Exploring.

The area that would become New England was claimed by England on the basis of voyages of discovery by John Cabot in 1497. By 1502 fishermen exploiting the great cod banks off Labrador and New England had brought their catch to the port of Bristol, England. As early as 1508-1509 Sebastian Cabot had explored the coast, but England's attention was elsewhere, and aside from the fisheries nothing much happened until almost one hundred years later. In 1602 the English were again ready to look west. Bartholomew Gosnold left Falmouth with thirty-two men who intended to colonize in New England. They eventually settled on an island which separated Buzzards Bay from Vineyard Sound (Massachusetts), but like so many others who made early colonizing attempts, they were unprepared to live where they landed. As foodstuffs ran out they decided to return home, but the reports of the venture that...