The Story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower

[Music] since the dawn of humanity the human species has been on the move tribes of people have migrated across the planet for tens of thousands of years seeking new lives in better places sometimes they were following their food sources sometimes they were trying to escape other warring tribes and sometimes they saw riches and power or they were just curious about what was over there wherever there might be one of the most storied tales in american history is that of the pilgrims migrating to this country on the mayflower depending upon who you ask estimates are as many as 10 million living americans and perhaps 35 million people worldwide can trace their ancestry to those 102 passengers and about 30 crew members who sailed on the mayflower to plymouth bay massachusetts in 1620 the decision those folks made to cross the atlantic was based on a lot more than just opportunity to leave a place they didn't like and america was not their first choice of places to go some feared for their lives so much they decided the risk of living in a wilderness in a place where the natives may not like them was better than living in a society that was exterminating people in a genocidal manner in the name of religion you may need a wiring diagram to follow some of what actually set the stage for the now infamous trip there is little doubt that arrogance lust and impatience among officials english and elsewhere shaped the decision of these commoners to bolt from england [Music] about 100 years before the pilgrims set sail henry viii became king of england in 1509 after his father died of tuberculosis the same year the 17 year old was crowned he married catherine of aragon the widow of his older brother arthur catherine was just three years old when her parents king ferdinand and queen isabella of spain promised her to henry vii to marry his son arthur died just a few months after they were wed in 1501. the teenage henry wanted a queen to birth the son to be the heir of his kingdom catherine seemed to fit the bill after all she had been slated to do that with his brother before henry's father died he obtained special permission from the pope for henry to marry catherine six years henry's senior catherine was pregnant seven times with his children but only one baby survived past infanthood a daughter named mary some 37 years later she became queen mary the first the nemesis of her father's efforts of religious reformation [Music] henry presented himself as a devout catholic and ordered the first english translation of the bible in 1539 he demanded it be displayed in churches so parishioners could read it pope leo the 10th declared him defender of the faith because henry had personally rejected protestant reformation leader martin luther's grievances presented to the church in 1517. fast forward about a dozen years henry got the hots for catherine's lady-in-waiting a young ann bolin and decided he'd marry her and try to produce his son the king asked the new pope clement vii for permission to divorce catherine saying that despite the papal permission allowing the marriage to catherine he felt it was against god's will he thought god was punishing him not allowing him a son because she had been married to arthur pope clement might have said okay but at the time the church was under siege by the plundering troops of a mutant's roman army the pope was in hiding under the protection of the spanish king charles v who also just happened to be catherine's nephew but the pope didn't want to make enemies of henry either he might someday need his support so he stretched out negotiations with the king's minister the archbishop of canterbury for several years before finally saying the divorce was a no-go henry defied the papal decision and married a very pregnant anne in secret in november 1532. the next may the newly appointed archbishop of canterbury who was a protestant declared henry and catherine divorced meantime the pope excommunicated henry from the church which suited the king just fine henry declared the church of england and the catholic church divorced and henry became head of his church after his excommunication henry ordered the complete destruction of shrines to catholic saints he seized and disbanded the monasteries across the english countryside and all the wealth inside them the church income was claimed for the kingdom and was also used to further henry's personal wealth the next year anne became queen not knowing just four years later the king would have her beheaded after he began romancing his next queen to be he had six wives all together and anne was one of two he executed it seems anyone who got in the way of henry viii often found himself brought up on charges and parting with his head just a few weeks after being crowned king henry had two of his father's ministers tried and executed for skimming money off the collections they made for the kingdom henry's son edward vi became king for a six-year stint starting in 1547 the year henry died edward supported the protestant reformation and made several changes of his own such as ending the requirements for mass and clerical celibacy he also required religious services be held in english then edward became sick and worried what would happen to the religious reformation after he was gone mary was next in line to the throne and she was a catholic he drafted an order called a device for succession as an effort to pass over his sisters mary and elizabeth and instead declared his cousin lady jane gray the queen upon his death it worked and made lady jane queen for a little more than a week until a regal council declared the document null and void [Music] so after edward's half-sister mary ascended the throne and married the king of spain making her queen of england and queen consort of spain mary spent her english reign trying to reverse the reformation her father started and her brother continued and like henry she routinely used violence to deal with those who rejected her pro-catholic religious policies it's estimated she had more than 300 protestants burned at the stake her notorious behavior and decisions earned her the nickname bloody mary her executions included one of henry's leading religious cohorts the archbishop of canterbury as well as that woman who tried to get in her way lady jane and her husband mary spent five years as queen until it's believed something like uterine cancer killed her she didn't want it but her half-sister elizabeth the first succeeded her that was because elizabeth was a protestant the religious winds in england shifted again to the protestant side elizabeth unmarried and beloved by many is also believed to have executed almost as many people as mary many of elizabeth's victims were catholic leaders killed by various torturous methods the catholic church did all it could to upend elizabeth's reign pope pius v issued a decree of excommunication calling her an illegitimate queen and warning her subjects to either disobey her or face a papal curse while elizabeth tried to undo what mary had done english catholic church leaders and supporters launched a rebellion they performed their own executions of hundreds of people who opposed their efforts to reassert the power of the catholic church across the english countryside all told it's believed these four tudor monarchs and their supporters executed more than 75 000 people during their 94 years they ruled england 75 000 people equal more than 2 percent of the average english population of the time how many of the tudors opponents killed which was many will likely remain a mystery forever [Music] [Applause] so what did all that have to do with the passengers on the mayflower well as all this religious turmoil continued protestant leaders could see potential dangers lurking everywhere some of them held no allegiance to either the church of england or the catholic church in fact some saw the church of england as just a watered-down version of the catholic church with rules that changed to fit the desires of whatever royal was in power the protestants wanted the two churches to be more independent in principles the church controlled every aspect of english life it told citizens what to eat what to wear and how to behave those who balked at church rules could find themselves chained at a dungeon tied to a stake and burned or beheaded some wanted to work within the church of england to purge the catholic influences and create change those folks were called the puritans others thought it was not possible to change the church from within and they wanted a whole new church formed this group of reformers became known as the separatist they adopted the name of saints it was some of these people who eventually sailed on the mayflower [Music] religious protesters were often branded dangerous renegades to avoid arrest they worshipped in secret at places like the home of william brewster a famous separatist who was fined for not attending his local church in scrooby another group of saints met clandestinely with john smith at the gainesboro old hall in lincolnshire when authorities cranked up their crackdown on them these two groups decided they should go to holland to them the more liberal nation represented a place where they could worship as freely as they liked they refused to pledge allegiance to the church of england one fall night in 1607 some set off to travel as much as 60 miles for a secret rendezvous with a boat on scotia creek in lincolnshire they had hired it to set out for holland but the boat captain betrayed them telling local authorities about their plans they were arrested their money and books and personal belongings were confiscated and they were hauled back to town for trial and convictions but they were not deterred when they were eventually freed they again made a plan and fled to holland this time through the town of emmingham they settled in the dutch city of leyden known for its free thinkers and religious tolerance they did find religious freedom but the dutch unions weren't too fond of migrants so the saints found themselves employed in menial low-paying jobs many worked in the textile in similar industries during the next 12 years they struggled building houses at what is known today as the english alley william brewster operated a printing press producing dissident pamphlets that were smuggled back into england those politically charged writings were often critical of king james who ordered an international manhunt for brewster when they found him and his compatriots the authorities at leighton university stepped in the way brewster taught english there and the school's staff protected the fugitives who went into hiding one historian says brewster actually surrendered to dutch authorities but they refused to extradite him to face a death sentence in england so they told the king they arrested the wrong guy and let him go [Music] eventually the saints decided holland wasn't the mecca of freedom they dreamed it would be the easy-going cosmopolitan atmosphere was a seductive lure to the saints children it was here the group learned of civil marriage a concept they adopted they also feared war would soon break out between spain and holland as a peace treaty was soon to expire spain had attacked the city about 50 years before around 1617 the saints decided it was time to move again this time they thought they would go to the new world where government interference and worldly distractions would not impact their desired way of life the backwoods of virginia sounded like just a place that is so long as they avoided places like jamestown and henricus where settlements had already been established in the name of the king so some of the saints made their way back to london to plan their next big adventure in a quest for freedom it was going to cost a pretty penny to make the trip and two companies one in london and one in holland negotiated with them for the business of the journey after struggling in holland all those years many of the future colonists were pretty much broke they approached a wealthy london iron merchant named thomas weston and asked him if he could finance the trip weston made them a deal he would pay their way if they would enter an agreement to basically become indentured servants to his stock firm for seven years in exchange for his paying their way to the new world they would work for his company as traders or fishermen sending first lumber and other resources back to weston and his stockholders at first the saints balked at the proposal but the desire of many of them to do almost anything on the promise of freedom caused them to eventually accept the deal with an investor in their back pocket the virginia company of london was hired to carry the group to america the virginia company was financially strapped at the time so they were anxious to make this deal a reality they helped the saints obtain permission known as a patent for the group to establish a settlement on the east coast somewhere between the modern day new york city and the state line dividing maryland and virginia the king also gave them permission to leave the church of england so long as they carried themselves peaceably william bradford the man who later became governor of the plymouth colony called his fellow travelers pilgrims as he wrote about them leaving holland he said they knew they were pilgrims and looked not much on those things but lifted up their eyes to the heavens their dearest country and quieted their spirits over the centuries the name pilgrims stuck for those adventurers among the pilgrims were about 40 saints and a larger group of secular colonists that the saints called strangers together they prepared to head out to sea aboard two ships the mayflower and the speedwell the 47 year old speedwell was the smaller of the two ships only a 60-ton pine-hold vessel it had been a warship in the english navy outfitted with more than 30 guns it fought against the spanish armada in 1588. afterward it was rebuilt and became an exploring vessel the saints bought the ship in the summer of 1620 to assist in the trip across the ocean alongside the mayflower at 180 tons the mayflower a merchant ship was three times the speed well size there were more than two dozen british ships named mayflower at this time this one was only 11 years old when weston chartered it to carry the group to the new world the speedwell left holland with a group of saints aboard on wednesday july 22nd 1620 they were scheduled to meet the mayflower in southampton and then head out across the atlantic the speedwell began leaking as they crossed the english channel the ship was patched up in southampton and the two ships launched on august 15th but the speedwell began to take on water again the accounts of events aren't clear her timbers may have been straining from the heavy load or the leaks may have been the result of sabotage by a reluctant crew no matter the cause the ships skirted the southern english coastline about 140 miles and made port in dartmouth they spent a week making repairs to the leaky speedwell before setting off again for the open atlantic they didn't make it far about 300 miles into the open waters the speedwells sprang another bad leak so they doubled back to plymouth realizing the small ship would never make it to america in plymouth the speedwell passengers squeezed onto the mayflower making the passenger load 102 alongside about 30 or so crew members to make the transatlantic trip also on board were two boats a long boat powered by ores and a dismantled 21-foot shallop that could use sails or ores it proved invaluable during later shore landings they also carried a dozen cannons and ammunition in case they needed to defend themselves from someone on the high seas or from indian attacks once they reached america several english villages such as the ones in richmond in suffolk virginia and the popham colony in modern day maine had been abandoned or destroyed after native americans attacked the newcomers as we have seen in recent years the atlantic can be especially stormy in september and october sailing against the wind the pilgrims were battered by a number of storms making the voyage dreadful and dangerous the weather became so bad the sails were often unusable leaving the ship just to drift waves swept one stranger overboard it was the just hand of god upon him bradford wrote saying the man was a proud and very profane young man not only were they cramped the delays they had already encountered meant they would cross the ocean at the height of the storm season they were packed under that boat only about a hundred feet long and 25 feet wide with about as much floor space on it as a two-bedroom apartment the 130 people in their belongings sailed to the new world spending months bumping into each other and the goats sheep dogs and chickens riding along with them the ceilings below were only about five feet high so many tried to stay above deck the slow voyage averaging about two miles an hour created food and water shortages passenger meals were rationed issued daily and cooked in a sand filled iron tray on the open deck called a firebox passengers pass the time reading by candlelight or playing cards in other games such as nine mins morris a strategy board game that is like a blend of tic-tac-toe and checkers some passengers spent time getting to know the members of their new community that included the four more children aged four to eight years old abandoned by their father in holland after a bitter divorce from their mother he discovered they weren't his biological kids and paid to have them shipped to america with several pilgrim families only richard moore survived the first winter in america during the tempestuous trip elizabeth hopkins gave birth to a baby boy he was aptly named oceanus two other pilgrims died at sea one day during the voyage the main support beam of the mayflower cracked they reinforced the ailing timber with a jack screw brought along with them to help build homes once they reached america the support kept the beam from cracking further allowing the mayflower to stay afloat [Music] during sunrise on november 9 1620 the crew spotted land at what is now cape cod massachusetts after 64 days they were still a long way from where the settlement patent allowed them to set up a new homeland they were supposed to be somewhere south of the mouth of the hudson river that was about 300 miles away across rough atlantic waters in a slow crippled boat after floating around cape cod bay they dropped anchor in a protected area at providencetown on wednesday november 11th the water along the shoreline was so shallow they were forced to anchor about three quarters of a mile offshore william brewster wrote of the events every day we saw whales playing hard by us he said they didn't have a means to harvest them but they would have been easy pickings they didn't find any cod fish to catch either instead he said we found great mussels and very fat and full of sea pearl but we could not eat them for they made us all sick that did eat they did find plenty of birds to eat them unsure of how many bouts with rough seas the damaged mayflower could take they decided to stay at cape cod to see what it could offer winter was setting in and they were hungry weary and some were getting very sick nerves were frayed and patients short among the group of migrants the strangers argued the virginia company contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on because the ship landed outside of virginia company territory they felt they were no longer bound to the company's charter or the rules of appointed leaders bradford wrote several strangers made discontented and mutinous speeches so the group sought to create some kind of order they drew up and signed what is now called the mayflower compact little did they know this compact would be long remembered as the first constitution of modern times the original document was lost but three very similar versions of it were later written down by the settlers as they remembered it the document was reflected as pretty simple and as you might expect very religious one version reads in the name of god amen we whose names are written 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 etc having undertaken for the glory of god and advancement of the christian faith and honor of our king and country a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of virginia do by these presence solemnly and mutually in the presence of god and of one another covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends of four set and by virtue hereof to enact constitute and frame such just and equal laws ordinances acts constitutions and offices 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 here under subscribe to our names at cape cod the 11th of november in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord king james of england france and ireland the 18th and of scotland the 54th on odomene 16 20. 41 male passengers signed that document [Music] that same wednesday a scouting party of a dozen or so men went to shore in the long boat to bring back food wood and fresh water from the longboat they had to wade through about 50 yards of bitter cold water to reach the shore causing some scouts to catch cold from exposure they didn't see any natives that first day the following monday they unloaded the challenge still in pieces they took it ashore where the ship's carpenter already with his hands full trying to repair the wounded mayflower spent almost three weeks trying to reassemble it brewster wrote our people went unsure to refresh themselves and our women to wash as they had great need shortly after they arrived susannah white gave birth to a boy aboard the mayflower making him the first english child born in the colony they named him peregrine from the latin word pedigrinorm meaning pilgrim brewster's account said it was a week before they came upon any natives he said a landing party was walking along the shoreline when they saw five or six people with a dog coming towards them when the natives saw the landing party they called the dog and ran into the woods the pilgrims gave chase but they couldn't keep up during the coming days the pilgrims found an abandoned cornfield where there was about 10 bushels of corn oil and artifacts buried in the frozen snow-covered ground they took the corn back to the ship intending to plant it and grow more eventually they would return what they had taken they also found graves of an abandoned indian village that had not survived an earlier epidemic that followed a previous landing of ships from europe ships had been fishing and trading in north american waters since the days of henry viii it's believed these encounters with europeans brought infections to the native villages that sparked epidemics those crews also took some native americans back to europe some became slaves others were taught english so they could become interpreters for their tribes in the future by early december 1620 the mayflower group was getting anxious they'd been living on a cramped ship since august they knew the current region they'd been exploring might not be the best place to make their settlement so they sent out scouts 20 to 25 miles around the bay's shoreline looking for a more suitable place the weather was becoming increasingly harsh brewster wrote the water froze on our clothes and made them many times like coats of iron on board the mayflower an outbreak of contagious diseases ran through the pilgrim community they were suffering through cases of scurvy pneumonia and tuberculosis as the winter howled across the bay passengers and crew holed up below decks journals report 47 pilgrims died and half the ship's crew it was around christmas day 1620 when the pilgrims departed provincetown arriving the next day in what is now plymouth bay massachusetts they decided this would be where they would settle and begin construction of their first buildings [Music] a fort watchtower was built on what is now known as burial hill where brantford and other settlers were eventually buried a common house was completed in january they established a hospital to help them deal with the sick every single man was told to join one of the 19 families to reduce the number of houses that needed to be built each family built their own home and the settlement was mostly built by february there were only 53 survivors when they departed the ship for the final time in march to set up residence in the new settlement it was seven months after they had first set sail from england the mayflower's captain departed to head back about a month later sailing the ship back to england in half the time it took to make its way to america [Music] it was march 16 1621 when a wampanoag tribal leader named samoset visited the settlement and introduced himself he spoke english and reportedly asked for beer and talked to the settlers into the night samoset had learned english from fishermen working off montegan island and he knew many of the ship's captains there by name it seems the wampanoag and nearby narangoset tribe as well as others had been at war for many years killing many of samoset's tribe and taking a lot of their tribal land he said they were still wary of the other natives samoset seemed quite the diplomat for his people he introduced the pilgrims to the wampanoag chief who journals indicate later fell ill and was nursed back to health by the pilgrims who fed him chicken soup somerset also introduced him to tisquantum commonly called squanto who taught the pilgrims how to plant corn and where to fish and hunt samoset made a pact with an english trader about four years later agreeing that they would only sell his tribe's furs to englishmen the next year he conducted the first property sale between an eastern coastal native american and a colonist selling 1200 acres to john brown but squanto developed an even closer relationship with the pilgrims some historians say squanto was captured as a young boy back in 1605 along with four penobscot tribal natives william bradford's journal reported squanto was taken to spain sold as a slave and learned english and eventually returned to new england as an interpreter for a ship's captain he escaped from that captain in order to try to reunite with his tribe but instead ended up with the wampanoags in 1620 they took him prisoner because they didn't trust him when the pilgrims arrived the wampanoag chief eventually agreed to let squanto stay with the pilgrims they welcomed him and he lived with the colony under the watchful eye of another native the chief assigned to keep tabs on it however the manipulative squanto was also kept at arm's length by the natives and the colonists swanto was known to spread malicious and treacherous rumors among the pilgrims about the wampanoags or other indian tribes saying they were planning to attack the pilgrim settlement it didn't happen instead the wampanoag struck a mutual defense pact with the pilgrims regarding rival tribes bradford wrote the agreement was simple if any did unjustly war against him the wampanoags they would aid him if any did war against them the pilgrims he should aid them later that first year the narangaset natives sent the plymouth colony a threat in the form of a bundle of arrows wrapped in a snakeskin the plymouth governor william bradford filled the snakeskin with powder and bullets and sent it back the narangasits understood the message and decided not to attack the colony in 1621 harvest was good but there was a learning curve to it that winter in a letter to a friend in england edward winslow wrote our corn did prove well and god be praised we had a good increase of indian corn and our barley indifferent good but our peas were not worth gathering for we feared they were too late sown a year and a half after they began their journey the plymouth colonists were enjoying their first successful harvest there wasn't much written about what became known as the first thanksgiving only about four lines in a journal historians say the rest of the supposed facts are embellishments added over time the writings say it was basically an impromptu affair the english were cooking and some 90 natives showed up with about five deer to add to the bounty and they stayed together for about three days enjoying each other's company it was neighbors getting together for fellowship elizabeth hopkins who gave birth to the baby boy at sea was one of only four adult female passengers who boarded the mayflower and survived to see that feast the ship fortune arrived unexpectedly at the cape cod bay on november 9 1621 thinking it might be a french warship the plymouth colony militia loaded the cannon to greet it it took several weeks for the ship to finally find the colony and by then it was recognized as an english merchant ship financed by thomas weston who paid for the mayflower the fortune brought 35 mostly male settlers but no supplies putting additional strain on the scarce food resources of the colony the colonist food rations were then cut in half for the winter but they became increasingly annualed to the challenges that only seemed to intensify with time the fortune left three weeks later loaded with furs and other goods only to be seized by a french warship when it arrived in the english channel two more ships deanne and little james left london in 1623 headed for the plymouth colony another western investment both arrived in july loaded with supplies and passengers bradford said there were 60 new settlers on the two ships but the number of passengers has since been identified as many more than that finally about two years after landing they obtained a second settlement patent from england allowing the pilgrims to officially live on the land they had chosen in the new world three hundred years later in 1920 it is preeminently the province of government to protect the wheat the average massachusetts governor calvin coolidge later president coolidge gathered for a dinner with a group of mayflower descendants marking the anniversary of the mayflower landing he told the group the compact which they signed was an event of the greatest importance it was the foundation of liberty based on law and order and that tradition has been steadily upheld they drew up a form of government which has been designated as the first real constitution of modern times it was democratic an acknowledgement of liberty under law and order in giving each person the right to participate in the government while they promised to be obedient to the laws but the really wonderful thing was that they had the power and strength of character to abide by it and live by it from that day to this some governments are better than others but any form of government is better than anarchy and any attempt to tear down government is an attempt to wreck civilization the pilgrims didn't want to wreck civilization but rather build a new one they were willing to face death in an effort to outrun the threat of mayhem back in england rather than try to change the world around them they chose to create a new one working together as a community and with the native americans they encountered it was all in an effort to bring peace for themselves their families and those around them [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 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Channel: Buddy Vickers

Views: 125,604

Keywords: Mayflower, Speedwell, Separatists, Reformation, Tudors, Leiden, Wampanoag, Pilgrims, John Alden, Allerton, Billington, William Bradford, Brewster, Britteridge, Butten, Carter, Carver, Chilton, Clarke, Cooke, Cooper, Crackstone, Eaton, Fletcher, Fuller, Gardiner, Goodman, Holbeck, Hooke, Oceanus Hopkins, Howland, Langmore, Latham, Leister, Margesson, Minter, More Children, Priscilla Mullins, Priest, Prower, Rigsdale, Samson, Soule, Standish, Story, Thompson, Tilley, Tinker, Trevore Turner, Warren, Peregrine White, Wilder, Winslow

Id: QEXisMIHnS8

Length: 59min 58sec (3598 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021