sold to a few monks. The monks taught him about God and a little bit of English. But Squanto wanted to go home and the monks realized that. They let him go to London and there he found somebody who could help him get on a boat for America. However, there were not any available at the time. So Squanto worked for the man who would help him and he also learned more English. Finally a boat arrived that was heading for America. Squanto went back to his home, but when he landed it was empty because they had all died from an illness! Squanto wandered to a nearby tribe that was led by Massasoit and Samoset. Later he taught the new Englishmen, the Pilgrims, how to live in the new land.'
William Bradford and the new settlers decided to have a big meal and invite their new Indian friends. This meal is now a national holiday and is called Thanksgiving, maybe you have heard of it. The Pilgrims' self-governing laws and their holiday feast inspired the future America and made Massachusetts a very a influential colony.