PLYMOUTH COLONY
Motivation for Colony:
English settlers of Plymouth were looking for religious freedom and money. They did not like being forced to belong to the Church of England. The separatists wanted to separate from the Church of England. The separatists later became known as Pilgrims.
How did they arrive?
The Pilgrims sailed on the ship the Mayflower to what is now Massachusetts. Settlers signed the Mayflower Compact – agreement which described how the Pilgrims would live together peacefully. They elected a governor. They built a meeting hall called a common house.
Where is the colony located?
Pilgrims arrived in present day Massachusetts.
Challenges
The pilgrims arrived at Plymouth too late in the year to plant crops. The winter was extremely cold. Nearly half the settlers died the first winter.
Relationship to Natives
That Spring, a Native American named Squanto (from the Wampanoag tribe) taught the settlers how to plant corn, catch fish, and get syrup from the trees. Squanto’s tribe had died from diseases that they caught from French and English fishermen. Squanto helped arrange a peace treaty between the settlers and Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag. They promised not to attack one another and to help protect each other from neighboring tribes. After the first harvest, the settlers and the Wampanoags celebrated with a 3 day feast of Thanksgiving.
English settlers of Plymouth were looking for religious freedom and money. They did not like being forced to belong to the Church of England. The separatists wanted to separate from the Church of England. The separatists later became known as Pilgrims.
How did they arrive?
The Pilgrims sailed on the ship the Mayflower to what is now Massachusetts. Settlers signed the Mayflower Compact – agreement which described how the Pilgrims would live together peacefully. They elected a governor. They built a meeting hall called a common house.
Where is the colony located?
Pilgrims arrived in present day Massachusetts.
Challenges
The pilgrims arrived at Plymouth too late in the year to plant crops. The winter was extremely cold. Nearly half the settlers died the first winter.
Relationship to Natives
That Spring, a Native American named Squanto (from the Wampanoag tribe) taught the settlers how to plant corn, catch fish, and get syrup from the trees. Squanto’s tribe had died from diseases that they caught from French and English fishermen. Squanto helped arrange a peace treaty between the settlers and Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag. They promised not to attack one another and to help protect each other from neighboring tribes. After the first harvest, the settlers and the Wampanoags celebrated with a 3 day feast of Thanksgiving.