While France and other European nations were working hard to replace Spain as the world's colonial superpower, the English had been mostly content to simply steal gold from Spanish ships. And in the end, these English pirates, nicknamed 'Sea Dogs,' finally turned the tide of world history in favor of England. It was one of these Sea Dogs, Sir Francis Drake, that first sailed around the world for England. He arrived back with a large bounty back in England in 1580. This led Queen Elizabeth to consider establishing a permanent New World colony of her own, as a base for launching even more raids. Jamestown was the first lasting English settlement in America, the beginning of the nation's government, its introduction to diplomatic relations with Native Americans, and a foundation for bartering and cash crops, which gave the colony (and later the nation) an economic boost. Historians estimate that the first slave ship to arrive in what would be the 13 colonies landed in Jamestown in 1619. We then discussed the Puritans in the Church of England, a persecuted group of Protestant Christians, they were also known as Separatists. Some of these Separatists decided to flee to the "new world." They considered themselves Pilgrims because their journey had a religious purpose and they hoped to find a better life in America. The Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in September 1620 planning to settle in the Virginia colony. But the first land they sighted was Cape Cod. Before going ashore to Plymouth, the Pilgrims drew up a formal document called the Mayflower Compact. This document was an important step in the development of representative government in America. Bella shared with me that she has ancestors that came to America around this time and that her dad has been working on getting more information! She excitedly called her dad and placed him on speaker phone. Although he is awaiting documents, he shared some amazing specifics about their family history. Their ancestors' last name was Goddell and evolved to Goodale. The Goodales worked for neighbor, Giles Corey, who was not a good man. His wife was accused of witchcraft and hanged while Giles was tortured and died during the Salem Witch Trials. I told Bella and her Dad I would research what I could. It did not take long to find information about the Goodales and Coreys of historic Salem, MA! I will share this information with Bella soon as most of class tomorrow will be spent on commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Sept. 11th.