Pilgrims' Arduous Journey Paved Way For Colonizing America
By Linda Steinmuller

Artist's drawing showing the Mayflower crossing the Atlantic

With Thanksgiving around the corner, many thoughts come to mind - family gatherings, turkey, football, the Macy's parade and the Pilgrims.

We all learned the story of the Pil-grims, who fled religious persecution in England and sailed to the New World aboard the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachu-setts.

However, few know that the Pil-grims' actual first landing was in Pro-vincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod where they spent five weeks be-fore settling in Plymouth. Thousands of visitors flock to the Cape Cod National Seashore to enjoy the beautiful beaches. Although it's known primarily for its natural beauty, it is a place steeped in history.

The first Thanksgiving celebration took place sometime in the autumn of 1621 after the Pilgrims' first harvest at Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts. Annual celebrations continued through-out the years right after the harvest, but it wasn't until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrim Monument in Province-town, Mass. Linda Steinmuller

The Pilgrim's story begins with King Henry VIII, who started the independent Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church. Free-dom of religion and democracy were unknown entities at the time. Before America was settled, it was largely against the law to worship differently than the official church of each Euro-pean country. In the late 1500's, groups in England began to establish different religious practices. One of the groups was called Puritans, which wanted to make the existing Anglican Church more pure and simple. Englishmen who wanted separate churches from the official Church of England were called Separatists, which included the Pilgrims. They held secret church meet-ings and, if discovered, were put in prison.

Afraid to stay in England, they fled to Holland in 1608 so they could worship as they pleased. They stayed there for 12 years, but life was difficult as they worked hard with little money to show for it. Not wanting their children to forget English and become too absorbed in the Dutch way of life or become soldiers for Holland, they dreamed of traveling to the New World.

Graphic depicting signing of the Mayflower Compact.

But how would they get there? They bought a ship called the Speedwell, but it was too small for their numbers and too old to make the long voyage, so they made an agreement with some English businessmen who acquired the Mayflower for them. In turn, the Pilgrims agreed to work for the businessmen for seven years with the promise to send furs and lumber from the New World.

The Pilgrims returned to England on the Speedwell where the Mayflower was waiting for them. One hundred and two people, along with 34 sailors, embarked from England for the New World on September 6, 1620. It is interesting that only 35 of the passengers were "Pilgrims." Others were go-ing to the New World because they could not find work in England, while some were simply looking for adventure.

The 66-day voyage was difficult. Sleeping quarters were tight with 80 men, women, and children sleeping on the floors below the main deck in a small area without ventilation or light. There were no sanitary facilities and no privacy. Daily meals consisted of salted beef, pork or fish, hardtack (a dry biscuit), dried peas, beans and cheese. Because there was the danger of fire on a wooden ship, many of their meals were eaten cold.

The Mayflower experienced smooth sailing for the first month but later encountered a few rough storms, and the main beam cracked. The ship might have sunk but for a great iron screw someone had brought to use to build new houses in the New World. They used that screw to keep the beam in place.

On the morning of November 9, 1620, the Pilgrims saw their first glimpse of the sandy shores of what is now Provincetown, where they drop-ped anchor two days later after they drew up an agreement known as the Mayflower Compact and signed it on November 11, 1620. The Compact was the first set of laws in America that declared the majority should rule and gave the people the right to choose their own leader.

The Pilgrims were supposed to settle near present day Long Island, which was governed by the English, but when the Mayflower turned south, it ran into rough, shallow waters and was in danger of sinking. A quick decision was made to head back to the deeper, safer waters off Cape Cod.

Later, while exploring, some Pil-grims made their way to an island to wait out a storm before landing. On December 11, 1620, they landed at Plymouth. What we call Plymouth Rock was the only safe landing place along two miles of sandy beach. There were running brooks, fields for planting, two rivers, a safe harbor and no Indians. The 18 brave Pilgrims sailed back to Provincetown to tell the others and on December 16, 1620 the May-flower with all the Pilgrims sailed to Plymouth.

Anyone interested in finding information on the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum should go online to:www.pilgrim-monument.org.

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