[SlowBoat407]

To add further detail, the Massachussetts Bay colony was part of the Plymouth Company, while the Jamestown Colony was founded by the Virginia company, both of which wanted to be the first to establish permanent colonies in the region. Their achievements were quite different from one another, and together created the nation we have now, but it was the Virginia Company that got there first.

The Virginia Company, while not finding the gold or the passage to the Western Ocean they expected, did however make a profitable crop out of tobacco, begin converting natives to Christianity, and keep the Eastern Seaboard out of Spanish hands. They nearly perished several times, but after Jamestown, England had a permanent presence on American soil. Some say that the Plymouth colony actually profited from the experiences of Jamestown.

[britemp]

It also pays to bear in mind that the original English settlers in Jamestown left England with the express purpose of settling the colony of America. The pilgrim fathers simply couldn’t get on with the other 99.99% of England and tried Holland, couldn’t get on there either and headed for America.