the first settlers came to massachusetts in 1621.
the first settlers came to massachusetts in 1621.
when did the first settlers come to massachusetts?
1621
the plymouth settlement was on high alert at the time. on february 16, 1620/21 a settler went off fowling. as he hid himself in the reeds by a creek awaiting birds about a mile and a half from the settlement, he spotted a dozen natives "marching towards our plantation" and heard in the distance "the noyse of many more". the settler hid until they were out of sight and then hastily returned to spread the alarm. standish and francis cooke, working in the woods, hastened home, leaving their tools behind them. the settlers organized a watch and began to make ready their weapons, "which by the moysture and rayne were out of temper". the natives took the tools left in the woods the next day the settlers elected standish as their military commander. while they were thus meeting, they spied two natives peering at them over strawberry hill less than a quarter of a mile away. the natives made gestures inviting the settlers come to them; the settlers returned the gesture, took up arms and sent standish and stephen hopkins to meet the two, but they departed. again "noyse of a great many more" was heard in the distance, but no one was seen. this encounter seriously disturbed the settlers, and they resolved to mount their cannons.
squanto
the rising price of cotton in the wake of the american civil war (1861–1865) saw a flood of hundreds of settlers come to fiji in the 1860s from australia and the united states in order to obtain land and grow cotton. since there was still a lack functioning government in fiji, these planters were often able to get the land in violent or fraudulent ways such as exchanging weapons or alcohol with fijians who may or may not have been the true owners. although this made for cheap land acquisition, competing land claims between the planters became problematic with no unified government to resolve the disputes. in 1865, the settlers proposed a confederacy of the seven main native kingdoms in fiji to establish some sort of government. this was initially successful and cakobau was elected as the first president of the confederacy. the involvement of cakobau and the other fijian chiefs was mostly to give an appearance of legitimacy to what was essentially a government for the white settlers. cakobau was given a $4 tinsel crown to go with his self-assumed title of "tui viti".
history of fiji