[Sidenote: =They board the "Speedwell"=]
[Sidenote: =The Pilgrims' dearest country=]
=43. The Pilgrims.= Persecuted for their religion in England, the
Pilgrims first went to Holland. There they wandered from place to
place, finally settling in the city of Leiden. But they saw that they
could not keep their own language and customs among the Dutch, so they
decided to go to America and found a colony of their own. John Carver,
William Bradford, William Brewster, and Edward Winslow were the leaders
of the little band that had chosen to go on the long and dangerous
journey. The parting was sad. Eyes were wet with weeping and voices
were choked with sorrow as the last words were spoken before going on
board the _Speedwell_. Even the Dutch bystanders were moved to tears.
Listen to the words of Bradford: "So they left that goodly and pleasant
city which had been their resting place nearly twelve years; but 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."
The _Speedwell_ carried them across to England, where they found the
_Mayflower_.
[Sidenote: =The "Mayflower" carried the Pilgrims to America=]
In August, 1620, the two ships spread their sails for America. Twice
they were forced to return--once after they had sailed three hundred
miles--because the _Speedwell_ was leaking, and her captain declared
she would sink before reaching America.
[Sidenote: =Storms did not drive them back=]
Finally the _Mayflower_, with one hundred two Pilgrims on board,
started alone. Not many days passed before great storms overtook her.
The waves rolled over her deck and threatened to swallow her. For many
days the passengers had to spend nearly all the time below deck, not
knowing what moment would be their last. Strained by the storm, the
_Mayflower_ also began to leak, but the stout-hearted Pilgrims would
not turn back.
[Illustration: EMBARKATION OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
_After the original painting by Charles West Cope_]
[Sidenote: =How they missed the Hudson=]
[Sidenote: =Signing the compact=]
=44. Landing of the Pilgrims in America.= For days at a time, during
the storm, the ship could not use her sails and was driven far out of
her course, to the northward. The Pilgrims had intended to land near
the mouth of the Hudson, but on November 20, 1620, the little band of
exiles found themselves looking with glad hearts upon the sandy but
heavily-wooded shores of Cape Cod. How they poured out their hearts in
gratitude that they had crossed the stormy sea in safety! The men all
gathered in the little cabin of the _Mayflower_ to sign a compact or an
agreement in regard to the government of the colony. Then they elected
John Carver their first governor.
[Illustration: THE "MAYFLOWER" AND THE "SPEEDWELL" IN DARTMOUTH HARBOR
_It was to this harbor the Pilgrims returned to repair the leak in the
"Speedwell"_]
Everybody was now anxious to get on shore. Captain Miles Standish, with
an exploring party of sixteen men, each armed with a sword and a musket
and equipped with a corselet, waded ashore through the ice-cold water
and disappeared in the dark forest in search of a good place to plant
the colony.
[Sidenote: =Miles Standish and his men explore the region=]
For three days they tramped through forests, up and down hills, and
along the sandy coast, but found no suitable place. They found springs,
however, and ponds of fresh water, and some Indian mounds containing
stores of corn. What should they do, take the corn, or leave it and run
the risk of starvation? They decided to take only enough to plant in
the spring. They afterwards paid the owners double for what they had
taken.
[Sidenote: =They learn to set snares=]
Everywhere they saw flocks of wild fowl, good for food, and the tracks
of wild deer. While Bradford was examining an Indian snare set for game
he found himself suddenly swinging by one leg in the air. They had a
hearty laugh, and learned a new lesson in the art of catching game!
[Illustration: READING THE COMPACT ON BOARD THE "MAYFLOWER"]
[Sidenote: =Their first Indian battle=]
Twice again Standish led his little company to search out a place. On
the third trip, as they were at breakfast, their ears were suddenly
filled with the most fearful shouts. A shower of arrows fell near them.
It was an Indian attack. Captain Standish and his men seized their guns
and fired at the red men as fast as they could. Happily, the Indians,
frightened by the roar and smoke of English muskets, ran away before
any one was killed on either side.
[Sidenote: =Plymouth Harbor chosen=]
[Sidenote: ="Plymouth Rock"=]
On this trip they found the harbor of Plymouth, which John Smith had
explored and named several years before. Its shore was now to become
their home. They immediately hastened back to the ship to tell the
good news, and in a few days the _Mayflower_ carried the Pilgrims into
Plymouth Harbor. The little party landed on December 21, 1620, and
that day is still celebrated as "Forefathers' Day." The story is that
when they landed they stepped on a large stone--a bowlder, itself a
"pilgrim"--brought there by the mighty ice sheet ages ago. This bowlder
is called "Plymouth Rock," and may still be seen in Plymouth.
=45. Their Home in the Forest.= Although it was winter, the men
immediately began to chop down trees and build a great log storehouse
which could be used for a hospital and for worship.
[Sidenote: =Building a town in the woods=]
Then they began building their own homes. They cut down the trees,
sawed off the logs, hewed them roughly, and then dragged them by hand
to the place where the house was to stand. When the logs were ready the
men lifted them up by hand, or when the walls grew too high for lifting
they slid them up "skids."
The roof was made of boards which had been split from logs of wood.
These were held in place by smaller logs. The wind and rain were kept
out by "chinking" or daubing the cracks between the logs with mortar.
The windows were few and small, for they had no glass and used oiled
skins instead.
This first winter in America was the saddest the Pilgrims had ever
seen. Their storehouse was turned into a hospital. They had been used
to the gentler winters of England and Holland. Before the warm days
of spring came, one half of the little band had perished, among them
Governor Carver. But the Pilgrims bore brave hearts, and not a man or
woman among those left went back to England when the _Mayflower_ sailed.
[Sidenote: =True courage=]
=46. Friendship with the Indians.= Brave Miles Standish kept his little
army--what was left of it--ready for any danger. He built a fort on a
hill, and mounted the cannon brought over in the _Mayflower_.
[Illustration: MILES STANDISH
_From a portrait now in possession of Mrs. A. M. Harrison, Plymouth_]
[Sidenote: =Samoset introduces them to the Indians=]
But the Indians were not so bad after all, for had it not been for
them, the Pilgrims would have had a much harder time. One day while the
leaders were talking over military affairs, they saw a fine-looking
Indian coming toward them. He called out in the English language,
"Welcome! Welcome!" This was a double surprise. The Indian was Samoset,
who had already saved the lives of two white men taken by the Indians.
In a few days Samoset brought other Indians, dressed in deer and
panther skins. They made the Pilgrims think of gypsies seen in Holland.
Their long black hair was braided and ornamented with feathers and
foxtails. They sang and danced for the Pilgrims.
[Sidenote: =Massasoit visits the Pilgrims=]
When Samoset came again, he brought Squanto, an Indian who had been
captured and carried to London, and who could speak English. They gave
the news that the great Indian chief, Massasoit, was coming to visit
his strange neighbors.
A messenger was sent to welcome him and to give him presents.
Massasoit, and twenty other Indians without bows and arrows, were met
by Captain Standish, and escorted into the presence of Bradford, the
longtime governor of Plymouth. They agreed not to harm each other, and
to be friends forever.
[Sidenote: =What the Pilgrims learned from Squanto=]
Squanto taught the Pilgrims many new things. He showed them how to
raise corn by putting dead fish in the hill when planting corn, how to
hoe the corn while growing, and how to pound the corn to make meal.
Indian corn proved to be the Pilgrims' best food crop.
[Illustration: POUNDING CORN TO MAKE MEAL]
They had no means of fishing, but Squanto taught them how to catch eels
by wading into shallow water, and treading them out with their feet.
From the Indians the white men also learned how to make Indian shoes or
moccasins, and snowshoes, birch-bark canoes, and other useful things.
[Illustration: INDIANS TEACHING THE PILGRIMS HOW TO CATCH EELS]
The first summer was now over and the Pilgrims' first harvest had
been gathered. Their houses had been repaired, and the health of the
settlers was good. Fish and wild game were plentiful. They decided that
the time for rejoicing and thanksgiving had also come, and invited
Massasoit and his warriors to join them in the celebration.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR CARVER'S LAMP]
[Sidenote: =The first American Thanksgiving=]
For three days the games, military movements, feastings, and rejoicing
went on, and at the end the Pilgrims and Indians were better friends
than before. This was the beginning of our custom of having a day of
thanksgiving each year.
[Sidenote: =More Pilgrims from Holland and England=]
For a whole year the Pilgrims had not heard a word from the great world
across the sea. How eager they must have been for just one word from
their old homes! One day the Indians sent runners to tell them that a
ship was in sight. The cannon boomed on the hilltop. Captain Standish
and his men ran for their guns and stood ready to defend the colony
against Spaniards or French. But it was a ship with news and friends
from Leiden and England.
After a few weeks this ship returned to England loaded with furs,
clapboards, and sassafras to pay those English merchants who had
furnished the Pilgrims the _Mayflower_ to bring them to America.
[Illustration: WEDDING SLIPPER WORN BY A MAYFLOWER BRIDE]
[Sidenote: =An Indian's challenge to war=]
An Indian chief, not far away, decided that he would rather fight with
the Englishmen than be friendly with them. So he sent a bundle of
arrows, wrapped in a rattlesnake's skin, to the governor of Plymouth.
Squanto told the Pilgrims that this was an Indian's challenge to war.
[Sidenote: =Bradford's answer=]
The Pilgrims were men of peace, but they were not cowards. Governor
Bradford filled the skin with powder and shot and sent it back to the
hostile chief. But the Indians would not touch it and the chief would
not permit it to be left in his wigwam an hour, but sent it from place
to place, until it again reached Plymouth.
Thus the Pilgrims went on year by year, living in peace when they
could, but fighting when they must. Every year or so new settlers came
from their old homes, and the colony grew slowly, but steadily.
[Sidenote: =The Pilgrims the most famous of all the Puritans in
America=]
After a few years the new King of England was so hard upon the Puritans
in England that thousands of them followed the example of the Pilgrims
and came to America, and planted many other colonies in New England.
But none have held so warm a place in the hearts of Americans as the
little band brought to the New World by the _Mayflower_.
JOHN WINTHROP, THE FOUNDER OF BOSTON; JOHN ELIOT, THE GREAT ENGLISH
MISSIONARY; AND KING PHILIP, AN INDIAN CHIEF THE EQUAL OF THE WHITE MAN
[Sidenote: =Colony at Salem=]
=47. The Puritans.= While the Pilgrims were planting their home on
the lonely American shore, the Puritans in England were being cruelly
persecuted by Charles I. So great became their sufferings and dangers
that the Puritan leaders decided to go to America, where they could
worship as they pleased. Charles I, fortunately, gave them a very good
charter. But even before this, some of the Puritans had already planted
a colony at Salem.
[Sidenote: =John Winthrop founded Boston, 1630=]
=48. John Winthrop.= The Puritan leaders elected John Winthrop governor
of the new colony. In the spring of 1630, nearly ten years after the
_Mayflower_ sailed, more than seven hundred Puritans, in eleven ships,
bade good-by to their beautiful English homes, crossed the ocean, and
settled in what is now Boston.
John Winthrop, the leader and governor of the Colony of Massachusetts
Bay, the name given to the Salem and Boston settlements, was then about
forty years old, and had been in college at Cambridge, in England. He
was a man of high social position.
[Illustration: JOHN WINTHROP
_From a portrait painted by John Singleton Copley; reproduced by
permission of the trustees of Harvard University_]
[Sidenote: =What the Puritans gave up=]
The Puritans who came with Winthrop were people of property, and
not only parted from friends and kindred when they came to the wild
shores of America, but both men and women gave up lives of comfort and
pleasure for lives of suffering and hardship. In America, the men had
to cut down trees, work in the fields, and fight Indians. Only brave
men and women act in this way. But no one among them gave up more or
was willing to suffer more than their leader. The people elected him
governor almost every year until his death, in 1649.
[Sidenote: =Character of Winthrop=]
John Winthrop was a firm man with many noble qualities, and not once,
while governor, did he do anything merely to please the people if he
thought it wrong.
When a leading man in the colony sent him a bitter letter, he returned
it saying that he did not wish to keep near him so great a cause of
ill feeling. This answer made the writer Winthrop's friend. When food
was scarce in the colony, Winthrop divided his last bit of bread with
the poor, and worked with his laborers in the fields.
[Sidenote: =Many new towns in Massachusetts=]
While Winthrop was ruling the colony, hundreds of settlers came and
settled many other towns around Boston, and the Massachusetts Bay
Colony grew large in the number of its people. Later the old Plymouth
Colony was united with it to form one colony. But these settlers did
not always agree, especially in regard to religion and government.
[Illustration: THE NEW ENGLAND SETTLEMENTS]