After Columbus: The European Adventures to the New World

1620: The Adventure of 102 People

In 1620, 102 people boarded a worn-out ship.

Their destination was the New World — the Americas. Seeking religious freedom or dreaming of a new life, the passengers of the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, and after 66 days at sea, arrived at what is now the coast of Massachusetts. These were the Pilgrim Fathers — mythical figures in American history.

But wait. Were they really the first settlers? And what came before them?

After Columbus: Europe's Excitement

The moment Christopher Columbus set foot on the "New World" in 1492, Europe was electrified. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain had sponsored Columbus's voyage, and the returns exceeded all imagination. Gold, silver, new crops — everything Europe had dreamed of was in the New World.

Of course, there were already indigenous people who had lived there for ages. But the Europeans did not see them. Or rather, they saw them differently.

Spain moved quickly. Starting in 1493, Columbus made several more voyages, and Spain established colonies across the Caribbean. The Caribbean's indigenous peoples vanished rapidly under Spanish exploitation and disease. This was the opening chapter of New World settlement.

But England and France were not about to sit idle.

Jamestown: England's First Step

In 1607, an English colonization party backed by the Virginia Company settled near the lower Potomac River. That place was Jamestown. This was not a simple pirate hideout or temporary trading post. This was the first permanent English colony.

Life for Jamestown's early settlers was unimaginably harsh. The film The New World (2005, directed by Terrence Malick) portrays Jamestown with considerable historical accuracy. The true story of John Smith, played by Colin Farrell, and the historical Pocahontas come alive in this film. Of course, the movie romanticizes things, but the underlying tension and conflict — the anxiety of that first meeting between Europeans and indigenous peoples — is well captured.

Food shortages at Jamestown were severe. The winter of 1609-1610 is known as "The Starving Time." The settler population of 500 dwindled to just 60.

The Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers' Dream

Thirteen years later, in 1620, the Mayflower arrived.

Europeans who had witnessed Jamestown's success (or survival), particularly English Puritans seeking religious freedom, set out for the New World. These were the Pilgrim Fathers. Living near Leiden, Plymouth in England, and searching for religious liberty, they ultimately decided to head for the New World.

The Mayflower voyage is also famous for the Mayflower Compact — a charter drafted aboard the ship. Before even reaching their destination, the passengers established rules for living together. Some historians argue this became the seed of American democracy.

The first winter was another nightmare. More than half the settlers died from cold and disease. But the following spring, with the help of an indigenous man named Squanto, they successfully cultivated corn. That autumn, they celebrated the first harvest together. This would later be mythologized as Thanksgiving.

The Shadows of History Revealed Through Film

Disney's animated film Pocahontas (1995) completely reimagined the Pocahontas story. The real Pocahontas likely never saved John Smith, nor did she have a romantic relationship with him. Moreover, the film hides her tragic later years — being taken to England, a forced marriage to John Rolfe, and death in a foreign land.

But films also capture other truths. The inevitable collision between Europeans and indigenous peoples, and how powerless individual hopes become within that collision.

The TV series Salem (2014-2017) depicts early colonial Puritan society. Religious fanaticism, witch hunts, internal conflict — these were the inner world of the early European settlers in the New World. While not historically precise, it captures the spirit of the times (Zeitgeist) well.

The Story After

Through the 18th century, thirteen English colonies formed along the Eastern seaboard. France built Louisiana in the Mississippi basin, and Spain controlled the south and west.

They believed they were pioneering this land. They thought they had discovered a new world. But this land had already been the indigenous peoples' world for more than ten thousand years.

The Declaration of Independence in 1776 states that "all men are created equal" — yet ironically excluded Black slaves and indigenous peoples. That contradiction runs through the entire history of America.

In Closing

Every Thanksgiving, Americans commemorate the Pilgrim Fathers. Within that commemoration lives a romantic mythology. But as films and TV shows remind us, history always contains multiple truths simultaneously.

The settlement of the Americas after Columbus is not a simple tale of pioneering. It is a human drama of encounters and collisions, dreams and despair, faith and compromise intertwined. The stories we meet through film ultimately pose a question for our own time.

Have we truly learned from history? Or are we repeating it?