America's first sustaining settlers came aboard the Mayflower, and as stated in their compact, sought to undertake this endeavor "for ye glorie of God and advancement of ye Christian faith." (Direct quote from the Mayflower Compact, signed in the cabin of the Mayflower in 1620).

Some History and Background:

One place we visited was in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims from the Mayflower ship landed in 1620 and started the first sustaining colony in the New World.

A couple of other colonies had been attempted, one in Jamestown that ended with most of the colonists starving or freezing to death and the colony folding. There was also another attempt at a colony by the French actually, at a Protestant colony called Fort Caroline in what would later become the area of Florida.

That French colony was planted and financed by an influential French Protestant Huguenot sympathizer. However, rabid Spanish Catholic fanatics got wind of it, and led by Don Pedro Menendez De Aviles, they went in and put to the sword and massacred every last person, including women and children.

So, one was facing some pretty stiff odds to attempt another colony: possible starvation, death by freezing, or massacre, none being attractive prospects. To continue reading, click on the link:
http://gwmgracenotes.blogspot.com/2015/11/plymouths-pilgrims-and-their-christian.html