JOURNEY TO A NEW WORLD

Trouble in England People in England were not happy. A group, called the Pilgrims, did not like the Church of England. They wanted to get rid of the bad ways of the Church – they wanted to pray in their own way.

Religious Freedom The Pilgrims wanted to practice religion in their own way – this is called religious freedom.

Colonies Colonies are areas under the control of another country. England wanted colonies in North America because of the rich soil and the amazing amount of fish. Letting the Pilgrims travel to the New World helped the King of England, too.

The Pilgrims The Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church of England so they decided to go to the New World. They left England in their ship, the Mayflower.

Plymouth Colony In the spring, the Pilgrims continued to build their village. They planted gardens to grow crops.

Help from the Native Americans In the spring, the Native Americans came to help. Squanto showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn, catch fish, and where to hunt. Squanto was also an INTERPRETER – a person who explains something in another language.

The Wampanoag Massasoit was the grand sachem of all the Wampanoag – the Indians who lived near Plymouth. The Pilgrims and Massasoit signed an agreement not to fight each other.

The First Thanksgiving The Pilgrims had much to be thankful for after their first year. They decided to celebrate the HARVEST – a time to pick crops. They invited Massasoit and 90 of his men. This celebration was the first Thanksgiving.

Being Thankful We still celebrate Thanksgiving in November. It is a time to remember how brave the Pilgrims were and how much the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive.