A Study of Early North American Skulls

[Minimalist]

The Spanish were poking around the Carolinas and the English were not exactly making a raging success of the Virginia colony and besides the last thing the "Puritans" would have wanted was to be near an Anglican colony. The Dutch were active around New York even if they hadn't officially moved in until a few years later and England and Holland were bitter enemies in the 17th century. To the north, France was active in Canada and permanent settlements were established in 1608.

Choices were actually limited.

[Simon21]

There were European rivalries no doubt, and there were the indigenous nations, but travelling over the North Atlantic just to freeze seems a wasted effort.

And is it not true that some of these colonists were experienced in the religious wars.

[Minimalist]

The religious wars broke out in the 1520's. People might not have been experienced in the sense of having actually fought in them but they certainly knew what was going on and were suffering from the adverse effects. The Wars of the Reformation did not end until the mid 17th century.

Native Americans in North America were hammered by European diseases in most cases long before any of them ever saw a European as the various diseases spread along well-established N/A trade links.

[shawomet]

The English were well aware of Spain's reaction to the French establishing Ft. Caroline in 1564 and its resulting destruction and execution of all male inhabitants by Menendez. St Augustine was settled by the Spanish in 1565 and was well-garrisoned.

English colonists stayed far north at the time; Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620. Reading through the accounts of settlement, you will find those fears expressed by the founders.

Doubtless but they were also terrified of the native peoples.

It remains a fact that there were more hospitable places that the freezing coastal areas of New England

Southern New England has a temperate climate. By the late 17th-early 18th century, for instance, large plantation style holdings were established in southern Rhode Island, the only plantation style economy in the Northeast. But, what they raised were the Narragansett Pacer, a now vanished breed of horse that earned some degree of fame and success throughout the colonies. When Verrazano spent two weeks anchored in what is now Newport harbor, RI, in 1524, he and his men spent the time exploring the countryside west toward Ct., he described the land in glowing terms, and he described Narragansett Bay as an exceptional refuge for any size fleet. The Connecticut River Valley was an agriculturally rich land as well, would be highly desirable for farming. But, bottom line, as I've lived here my whole life, the Winter can be harsh, sometimes, the Gulf Stream did moderate the climate in southern New England, the other three seasons are fine in this region. Yes, Virginia is milder, and the Pilgrims, for instance, landed off course accidently on Cape Cod and Plymouth. They had intended to settle further south, but, they stayed. It's not the Arctic Circle, after all.

[shawomet]

There were European rivalries no doubt, and there were the indigenous nations, but travelling over the North Atlantic just to freeze seems a wasted effort.

And is it not true that some of these colonists were experienced in the religious wars.

Yeah, again, I really think you have an exaggerated impression of the climate where the Pilgrims and Puritans settled. It is overall a temperate climate. Northern New England winters are far snowier and colder than winters in southern New England. And don't discount the summers. What was the preferred destination for wealthy Southern planters for their summer vacations? Newport, RI. And men grew wealthy here, with large landholdings, and, in the 18th century, they grew wealthy via the slave trade. Bottom line, since cold weather seems to be your standard on what to avoid, it's not freezing 12 months of the year.

As far as the religious wars, that's an involved subject. They did not leave religious divisiveness entirely on the British side of the Atlantic. Rhode Island was founded when the founder of the Baptist sect, Roger Williams, was exiled from Massachusetts Bay. Thanks to Williams, religious freedom in the colonies was first established and guaranteed in RI. French Huguenots were allowed to settle in RI. The first Jewish synagogue was built in RI. Of course, the Puritans were not pleased with the people who found refuge in RI, nor were the other New England colonies, referring to the colony as Rogue Island.

[Simon21]

And neither the RIs or Puritans were tolerant of Catholics, which in terms of the UK meant of course the Irish.

Some had also fought in the 80 years war and were clearly brutalised by the event, so they were not all the tolerant, peaceful people they have been depicted.

The impression of an inhospitable place is given by the high death toll of the first winter and the frequent references both historical and cultural to the bitter winters of the area.