"The first English colony
In 1607 a colonizing company, founded in London sent the first colonists across Atlantic. They landed in Virginia and called their
settlement Jamestown.
In 1619, a Dutch ship arrived with some Negroes who were sold to the colonists. Thus Negro slavery began in the English colonies.

Pilgrim Fathers
The second permanent English colony was set up in 1620. The colonists were the Puritans. They were persecuted in England and decided for religious reasons to go to America. The first group of 102 persons became known as Pilgrim Fathers. Their little boat was called the Mayflower. They established their settlement, called Plymouth.
To mark the first harvest in the settlement, the colonists celebrated Thanksgiving Day which in a national holiday in the US, observed every year on the fourth Thursday in November.
The early Puritans believed in spending their time in hard work rather than in pleasure. They were intolerant and their religious intolerance was responsible for the founding of other nearby colonies. Another religious group, persecuted in England founded Pennsylvania.
During the 17th century new colonies were successively set up and at the beginning of the 18th century there were altogether 13 English colonies. This number is marked by 13 stripes on the American flag."