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The English had visited America at different times starting from the 15th century. Among them were John Cabot (1498), Sir Francis Drake (1577), Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1583) and Sir Walter Raleigh (1585).

The first successful English colony was founded in 1607 by a group of Englishmen who sailed to Virginia. They hoped to find riches. 105 men (there were no women or children at first) landed at a place they called Jamestown, after Englands King James I. They never found gold but the settlement survived partly with the help of Indians, partly because of their strong will and partly because they found tobacco which they sold to England at a very good price.

When King James I was rulling the country, many Englishmen did not like him. Many people also did not like the Church of England. That is why they wanted to leave the country. Puritans wanted to find religious freedom from the Church of England somewhere far away.

In 1620 some English families (about one hundred people) formed the group which they called the London Company. They left England from Plymouth on board the ship called Mayflower and sailed to America. Their harsh journey lasted for seven long weeks.

It was already winter when the ship reached the shores of America. The weather was terrible with rain and cold wind. First, 16 men landed and went ashore. They found some corn and brought it to the ship. The corn was left on that coast by the Indians.

Next day was Sunday. So, all the passengers of the ship had a rest. On Monday women went ashore to wash their clothes. Now in America Monday is "a wash-day".

Next five weeks men from the Mayflower left the ship and looked for a good place where they could live. The weather was getting colder and more and more people fell ill.

Finally, they found a place that seemed suitable. There was everything they needed forests, fields, a small river and a harbour for ships. They started to build a village there which they later called New Plymouth.

King James I himself gave the Pilgrims the right to establish their own colony.