The first people to live in Massachusetts
came about 10,000 years ago. They hunted the mammoths and other wild beasts in
big groups so that they wouldn’t fail. By 5000 BC the mammoths were extinct.
They began hunting the normal animals that we hunt today such as rabbits, deer,
and squirrels. They also started growing vegetables. They began to live in
small villages too. Between 2000 and 3000 years ago, the Indians, such as the
Mohicans, Algonquian, and the Massachusetts tribes, settled into the areas.
The first Europeans to go near Massachusetts
were Vikings in the year 1000. They came because they heard stories about a man
that saw the land but didn’t travel to it. They first came to New Found Land
and traveled down near Massachusetts. In 1498, an Italian sailor named John
Cabot was working for the British and he caught sight of the land. He didn’t go
ashore, but he still claimed it for the British.
In the 1600s, England was forcing
people to follow the Church of England. The church was getting corrupt and it
began turning to a different religion. If someone didn’t follow the church, they
could be punished or even killed. A group of people who didn’t approve of these
laws decided to leave England and make a settlement in the New World.
They
traveled on a ship called the May Flower and the Speedwell, but the Speedwell
began leaking so the passengers switched over to the Mayflower. It was a harsh
trip. It was very cold and they were in a storm a majority of the time. There
wasn’t much food expect for salt meat, hard biscuits, and small beans. After
about 60 days of traveling, they landed in Massachusetts. They had a chance to
settle into and early English settlement but they decided to go somewhere else.
They soon founded a town named Plymouth. It was on an abandoned Indian village.
For 50 years the Pilgrims and the
Indians maintained a strong relationship. At first, the winters were harsh for
the pilgrims with hardly any food and warmth, but it all changed. An Indian
named Samoset came to the village. In English he said to them, “Welcome
Englishmen.” He was very helpful to the Pilgrims. He brought them two Indians
to help them. With one of the Indians, they made a peace treaty.
In the fall of the year 1621, the
Pilgrims celebrated their arrival in the New World and their harvest so they
decided to have a feast. One of the main dishes was turkey. The food lasted for 3 days. They invited some of the
Indians too.
Soon, the pilgrims started to be like
the Church of England. They didn’t follow the same religion, but they started
to force people to be Christians. They began to punish or banish anyone who
didn’t agree with them.
In the 1700s, they began to trade with
the English and soon more English colonies began settling there. By the 1750s,
Massachusetts was under British control. Later in 1776, the revolution began
and at the end of the war, The 13 colonies became America.
