Colonial society and culture The colonial history of America started about 400 years ago when on May 13, 1607, 104 colonists in search for their fortune and a better life disembarked from three ships and stepped ashore onto a spot that would turn out to be ground zero in a cultural and ecological exchange that was to transform a continent. It was the start of a new culture on a land which would have to become the land of opportunity of the future. However, for those 104 colonists it was a shaky start because two weeks after their arrival they were attacked by a war party of the Paspahegh tribe and they suffered their first casualties. The attack awoke the settlers to the requirement of defenses, and in response they hurriedly constructed a triangular picket with bulwarks at each corner, a building they named James Fort. The colonial society and culture is one of the most important topics which have always received the attention of historians.