Which of the following explains how the pilgrims survived their first winter? a. they spent the summer months building sturdy homes in their colony b. the pilgrims paid the native americans to let them stay in their village. c. local indians invited the pilgrims to say in their village. d. the pilgrims stayed in an abandoned village whose original inhabitants had died of disease.

D. The pilgrims stayed in an abandoned village whose original inhabitants had died of disease.

The correct answer is D. The pilgrims stayed in an abandoned village whose original inhabitants had died of disease.

Explanation:

The colonists were living onboard the Mayflower, and when they moved ashore the situation was harsher. They survived the winter because they occupied the location of a former Patuxet village who had died presumably of smallpox or other diseases. The land had already been cleared and cultivated when the Pilgrims arrived.

Squanto, the last Patuxet was key in the survival of the Pilgrims in the land formerly occupied by his people, and he helped the Pilgrims teaching them the skills for survival.