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The Pilgrims who came to America in 1620, were mainly a group of Christians called Separatists. Because of the persecution of Separatists by the Church-State system of government in England, one group of Separatists had moved to the United States of the Netherlands in 1608, but became dissatisfied with conditions there and decided their hope lay in the new land of America.
In 1620, on July 12th (O.S. = Old Style), they left the Netherlands with 35 members of their congregation and their leaders William Bradford and William Brewster aboard the ship Speedwell, and at Southhampton, joined up with other Englishmen who had hopes of bettering their lives in the new world. The London Company granted them the right to establish a settlement in Virginia.
A total of about 120 passengers boarded both the Speedwell and the chartered vessel Mayflower, and left Southampton on August 5th (O.S.), but had to return to England twice because of dangerous leaks on the Speedwell.
Finally, at the English port of Plymouth, late in the sailing season, after much disputing about what they should do, some of the passengers from the Speedwell were transferred to the Mayflower, and on September 6th (O.S.), the Pilgrims, 102 men, women, and children, (only 37 [or 45] of whom were from the original Separatist congregation,) left England on their historic voyage across the turbulent ocean.
During the voyage, the Mayflower was badly rattled by storms with many leaks in the upper parts of the ship. One of the main beams in mid ship bowed and cracked, causing great distress, until a screw jack brought by the passengers was used to raise the beam and the carpenter supported it with a post and other timber.
John Howland, ancestor of former President George Bush, [and later President George W. Bush] was nearly lost in one of the storms.
The exhausting voyage took 66 days and claimed 2 lives. However, they still arrived with 102 souls, since a boy, "Oceanus Hopkins", was born at sea in route, and another, "Peregrine White", was born as the ship anchored at Cape Cod.
The Pilgrims had planned to settle somewhere near the Hudson River, in the area of their grant from the Virginia Company of London (aka. London Company), but the LORD in his providence sent winds that urged the Mayflower north, where they sighted Cape Cod, November 9th (O.S.).
"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element." (--William Bradford)
After anchoring inside the tip of Cape Cod (in Provincetown harbor) The Mayflower Compact, "the first plan for a self-determining government in America", was drawn up and signed by 41 men aboard the Mayflower on
November 11th, 1620 (O.S.).
This agreement was thought necessary because there were rumors that some of the non-Separatists, called "Strangers," among the passengers would defy the Pilgrims if they landed in a place other than that specified in the land grant they had received from the London Company. The compact became the basis of a Body Politick (temporary government) in the Plymouth Colony. After it was signed, the Pilgrims elected John Carver as their first governor. They were to meet in a yearly "General Court to elect the governor and assistants, enact laws, and levy taxes."
Being weary of life aboard ship, the Pilgrims were anxious to explore the country for a place to settle down. During the weeks that followed, one exploring party working its way around Cape Cod Bay had to take refuge on an island in Plymouth harbor during a blinding snow storm.
On December 11th (O.S.), they landed at Plymouth where there was some cleared land, a stream with clear pure water, and a high hill that could be fortified. There had previously been a (Native American) Indian village there, but a plague in 1617 had wiped them out.
Several days later, on December 16th (O.S.), the Mayflower sailed across to the rocky western shore of Cape Cod Bay in southeastern Massachusetts, and dropped anchor in Plymouth Harbor.
Although Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower had previously threatened to leave the Pilgrims unless they quickly found a place to land, he remained, with his ship, at Plymouth during that devasting first winter of 1620-21, during which about half of the colonists died. (After the winter was past in 1621, the Mayflower finally departed from Plymouth on April 5th (O.S.), and returned to England.)
"Plymouth Colony and the Pilgrims have become for all Americans a lesson of how a people with little more than courage, perseverance, and hard work could build themselves a home in a hostile world. The Pilgrims laid the basis for the town meeting form of government, and for the Congregational Church."
Life in the New World was not easy. Lack of proper food, exhausting work, and extreme weather lowered their resistance to sickness, and there was much suffering and death. They lost 52 members, including their governor John Carver. Thirteen of the twenty-four heads of families died, as well as fourteen of the eighteen mothers. By spring only a few able-bodied men and boys were left to plant crops.
Even these men, who had been town laborers in Holland for years, might have been lost if it had not been for the help (by the providence of God) of two Indians, Samoset and Squanto, who had been a captive on an English vessel and had learned English. As the story goes, "One spring morning, an Indian walked into the little village, and introduced himself to the startled people as Samoset. Two weeks later he returned with Squanto. The two Indians introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, the sachem, or chief, of the Wampanoag tribe that controlled all southeastern Massachusetts. An exchange of gifts and hospitality resulted in a peace that lasted over 50 years. The Pilgrims, under Squanto's direction, caught "alewives" (a fish in the herring family) and used them as fertilizer in planting corn, pumpkins, and beans. They hunted and fished for food." (--World Book Ency.)
Another factor in the survival of the Plymouth Colony was the leadership of William Bradford, who served as governor for 30 years (yearly elections,) and combined firmness with both tact and common sense. (He and several other leaders later assumed the total debt of the colonists to the London backers, and then divided the land and goods equally among the inhabitants.)
Governor Bradford declared a special celebration. The Pilgrims invited their Indian friends to join them in a three-day festival in the Autumn of 1621 in what we now call the first Thanksgiving.
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