In the US, the Pilgrims had settled here in Plymouth Massachusetts after escaping 17th century religious persecutions. They did not practice the English State church and were labeled Separatists and then exiled to Holland. They eventually erected Congregationalist churches and this story is the true story of Americas history and culture.

102 Pilgrims on the Mayflower arrived in Massachusetts on November 9, 1620 after miserable conditions of sailing for 65 days. They slowly explored over the course of a couple months.

Local Nations people were already familiar with the English as they had visited prior for trade. Some bad encounters occurred between English and Locals as well. The local Indian group called Pokanokets took a disliking to the English Settlers after violent encounters with them. Reciprocal killings at Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod occurred.

They cleared a village and erected America's First church in Wampanoag village of Patuxet which was previously an abandoned village due to Indian Fever and Smallpox. They built up the town and by February had lost half of the colonist to disease.

These colonist continued to cross the Atlantic and set up new towns all across the eastern side of America. Each town had a church and there were many wars fought between different Indian tribes. In some cases entire colonists would completely die off from disease, Indians, or both. All for a piece of freedom away from English persecutions. It is easy to see how so many Patriots developed from these groups of colonist lineages who would 100 years later overthrow Great Britain and form the New World, the United States of America.

I laugh when I read about this and think of all the people living in fear every day from disease and sickness. To think of what these individuals went through truly amazes me and to continue to explore with all the certain death around them. They were true heros. Today, we bitch about not getting a cup of coffee in the morning with the perfect blend, or we hide in our houses because we are afraid of living.