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先民们在普利矛斯岩(Plymouth Rock)上岸，1620年12月
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欧洲国家到美洲去开发他们的财富和扩展他们对世界事务的影响力。
西班牙是第一批到新世界探险的欧洲人也是最先定居现今称为美国的人。
然而，在1650年之前英格兰已经占领了大西洋沿岸。1607年在维吉尼亚州的詹姆斯敦发现了第一批新移民。
许多定居新世界的人们是为了逃避宗教迫害。来麻塞诸塞州普利矛斯拓荒的先民们是1620年抵达的。
维吉尼亚和麻塞诸塞的殖民都得到美洲原住民的协助才茁壮起来。
新世界种植玉米之类的谷物使殖民们免于挨饿，同时在维吉尼亚种植的烟草是很有经济价值的作物。
1700年代的早期引进非洲的奴隶使移民的比例渐增。至1770年为止，在北美13州居住和为大不列颠工作的移民已超过2百万人。
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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