Sir Humphrey Gilbert's First Voyages: The First Colonies

Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1583) was the first man to attempt a voyage to another land. He brought with him five ships, and 200 settlers. However, there time in the new lands was a terrible experience for the men and they attempted to return home, but their ships sunk at sea during their trip back to England. The second voyage was attempted by a man named Sir Walter Raleigh. His colony is known as the lost colony. When they arrived at what he called Virginia they did not have enough supplies, however, Britain couldn’t bring supplies fast enough, and by the time supplies did reach the land, the colony was gone. To this day, no one knows what happened. After the two attempts the government realized they would need to be more involved in funding the voyages out to new land. There were two groups who planned to help fund and create their own colonies. The London Company and the

They were supposed to land in Virginia with the London Company, however they ended up in Massachusetts instead. These people we called, pilgrims they were on the famous ship called the Mayflower. When they arrived the pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact which stated they were free from all government rules. Their rules were going to be rules based on a select group of chosen people. William Bradford was chosen as their first governor. Luckily for the Pilgrims there was an English speaking Indian who chose to help them settle into their new land, and introduce them to new crops and show them the land. This was the start of a widely celebrated holiday, Thanksgiving, first started by the Pilgrims and the Native Americans to celebrate a new bond of friendship with each other. In the year 1630 more puritans were driven from England by James I and son, Charles I. 1,000 puritans left England and landed in a part of Massachusetts they called Boston. By the year 1640 there were well over 10,000 settlers in