Plimoth, Massachusetts

Puritans Separatists Dissented Pilgrims  wanted to reform or purify the church  wanted to leave and start their own churches  Disagreed  People who travel with a religious purpose.

The Separatists were persecuted in England and fled to the Netherlands. Although they found religious freedom. They had trouble finding work and worried about their children losing their English way of life.

The Separatists called themselves Pilgrims because their journey had a religious purpose. Only 35 of the 102 passengers who boarded The Mayflower were Pilgrims. The rest of the passengers, referred to as Strangers to the Pilgrims were common people and farmers hoping for a chance at a better life.

One boat called the Speedwell leaked badly and could not travel. One hundred and two people decided to board a ship called the Mayflower. The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, on September 16, 1620, headed toward Virginia. After 65 days of some rough travel, the Mayflower landed on November 21, 1620, at Provincetown. They were supposed to land in Virginia because they had agreed with the investors for the trip that they would settle there. But the ship was blown off course and landed at a harbor near Cape Cod Bay. The Separatists made an arrangement with the Virginia Company. They would be allowed to practice religious freedom in Virginia in return for a share of any profits they might make. They were given two ships.

Before they left the ship, the Pilgrims decided they needed a set of rules, so the 41 men on board wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower Compact was a set of rules that people agreed to follow so they would not fight and there would be a better life for them on this new land. They elected John Carver their first governor and were excited to start their new free life.

After looking for a good place to settle, which was hard because the land was not good for growing crops and it was winter, the Mayflower landed at Plymouth on December 26. It is believed that they still had 102 people in their group. Two passengers had died on the voyage, but a child was born during the trip, and another was born while the ship was in the harbor. The ship stayed at Plymouth that first winter of Unfortunately, half of the colonists died here. They could not deal with the terrible weather, strenuous work, and lack of food without getting sick and dying.

In the spring of 1621, Samoset came into the village and introduced himself to the people and came back later. Samoset had learned how to speak English from English traders on the coast of Maine. They introduced the pilgrims to Massasoit. Massasoit was the chief (sachem) of the Wampanoag tribe that controlled all of southeastern Massachusetts. The governor, John Carver, and Massasoit exchanged gifts and arranged for a treaty of peace.

With Squanto as a guide and interpreter, the Pilgrims learned to catch fish and recognize which ones they could use as food or fertilizer. The alewives were a good fish for fertilizer and helped to grow corn, pumpkins, and beans. The pilgrims also learned to hunt for food. Squanto sailed to England with Captain Weymouth but he got homesick and wished to return home. Captain John Smith asked him to sail back to North America with him, which he did. While in New England, he started to walk home but was kidnapped by a Captain Hunt who sold him as a slave in Spain. Eventually, he got away, found passage back to North America. He found out his entire tribe had been killed by an illness so he stayed with Massasoit’s people.

After Massasoit's death in 1661, the Wampanoag joined a tribal coalition to eliminate the English settlers, but in the ensuing King Philip's War, the Wampanoag were nearly exterminated. The colony eventually grew to over 7,000 by 1691 as settlers built houses and businesses in the original area still called Plimoth Plantation. This area was incorporated with the Massachusetts Bay Company's much larger colony to establish the royal colony of Massachusetts, named after the Indian chief