<P> Colony leader Captain George Popham died, and Raleigh Gilbert decided to return to England to take up an inheritance left by the death of an older brother--at which point, all of the colonists decided to return to England . It was around August 1608 when they left on the ship Mary and John and on a new ship built by the colony named Virginia of Sagadahoc . The 30 - ton Virginia was the first sea - going ship ever built in North America . </P> <P> Conflict over land rights continued through the early 17th century, with the French constructing Fort Pentagouet near Castine, Maine in 1613 . The fort protected a trading post and a fishing station and was the first longer - term settlement in New England . It changed hands multiple times throughout the 17th century among the English, French, and Dutch colonists . </P> <P> In 1614, Dutch explorer Adriaen Block traveled along the coast of Long Island Sound and then up the Connecticut River to Hartford, Connecticut . By 1623, the Dutch West India Company regularly traded for furs there, and they eventually fortified it for protection from the Pequot Indians and named the site "House of Hope" (also identified as "Fort Hoop," "Good Hope," and "Hope"). </P> <P> A group of Puritans known as the Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower from England and the Netherlands to establish Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, the second successful English colony in North America following Jamestown, Virginia . About half of the one hundred - plus passengers on the Mayflower died that first winter, mostly because of diseases contracted on the voyage followed by a harsh winter . In 1621, an American Indian named Squanto taught the colonists how to grow corn and where to catch eels and fish . His assistance was invaluable and helped them to survive the early years of the colonization . The Pilgrims lived on the same site where Squanto's Patuxet tribe had established a village before they were wiped out from diseases . </P>

What are the new england colonies known for