Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony , the first permanent settlement in New England. It was founded in 1620 on Plymouth Bay, an inlet of Cape Cod Bay, about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of present Boston. The founders were the English colonists known in American history as the Pilgrims. Sponsors of the colony were London merchant adventurers who formed a joint-stock company to finance the venture. They expected that the colonists would build a profitable trade in fish and furs.
The merchant adventurers obtained a patent (permission to settle) from the Virginia Company of London, but the Mayflower —the first Pilgrim ship—landed north of that company's territory. By the Mayflower Compact drawn up before landing, the Pilgrims agreed to an elective self-government. John Carver was the first governor. Upon his death in 1621, William Bradford was elected, and was thereafter reelected 30 times, serving as governor all but five years up to 1656. In 1621 the Pilgrims received a patent from the Council for New England, which held a charter for that area.
For the first seven years all property and produce were supposed to be held in common, but Bradford soon established private ownership of land. In 1626 the Pilgrims bought out the London merchant adventurers, and in 1627 eight of the leading colonists, known as the Undertakers, assumed the debt. With Indian help a good fur trade had been established. However, the London creditors acted dishonestly, and Isaac Allerton, a Pilgrim serving as London agent, was at best careless. At great personal sacrifice the Undertakers finally paid off their debt in 1648.
Plymouth Colony did not grow greatly in population, but it expanded nevertheless. Duxbury was founded in 1627, Scituate in 1630. A trading post was established on the Connecticut River in 1633, but the Plymouth men were crowded out in a few years by settlers from Massachusetts Bay. When the colony joined the New England Confederation in 1643, it contained 10 communities. From 1685 to 1689 Plymouth Colony was part of the Dominion of New England created by King James II. In 1691 it was absorbed into the new royal colony of Massachusetts.