New England : Where to go? - First Americans - American
Revolution - Civil War - 19C and 20C - The New Millennium - New
England and the Sea The Pilgrims, seeking religious freedom,
were the first English colonists to permanently settle in New
England. In November 1620, after 65 days at sea, they anchored
off the tip of Cape Cod, in an area that is now known as
Massachusetts. They had no legal right to settle in the region,
so they drew up the Mayflower Compact, creating their own
government. The Pilgrims explored the area on land and foot, and
in December 1620 settled in a location near Plymouth Harbor. The
new settlers were met by New England’s earliest inhabitants,
Algonquian-speaking Native Americans including the Abenaki, the
Penobscot, and the Wampanoag. Prior to the arrival of Europeans,
the Western Abenakis occupied New Hampshire and Vermont, and
parts of Québec and western Maine. The Penobscot settled along
the Penobscot River in Maine, and the Wampanoag settled in
southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Is