WESTWARD HO 



Fathers had fled to Holland from religious persecution in England in 

 1608. In 1620 they planned to form a new colony in North America 

 and it must stand to the credit of the Stuarts that they realised their 

 genuine qualities and afforded them every facility. In the end a hundred 

 and twenty of them decided to sail and chartered two small trading 

 vessels, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. They sailed from Delfts- 

 haven in July, 1620, called at Southampton and then put into Plymouth. 

 Here the Speedwell was found to be unseaworthy and eventually a 

 hundred and two Pilgrims sailed in the Mayflower. They landed on the 

 Massachusetts coast in December and founded the township of Plymouth 

 on the spot where they disembarked. Hard, narrow and industrious, 

 they proved how contagious was the evil of religious bigotry, but they 

 were the ideal settlers for the circumstances and it is very largely due 

 to their efforts that the British colonies which developed into the United 

 States of America contrived to survive their early troubles. 



The New England Fisheries. 



When the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in New England they attempted 

 to live by the land, but this was heartbreaking in such a country with 

 such a small hinterland and presently they and the settlers who came 

 out after them were forced to the sea. The waters were teeming with 

 fish waiting to be caught and the West Indies were not too far distant 

 to form a mart, so that soon a heavy toll was being taken of the cod and 

 the catch was being exported to Southern Europe or the West Indies 

 according to its grade, while the islands also took large quantities of 

 lumber and provisions. Massachusetts began shipbuilding as early as 

 1631 when Governor Winthrop. who must alv/ays be remembered for 

 the magnificent work that he did for his colony, launched the Bhssinsi of 

 the Bay on that Mystic River which came to be the centre of the ship- 

 building industry for over three centuries. 



The Development of the West. 



By the end of the seventeenth century the New World was develop- 

 ing raoidly and even beginning to show signs of its ultimate prosperity. 

 The French and Spaniards were established and ruled their colonies in 

 Latin fashion, for what they could make out of them before retirement. 

 Spain reallv existed entirely by her Empire, and was to fall by the same 

 means. The French colonists never lost their dreams of home, but 

 they treated the natives very differently to the Spaniards. The British 

 administration as planned from home was reallv little better than that 

 of our rivals and certainly it could not be described as enlightened, but 

 we had the great advantai'e of most of our people regarding the colony 

 as their home and not alwavs looking forward to the opportunity of 

 returning. By this means we prospered more solidly than the Latins, 

 although thev had a great advantage in latitude and area. By the end 

 of the period our territory only consisted of patches along the Atlantic 

 coast and a few islands, the necessary labour supplied bv felons 

 sentenced to transportation and by slaves, but we were digging our 

 foundations deeply. 



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