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先民們在普利矛斯巖(Plymouth Rock)上岸，1620年12月
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歐洲國家到美洲去開發他們的財富和擴展他們對世界事務的影響力。
西班牙是第一批到新世界探險的歐洲人也是最先定居現今稱為美國的人。
然而，在1650年之前英格蘭已經佔領了大西洋沿岸。1607年在維吉尼亞州的詹姆斯敦發現了第一批新移民。
許多定居新世界的人們是為了逃避宗教迫害。來麻塞諸塞州普利矛斯拓荒的先民們是1620年抵達的。
維吉尼亞和麻塞諸塞的殖民都得到美洲原住民的協助才茁壯起來。
新世界種植玉米之類的穀物使殖民們免於挨餓，同時在維吉尼亞種植的菸草是很有經濟價值的作物。
1700年代的早期引進非洲的奴隸使移民的比例漸增。至1770年為止，在北美13州居住和為大不列顛工作的移民已超過2百萬人。
European nations came to the Americas to increase their wealth and broaden their influence over world affairs.
The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in what is now the United States.
By 1650, however, England had established a dominant presence on the
Atlantic coast. The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in
1607.
Many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious
persecution. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, Massachusetts, arrived in
1620.
In both Virginia and Massachusetts, the colonists flourished with some
assistance from Native Americans.
New World grains such as corn kept the colonists from starving while, in
Virginia, tobacco provided a valuable cash crop.
By the early 1700s enslaved Africans made up a growing percentage of the
colonial population. By 1770, more than 2 million people lived and worked in
Great Britain's 13 North American colonies.
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