<P> Conflict over land rights continued through the early 17th century, with the French constructing Fort Pentagouet near present - day Castine, Maine in 1613 . The fort protected a trading post and a fishing station and was considered 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 present - day Hartford, Connecticut . By 1623, the Dutch West India Company regularly traded for furs there and, ten years later, they 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 modern - day 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 Indian named Squanto taught the colonists how to grow corn and where to catch eels and fish . His assistance was invaluable and helped the Pilgrims 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> <P> The Plymouth settlement faced great hardships and earned few profits, but it enjoyed a positive reputation in England and may have sown the seeds for further immigration . Edward Winslow and William Bradford published an account of their adventures in 1622 called Mourt's Relation . This book was only a small glimpse of the hardships and adventures encountered by the Pilgrims, but it may have served to encourage other Puritans to emigrate during the Great Migration . </P>

What was the first successful english colony in the new world