The English

Out of all the ethnic groups in the world, most consider the English to have had to most crucial role in paving the way for U.S. immigration. The English were the ones to establish colonies of which the United States of America sprung from. Their offspring formed the largest component of the Republic and the foundations they laid influenced all subsequent newcomers.

The first successful permanent English settlement was Jamestown, founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company. Jamestown was founded on May 14, 1607, by a small group led by Captain Christopher Newport, who was hired by the London Company to transport colonists. Many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. The survivors were encouraged to stay in Jamestown by the arrival of new settlers and supplies the following June. In 1612 tobacco growing was started. The colony prospered and became the capital of Virginia. In 1619 the first representative assembly in America was held here. In the same year, at Jamestown, the first black slaves were introduced into the original 13 colonies. The village was often attacked by Native Americans. In 1622, 350 colonists were killed; 500 in 1644. Colonists rebelling against the rule of Governor William Berkeley burned Jamestown in the seat of government was moved to the Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg) in 1699, and Jamestown was deserted. The National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (which owns 9 hectares/23 acres of the island), have excavated and restored the area. The Jamestown Archaeological Laboratory contains relics unearthed by National Park Service excavations. Jamestown Festival Park, adjacent to the national park, has full-scale replicas of early ships and a re-creation of James Fort (1607). Pavilions depict Native American and English cultures. (Microsoft, 1998)

Immigration to New England began with the migration of Pilgrims who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts Bay in 1620. In 1629, a large mount of English Puritans with charter and a mission to set up a Puritan commonwealth establish a settlement on the Massachusetts Bay. The following decade from 1630 to 1640 marked the period of time known as the Great Migration. During this time, Massachusetts's population skyrocketed with the migration of approximately 21,000 immigrants to New England, about a third of them being Britons. However, by 1660, large-scale migration from Britain to New England rapidly decreased and immigration to the New World was officially discouraged.

But during 1700's, Britain began to restrict emigration out of England to the U.S. In 1718, the British Parliament prohibited immigration of skilled workers from the British Isles to migrate to the U.S. and in 1775, an outbreak of revolutionary violence stops immigration from Britain. From that point on, only a trickle of British immigrants came to the USA, compared to the rest of western Europe.