**TERROR ALERT** They are coming ... .... HERE!!!

[underpants]

September 15
Things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school

1620: Pilgrims set off from Plymouth, England, aiming for the British colony in Virginia. Their errant course proved disastrous for New England's natives.


http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=17576#15

[underpants]

1. Sorry s/b they WERE coming ....HERE

Feel free to see this as a historic document

[TayTay]

2. True. What would America be like if they had gotten directions first

and been on course. What if the Pilgrims and Puritans after them had landed in Virginia instead of New England. Hmmm, one of histories great questions.

[underpants]

3. Why did they stop in Mass????

according to a final Jeopardy question a few years ago it was because.....


they ran out of beer. At least the crew of the boat did.

http://straightdope.com/columns/051125.html

[TayTay]

8. They got lost, it was the Cape in the off-season

they decided to stop. I think Jeopardy had a piece of the answer, they were out of provisions. But they were also lost.

So, imagine that for a second. No New England. No Revolutionary War, as there would be no pressure for same. I wonder what would have happened if the Pilgrims had landed in Virginia? Would the Puiritans have settled New England if the Separatists were in VA? On the other hand, the Separatists failed as a colony and were absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony anyway late in the Century, so who knows if it would have made a difference.

And Cecil Adams is correct, they were not called Pilgrims, but Separatists. The Puritans, or non-conformists or Dissenters settled Boston (and did so to make a profit) after first going to Salem (Naumkeg, which I think means 'Place with eels.' That's true, btw, my Mom's French-Canadian grandmother used to send her kids out to catch eels in the local river for dinner.) Differences very briefly noted here: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/religion/history.html

[HereSince1628]

4. If it hadn't been Pilgrims from England it would have been

entrepreneurs from Holland, France or Spain.

For the First Americans the result would likely have been similar.

[underpants]

5. The Spanish were already here

http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/oldest-us-city.html

A Spanish Expedition Established St. Augustine in Florida
September 8, 1565

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/colonial/augustin_1

[ryanus]

7. First Americans?

The Native Americans on the eastern seaboard when the Europeans starting coming were not the first Americans.

[ryanus]

6. I read Gov. Bradford's journal

...over Thanksgiving last year. It is a fascinating read. They had so many problems leaving England and getting to the Netherlands and getting a boat to the New World. And then they had big problems when people got sick, including the Governor after being in the New World for some time. They didn't get shipments from the Company like they were supposed to, and they were swindled by crooks. They were there a few years before having what we now call Thanksgiving, and the reason that Bradford gave for the celebration was that they figured out that each family should have its own lot to farm, rather than one big communal one. He said the people were much more willing to tend their own property, which they had to switch to after everyone got so sick and so many people died.

The Native Americans weren't a major focus of the Colony, although they did trade with them and got advice from them at a later time, but not all the Native Americans were friendly. Some already had bad experiences with Europeans. Bradford said there were other groups from England that would land and steal from and harass the Native Americans. He also talked about other groups which died out or went back home because they couldn't make it. Most of the groups were only men. Bradford commented once about how Plymouth Colony made it with just a bunch of devoted men and women, whereas other groups with the toughest men didn't. He attributed this to their faith and divine assistance. It is a fascinating read.