Settling The Land

American Indians lived on the land for thousands of  years before settlers arrived from Europe.The settlers first built homes along the northeastern coast.As more people arrived,cities sprang up all along the Atlantic coast.Settlers looking for more space moved west.They traveled through thick forests,climbed great mountains,and crossed prairies and deserts on trails leading west.Some prairies and deserts on trails leading west.Some people went as far as the Pacific Ocean.Whether they were crossing the ocean or following trails to the Pacific,early settlers hoped that at the end of their journey they would find land call their own.

SETTLING THE NORTHEAST

In 1620,the Pilgrims started out on a long journey from England and landed on the northeast coast of North America.Indians helped the Pilgrims learn how to adapt to the land.As more settlers came and cities grew,people moved away from the coast and cleared land for homes and farms in eastern forests.

LIFE IN PLYMOUTH

Pretend you are living long ago in England.Your family has decided to make a new home far away.For 65 days  you sail across the ocean.All the way,you wonder about your new home.Tired from the stormy journey,you finally spot land.You search the coast for the neighbors you expected,but there is no sign of them.You can’t keep looking.It is getting colder and you must choose a place to stay.As you wade to shore,no one greets you.With only a few belongings,you must start a new life in a cold,strange land.

THE PILGRIMS’ FIRST WINTER

That’s how many Pilgrims felt who sailed from England on a ship called the Mayflower in the summer of 1620.The Pilgrims were a religious group who disagreed with the church in England.They decided to raise their children in a whole new place.

The Pilgrims had planned to join a colony already started in Virginia.A colony is a settlement ruled by a distant country.However,the Mayflower did not follow the route to Virginia.Instead,it landed in late November on what is now the coast of Massachusetts.