The English had made a number of attempts to found colonies in America in the late 1500s and early 1600s, with settlements in Newfoundland and in what was later to become North Carolina (Jones 1995: 5). These early attempts failed and its was not until 1607 that a lasting colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia, on the east coast of America. In 1620 a further colony was established in what is now Plymouth, Massachussets. The Puritan settlers who later became known as the Pilgrim Fathers arrived on the ship The Mayflower, fleeing religious persecution in England. These early settlers inevitably brought their own varieties of English to the New World. The Jamestown settlers originated from areas of Gloucestershire and Somerset, while the pilgrims of The Mayflower came from areas of the Midlands such as Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, as well as London and the surrounding areas of Essex and Kent.
The first permanent English settlements in the New World were on the east coast of North America: Jamestown, Virginia, in the south in 1607 and Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the north in 1620. We know they were settled by the people from England. It is impossible, however, to trace the origins of most of these settlers, for there are no records of where they came from in England, only the port from which the ship sailed (London, in most cases). Many people came in search of religious freedom - the Puritans in New England, the Catholics in Maryland, and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. Others were fleeing economic disaster, and most did not have a lot of education. Though we can say that they spoke Early Modern English, they did not speak the same dialect; British English of the time was (and still is) made up of many regional and social varieties.
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