Jump to: Background Suggestions for Teachers Additional Resources After five grueling months at sea, a small group of soldiers, laborers, and aristocrats from England completed a 3000-mile journey across the Atlantic and stepped off their ship to greet an unfamiliar new land. The year was 1607 and the land they chose to live on became the first permanent settlement of the British in North America. Historical Background From England to Asia At the dawn of the seventeenth century in Europe, explor