who sponsored the first english colony in the americas
European colonization of the Americas Inspired by the Spanish riches from colonies founded upon the conquest of the Aztecs, Incas, and other large Native American populations in the 16th century, the first Englishmen to settle permanently in America hoped for some of the same rich discoveries when they established their first permanent settlement in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. They were sponsored by common stock companies such as the chartered Virginia Company financed by wealthy Englishmen who exaggerated the economic potential of this new land. The main purpose of this colony was the hope of finding gold.[2]
History of Massachusetts The first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag.[6] This was the second successful permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. Before heading to the New World, they migrated to Holland to escape the harsh treatment from King James for rejecting England's official church. Although they were allowed some religious liberties in Holland, the liberalism and openness of the Dutch to all styles of life horrified them. They approached the Virginia Company and asked to settle "as a distinct body of themselves" in America. In the fall of 1620, they sailed to North America on the Mayflower, first landing near the tip of Cape Cod (modern-day Provincetown, Massachusetts). Blown north off its course, the Mayflower landed at a site that had been named Plymouth. Since the area was not land that lay within their charter, they created the Mayflower Compact, one of America's first documents of self-governance, prior to landing. The first year was extremely difficult, with inadequate supplies. They also suffered grievously from smallpox and malaria. They were assisted, however, in their time of trouble by the Wampanoag under-chief Massasoit.