Out of all the ethnic groups in the world, most consider the English to have had to
most crucial role in paving the way for U.S. immigration. The English were the
ones to establish colonies of which the United States of America sprung from. Their
offspring formed the largest component of the Republic and the foundations they laid
influenced all subsequent newcomers.
The first successful permanent English settlement was Jamestown, founded in 1607
by the Virginia Company. Jamestown was founded on May 14, 1607, by a small
group led by Captain Christopher Newport, who was hired by the London Company
to transport colonists. Many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of
1609-10. The survivors were encouraged to stay in Jamestown by the arrival of new
settlers and supplies the following June. In 1612 tobacco growing was started. The
colony prospered and became the capital of Virginia. In 1619 the first representative
assembly in America was held here. In the same year, at Jamestown, the first black
slaves were introduced into the original 13 colonies. The village was often attacked by
Native Americans. In 1622, 350 colonists were killed; 500 in 1644. Colonists
rebelling against the rule of Governor William Berkeley burned Jamestown in the seat
of government was moved to the Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg) in 1699, and
Jamestown was deserted. The National Park Service and the Association for the
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (which owns 9 hectares/23 acres of the island),
have excavated and restored the area. The Jamestown Archaeological Laboratory
contains relics unearthed by National Park Service excavations. Jamestown Festival
Park, adjacent to the national park, has full-scale replicas of early ships and a recreation of James Fort (1607). Pavilions depict Native American and English cultures.
(Microsoft,
1998)
Immigratio
n to New
England
began with
the
migration
of Pilgrims
who
established
Plymouth
Colony in
Massachusetts Bay in 1620. In 1629, a large mount of English Puritans with charter
and a mission to set up a Puritan commonwealth establish a settlement on the
Massachusetts Bay. The following decade from 1630 to 1640 marked the period of
time known as the Great Migration. During this time, Massachusetts's population
skyrocketed with the migration of approximately 21,000 immigrants to New England,
about a third of them being Britons. However, by 1660, large-scale migration from
Britain to New England rapidly decreased and immigration to the New World was
officially discouraged.
But during 1700's, Britain began to restrict emigration out of England to the U.S. In
1718, the British Parliament prohibited immigration of skilled workers from the
British Isles to migrate to the U.S. and in 1775, an outbreak of revolutionary violence
stops immigration from Britain. From that point on, only a trickle of British
immigrants came to the USA, compared to the rest of western Europe.