The Plymouth Colony: The Pilgrims Settle in Massachusetts

In 1620, one hundred two Puritans boarded the Mayflower on a dangerous adventure. For them, the promise of religious freedom was worth risking their lives. They never made it to their destination in Virginia but landed much farther north. After surviving unsanitary and cramped conditions on the Mayflower, the settlers founded Plymouth Colony, where they faced starvation, brutal winter weather, and the ever-present scourge of disease. During the first year, more than half the settlers died.

Survivors, many of them teenagers who had lost their parents, refused to leave. With the help of Native Americans who showed the settlers how to farm and introduced them to maize, Plymouth Colony survived and flourished. The success of the Puritans encouraged other young Europeans to settle in the British colonies and paved the way for a new nation. Although Plymouth Colony was annexed to Massachusetts in 1691, the Puritan legacy has remained strong in the United States of America.