Foundations of American Government: the Colonial Heritage In 1607, a small band of about 100 English colonists reached the coast near Chesapeake Bay. They founded Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. During the next 150 years, a steady stream of colonists went to America and settled near the coast. The thirteen colonies (http://www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/images/13_colonies.html) In the early 1600's, the English king began granting charters for the purpose of establishing colonies in America. By the mid-1700's, most of the settlements had been formed into 13 British colonies. Each colony had a governor and legislature, but each was under the ultimate control of the British government. The 13 colonies included the New England Colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire in the far north; the Middle Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware; Virginia and Maryland along Chesapeake Bay; and the Southern Colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in the far south. Virginia and Maryland were among the earliest English colonies. Virginia began with the Jamestown settlement of 1607. The London Company, an organization of English merchants, sent the settlers to America, hoping that they would find gold and other treasures. But the settlers found no treasures at Jamestown, and they faced great hardships. In about 1612, some Jamestown colonists began growing tobacco, which the London Company sold in Europe. Maryland was founded by the Calverts, a family of wealthy English Roman Catholics. Catholics were persecuted in England, and the Calverts wanted to provide a place where Catholics could enjoy freedom. Colonists established the first Maryland settlement in 1634. New England. Puritans, originally financed by English merchants, founded the New England Colonies. Puritans were English Protestants who faced persecution because of their opposition to the Church of England, the