which was the first of the original thirteen colonies
Thirteen Colonies In 1606, King James I of England granted charters to both the Plymouth Company and the London Company for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in North America. The London Company established the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1607, the first permanently settled English colony on the North American continent. The Plymouth Company founded the Popham Colony on the Kennebec River, but it was short-lived. The Plymouth Council for New England sponsored several colonization projects, culminating with Plymouth Colony in 1620 which was settled by the English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims.[5] The Dutch, Swedish, and French also established successful North American colonies at roughly the same time as the English, but they eventually came under the English crown. The Thirteen Colonies were complete with the establishment of the Province of Georgia in 1732, although the term "Thirteen Colonies" became current only in the context of the American Revolution.[6]