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THE MAYFLOWER AND PILGRIMS
The
Pilgrims
The pilgrims were a
group of English protestant “Separatists” who first sought freedom
from religious persecution by the Church of England by moving to
Leiden, Holland, and about ten years later by relocating to North
America where they hoped to establish a colony in Northern Virginia.
They were joined on their journey across the Atlantic by other
English families and individuals, not Separatists, many of whom had
skills and trades needed by the pilgrims to establish a colony, and
who were themselves simply seeking the opportunity for a better
life.
The
Voyage
The Pilgrims engaged
two aging sailing vessels, the Mayflower
and the Speedwell to transport them with
their supplies to Northern Virginia, where they had obtained a
charter from the English king. The group left Southampton England in
August 1620, but were forced to return to port after the
Speedwell proved to be unseaworthy. One hundred and two
passengers then crowded aboard the Mayflower
in September 1620 and set out again, having to leave a
number of their fellow pilgrims and vital supplies in England. The
crossing was slower than expected and the Mayflower
was driven off course and arrived far north of their
Northern Virginia destination in November 1620, at the start of a
harsh winter. The pilgrims decided that further travel to Northern
Virgina at that time of year was dangerous and unwise, and began
exploring Cape Cod seeking a safe harbor and suitable place to
establish their colony.
The
Mayflower Compact
Before leaving the
Mayflower, the pilgrims and the other
voyagers, drafted and all signed a document that established the
legal and political structure of the new colony. That historic
document is considered to be the first to set forth the
democratic self governance principles on which the the United States
Constitution was based a century and a half later, and is known as
the Mayflower Compact:
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Agreement Between the
Settlers at New Plymouth : 1620
IN THE NAME OF GOD,
AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal
Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the
Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland,
King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken
for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian
Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage
to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of
Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually,
in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and
combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick,
for our better Ordering and Preservation, and
Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof
do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal
Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers,
from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and
convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto
which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.
IN
WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at
Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our
Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and
Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the
fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620. |
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Mr. John
Carver
Mr. William Bradford
Mr Edward
Winslow
Mr. William Brewster
Isaac
Allerton
Myles Standish
John Alden
John
Turner
Francis Eaton
James Chilton |
John
Craxton
John Billington
Moses Fletcher
John
Goodman
Mr. Samuel Fuller
Mr. Christopher
Martin
Mr. William Mullins
Mr. William
White
Mr. Richard Warren
John Howland
Mr.
Steven Hopkins |
Digery
Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow
Edmund
Margesson
Peter Brown
Richard
Britteridge
George Soule
Edward Tilly
John
Tilly
Francis Cooke |
Thomas
Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Ridgdale
Edward
Fuller
Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner
Mr. John
Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doten
Edward
Liester | |
Plymouth
Colony
The pilgrims
selected a site on the western shore of Cape Cod in Massachusetts
which they named Plymouth and where they established their colony.
During that first winter, 46 of the 102 colonists died from the
severe cold plus an influenza type of illness known as the “great
sickness”, and left the remaining colonists weakened and without
adequate food and supplies. During the spring of 1621, however,
members of the peaceful native Wampanoags tribe, helped the
colonists to adapt and grow enough food to survive. Although the
colonists struggled and endured hardships for the first few years at
Plymouth, they prevailed and established the first permanent colony
in New England.
The First
Thanksgiving
At the time of the
fall harvest in 1621, Massasoit, the great sachem of the Wampanoag
tribe and 90 of his people arrived with meat, fowl, fish and crops
and helped the pilgrims prepare for the upcoming winter. The
pilgrims and the Wampanoags joined together for a great three day
harvest feast and a time of thanksgiving for the blessings bestowed
on them. Almost two and a half centuries later in 1863, during the
American Civil War, President Lincoln, who was urged to follow the
tradition of the pilgrims' first thanksgiving, proclaimed a national
day of Thanksgiving. This tradition was followed by every succeeding
president, until Congress in 1941 established Thanksgiving as an
official national holiday. |
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