Life in the South 49 William Byrd, a Virginia Gentleman 49 William Byrd Sees North Carolina 50 William Byrd Visits Colonel Spotswood 52 Life in a City 52 From Benjamin Franklin’s _Autobiography_ 53 The excerpt from _Of Plymouth Plantation_, by William Bradford, edited by Samuel Eliot Morison, which begins on page 11, was reprinted by permission of Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1952. The poems by Edward Taylor, “Housewifery” and “The Joy of Church Fellowship Rightly Attended,” which begin on page 23, were reprinted by permission of the _New England Quarterly_, December, 1937. The picture on page 1, of Pocahontas saving the life of Captain John Smith, and the picture on page 22, “The Witch,” were reprinted through the courtesy of the Library of Congress. The picture on the cover and the picture on page 37, of a colonial woman captured by Indians, were reprinted through the courtesy of the National Life Insurance Company of Montpelier, Vermont. The picture of Benjamin Franklin shown on page 46 was reprinted through the courtesy of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company of Boston, Massachusetts. Preface The seventeenth century in America was the seedtime of colonization. For 115 years after Columbus discovered America, explorers sailed the western waters, and the nations of Europe staked out vast empires. England launched several successful attempts to plant colonies in what is now the United States. In the years following the landing at Jamestown in 1607, England laid the foundation for her extensive colonial system in North America. From these scattered colonies a nation grew, but a long time passed before the colonies became states and the states became a nation. The English colonization of North America did not suffer for want of reporters to describe it. The people who took part in the enterprise wrote a great deal about their experiences. Governor Bradford of Plymouth wrote a history to preserve a record of the colony’s early days. Captain John Smith of Virginia wrote pamphlets to satisfy the curiosity of folks back home who might want to come to the New World. Many of these works were printed immediately; others remained in manuscript until our day.