Articles in this section cover the exploration of the American continent and what daily life was like in the American colonies. You can learn about how people lived as the new country developed.
The Puritans who conducted the witchcraft trials in Salem, Mass., suspected the devil was at work in their society. But could the madness have been caused by drugs? See more »
Plymouth Colony , the first permanent settlement in New England. It was founded in 1620 on Plymouth Bay, an inlet of Cape Cod Bay, about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of present Boston.
See more »Plymouth Company, or Virginia Company of Plymouth , a branch of an English joint-stock company chartered in 1606 to establish colonies in North America.
See more »Plymouth Rock , a granite boulder on the shore at Plymouth, Massachusetts, onto which, according to tradition, the Pilgrims stepped as they landed from the Mayflower in 1620.
See more »Roanoke Island, an island off the northeastern coast of North Carolina. It was the site of two of the earliest English settlements in North America, including Sir Walter Raleigh's “Lost Colony.” Roanoke Island is situated in Croatan Sound between Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.
See more »Gorges, Sir Ferdinando (1566?–1647), an English soldier and colonizer. He founded the colony of Maine and was influential in promoting settlement of New England, though he never actually went there.
See more »Johnson, Sir William (1715–1774), an American colonist. Largely through his efforts, the Iroquois Indians remained loyal to the British in King George's War (1744–48) and the French and Indian War (1754–60).
See more »Harris, Townsend (1804–1878), a United States merchant and diplomat. Harris was the first United States envoy to Japan, serving as consul general, 1855–59, and minister, 1859–61.
See more »Trading Post, an establishment for the exchange of goods, usually among a primitive people.
See more »Vinland, or Wineland , the name given a North American coastal region by early Norsemen who visited it about 1000 A.D.
See more »Bradford, William (1590–1657), one of the Pilgrim Fathers and a governor of Plymouth Colony.
See more »Brewster, William (1567?–1644), a leader of the Pilgrims who settled Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620.
See more »Penn, William (1644–1718), an English Quaker and the founder of Pennsylvania. He spent his life working for religious tolerance and civil liberties in England, and put his theories into practice in his American colony.
See more »Shirley, William (1694–1771), a British official in the American colonies. He was governor of Massachusetts, 1741–49 and 1753–56.
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