The Plymouth Colony (1620-1691) was the first English settlement in the region of modern-day New England in the United States, settled by the religious Separatists known as the “pilgrims” who crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower in 1620, fleeing religious persecution, to establish a settlement where they could worship freely in the New World.
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Timeline
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1620 - 1621Half of the pilgrims die during the winter of 1620-1621 from disease, exposure, and malnutrition.
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1620 - 1621The passengers and crew of the Mayflower sail from Europe to North America and establish the Plymouth Colony in modern-day Massachusetts, United States of America.
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5 Aug 1620The ships *Mayflower* and *Speedwell* depart from Southampton, England for North America. The *Speedwell* was forced to return due to severe leaks, but the *Mayflower* successfully completed the journey, bringing the passengers to America who would found Plymouth Colony.
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11 Nov 1620The Mayflower lands in the region of modern-day Massachusetts, North America, bringing the pilgrims to the New World.
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11 Nov 1620The Mayflower Compact is signed by the pilgrims establishing democratic government of the Plymouth Colony.
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1621 - 1622The pilgrims establish the Plymouth Colony with the help of Native Americans who teach them how to survive and flourish.
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16 Mar 1621The Abenaki leader Samoset walks into Plymouth Colony and greets the citizens in English with, "Welcome, Englishmen!" Samoset would introduce the colonists to Squanto and the Wampanoag Chief Massasoit, serving as the foundational figure in contact between English colonists and Native Americans in what would become Massachusetts.
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22 Mar 1621The Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty is signed between Governor John Carver of the Plymouth Colony and Chief Ousamequin (better known as Massasoit) of the Wampanoag Confederacy pledging mutual support and protection. This treaty would be honored as long as the people of that generation were in control of their respective peoples.
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1622Captain Myles Standish disrupts relations with the Native Americans by executing two for no reason; trade relationships fall off.
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1628 - 1630Establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony led by Puritans seeking to evangelize the native population of North America.
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9 Jun 1628English lawyer, poet, satirist, and founder of the Merrymount Colony, Thomas Morton is deported by the Puritans of Plymouth Colony for his "unusual beliefs" including practicing pagan rites and trading freely with Native Americans, especially in firearms. He becomes the first person deported from what would become the United States.
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1675 - 1678King Philip's War in which thousands are killed as the Native Americans try to defend their land and way of life from increasing European colonization of the Americas.
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c. 1678 - c. 1691Native Americans are sold into slavery or moved onto reservations as more European colonists arrive in North America.
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1691Plymouth Colony is absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the latter's new charter.
