London: Preparation
The coast of North America was not entirely unknown. There had been
several attempts at settlement and exploration. One by Sir Walter
Raleigh in 1584. He had taken possession under a patent confirmed by act
of Parliament, of the territory from the Carolinas north to Virginia,
the name Virginia being given the new country in honor of the Virgin
Queen.
In 1606 another party under command of Capt. John Smith sailed in three
small vessels under authority of a charter granted by James I. They
landed at a point in Chesapeake Bay, thirty-two miles from the mouth of
the James river in Virginia and established a settlement called
Jamestown.
In 1614 Smith made a voyage to the North Virginia coast at which time he
made a comprehensive map calling this section New England. Upon his
return to England he showed this map to Charles I, then a prince, who in
applying the names of English towns to points along the coast gave the
place which was to become the Pilgrim settlement the name of Plymouth,
which it has since retained.
There were many matters of moment to be settled before the Pilgrims
could depart their native shores. The liquidation of what property they
had acquired was to be augmented by further financing. It was necessary
to obtain a patent to any land they might acquire for settlement and the
matter of how many and who should go first had to be determined.
“Those that stayed, being the greater number, required the pastor to
stay with them; and indeed for other reasons he could not then well go,
and so it was the more easily yielded unto. It was also agreed on by
mutual consent and covenant that those who went should be an absolute
church of themselves, as well as those that stayed, seeing in such a
dangerous voyage, and a removal to such a distance, it might come to
pass that they should (for the body of them) never meet again in this
world. Yet with this proviso, that if any of the rest came over to them,
or of the other returned upon occasion, they should be reputed as
members without further admission or testimonial. It was also promised
to those that went first, by the body of the rest, that if the Lord gave
them life and means, and opportunity, they should come to them as soon
as they could.”
The next step was to secure a patent. Already letters-patent had been
granted two companies of Englishmen to territory 100 miles in width on
the Atlantic coast of North America from the 34th to the 45th degrees
north latitude. These were designated as the South and North Virginia
companies. Through emissaries sent to England a patent was obtained
bearing date of Feb. 12th, 1620. This patent was issued to John Pierce
and Associates and covered territory in the vicinity of the Virginia
Capes. As it happened the Pilgrims settled outside the limits defined
therein and another patent was granted covering the territory around
Cape Cod Bay. This patent bears the date of June 1st, 1621, and was
issued by the Council of New England which had been created by royal
authority to succeed the North Virginia Company after the departure of
the Pilgrims from England.
It shows the signatures of the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Hamilton,
the Earl of Warwick, Lord Sheffield and Sir Ferdinand Gorges. Several
parts of this ancient document have broken away, including the seal of
Hamilton and the seal and signature of John Pierce, the party of the
second part thereto. This valuable document, the oldest state document
in New England, was brought over in the Fortune in 1621 and now reposes
in Pilgrim Hall.
Arrangements were concluded with a group of London business men who
styled themselves the Merchant Adventurers who were in sympathy with the
movement and who had agreed to finance the expedition. Perhaps they are
best described by Capt. John Smith who wrote in 1624:
“The adventurers which raised the stock to begin and supply this
plantation, were about seventy, some gentlemen, some merchants, some
handicraftsmen, some adventuring great sums, some small, as their
estates and their affection served. These dwelt most about London. They
are not a corporation, but knit together by a voluntary combination in a
society without constraint or penalty, aiming to do good and to plant
religion.”
Articles of Agreement
The Articles of Agreement entered into with the Merchant Adventurers
were as follows:—
“1. The adventurers and planters do agree, that every persons that
goeth, being aged sixteen years and upward, be rated at ten pounds, and
ten pounds to be accounted a single share.
2. That he that goeth in person, and furnisheth himself out with ten
pounds, either in money or other provisions, be accounted as having
twenty pounds in stock, and in the division shall receive a double
share.
3. The persons transported and the adventurers shall continue their
joint stock and partnership together the space of seven years, (except
some unexpected impediments do cause the whole company to agree
otherwise,) during which time all profits and benefits that are got, by
trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means, of any
person or persons, shall remain in the common stock until the division.
4. That at their coming there they choose out such a number of fit
persons as may furnish their ships and boats for fishing upon the sea;
employing the rest in their several faculties upon the land, as building
houses, tilling and planting the ground, and making such commodities as
shall be most useful for the colony.
5. That at the end of the seven years, the capital and profits, viz.,
the houses, lands, goods and chattels, be equally divided among the
adventurers and planters; which done, every man shall be free from other
of them of any debt or detriment concerning the adventure.
6. Whosoever cometh to the colony hereafter, or putteth any into the
stock, shall at the end of the seven years be allowed proportionally to
the time of his so doing.
7. He that shall carry his wife and children or servants, shall be
allowed for every person now aged 16 years and upward, a single share in
the division; or if he provide them necessaries, a double share, or if
they be between 10 years old and 16 then two of them to be reckoned for
a person, both in transportation and division.
8. That such children as now go and are under the age of 10 years, have
no other share in the division, but 50 acres of unmanured land.
9. That such persons as die before the seven years be expired, their
executors to have their part or share at the division, proportionally to
the time of their life in the colony.
10. That all such persons as are of this colony are to have their meat,
drink, apparel and all provisions out of the common stock and goods of
the said colony.”
False Accusations
It has been declared by some commentators that this agreement savored of
communism. This interpretation is however unfair. As a matter of record
it was not entirely satisfactory to the colonists but was imposed upon
them by the Merchant Adventurers who, looking to the final liquidation
of their advancements, preferred to hold the community as a whole to
meet the obligation. Several letters written by Robert Cushman to his
associates in Leyden tend to substantiate this view and emphasize that
he had made the best possible terms under the circumstances.
[Illustration: Embarkation, showing buildings and actual wharf from
which the Pilgrims departed]
Pertinent to the foregoing it is interesting to quote from Young’s
Chronicles, page 84, as follows:—“There is no foundation for this
charge. The Plymouth people were not ‘misguided by their religious
theories,’ nor influenced by an ‘imitation of the primitive Christians,’
in forming their joint stock company. They entered into this hard and
disadvantageous engagement with the Merchant Adventurers not
voluntarily, but of necessity, in order to obtain shipping for
transporting themselves to America; and they put their own little
property into a common fund in order to purchase provisions for the
voyage. It was a partnership that was instituted, not a community of
goods, as that phrase is commonly understood.”
The Embarkation
A small vessel of about sixty tons called the Speedwell and commanded by
Captain Reynolds was secured in Holland and another, somewhat larger,
the Mayflower, of London, commanded by Captain Jones. The Speedwell left
Delft-Haven in July, 1620, with a company of thirty, including William
Bradford, William Brewster, John Carver, Edward Winslow, Isaac Allerton,
Samuel Fuller and John Howland. Captain Myles Standish was also a member
of the company although not of the congregation. He was a soldier whose
value to the Colony proved outstanding. They left with the blessing of
John Robinson who intended to follow but whose dreams were never to be
realized.
Note: Dates following accord with the modern calendar except those
marked O.S. indicating Old Style.
The first party reached Southampton where the Mayflower awaited them
with ninety passengers. On the fifteenth of August both vessels set sail
but had gone but a short distance when the Speedwell began to leak. They
put back to Dartmouth where eight days were spent in repairs when the
ships again put to sea. They had covered scarcely three hundred miles
when the Speedwell again began leaking. Both vessels turned back,
putting into Plymouth harbor where the leaking craft was abandoned. Here
eighteen of her passengers decided not to continue.
[Illustration: Sighting of Provincetown, showing deck construction
of Mayflower type of boat]
Voyage and Arrival
The Mayflower with its added burden, now numbering one hundred and two
souls, left Plymouth September 16th, 1620, and began its historic
journey westward. For a goodly part of the voyage of over two months
duration the ship was buffeted by equinoctial winds and high seas and,
as they neared the coast, a death is recorded, that of William Butten, a
youth, servant of Samuel Fuller. The records also disclose the birth of
a son, Oceanus, to Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins. “After long beating at
sea they fell with that land which is called Cape Cod; the which being
made and certainly known to be it, they were not a little joyful. After
some deliberation had amongst themselves and with the master of the
ship, they tacked about and resolved to stand for the southward (the
wind and weather being fair) to find some place about Hudson River for
their habitation.
“But after they had sailed the course about half the day, they fell
amongst dangerous shols and roaring breakers, and they were so far
entangled therewith as they conceived themselves in great danger; and
the wind shrinking upon them withall; they resolved to bear up again for
the Cape, and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers
before night overtook them, as by God’s providence they did. And the
next day they got into the Cape Harbor where they rode in safety.”
It was the 21st of November (present calendar) when the Mayflower
dropped anchor in the sheltered and quiet waters of Provincetown Harbor
and one may well imagine the happiness and gratitude of these weary
voyagers when they sighted this haven of refuge and were once more able
to place their feet upon dry land. As Bradford records: “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.”
On Monday the 23rd a landing was made, the men to make repairs to the
shallop and the women to wash, thus establishing Monday as the generally
accepted “Washday.”
The Mayflower Compact was drawn up and signed in all probability before
Mayflower dropped anchor in Provincetown Harbor. This document was
partly the result of friction that had arisen during the voyage and the
intimation that some among them might exercise their individual liberty
without restraint and against the peace and welfare of the community as
a whole. The text follows with Bradford’s explanatory note:
“I shall a little return back and begin with a combination made by them
before they came ashore, being the first foundation of their government
in this place; occasioned partly by the discontented and mutinous
speeches that some of the strangers amongst them had let fall from them
in the ship—That when they came ashore they would use their own liberty;
for none had power to command them, the patent they had being for
Virginia, and not for New England, which belonged to another Government,
with which the Virginia Company had nothing to do. And partly that such
an act by them done (this their condition considered) might be as firm
as any patent, and in some respects more sure.”
The Compact
“In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, 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 presents
solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another,
covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for
our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends
aforesaid; 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 hereunder subscribed 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 eighteenth, and of
Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domino. 1620.”
Signers of the Compact
The earliest known list of the signers of the Compact is that contained
in Morton’s “New-Englands Memoriall,” published in 1669. The names
follow:
John Carver
William Bradford
Edward Winslow
William Brewster
Isaac Allerton
Myles Standish
John Alden
John Turner
Frances Eaton
James Chilton
John Crakston
Degory Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow
Edmund Margeson
Peter Brown
Richard Britterige
George Soule
Edward Tilley
John Tilley
Francis Cooke
Thomas Rogers
John Billington
Moses Fletcher
John Goodman
Samuel Fuller
Christopher Martin
William Mullins
William White
Richard Warren
John Howland
Stephen Hopkins
Thomas Tinker
John Rigdale
Edward Fuller
Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner
John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doty
Edward Leister
[Illustration: Signing the Compact]
“After this they chose, or rather confirmed, Mr. John Carver (a man
godly and well approved amongst them) their Governor for that year.”
This meeting, held in the cabin of the Mayflower, is generally accepted
as the first New England town meeting, although on the 27th of February
following, a meeting, later referred to, was held in the common house
for the purpose of establishing a military guard at which Myles Standish
was chosen captain.
On April 2nd another meeting was held on “common business” and at which
laws “convenient for the common state” were passed.
From these first meetings evolved our present form of town meeting,
held, and elections made, according to the will of the majority.
Search for Permanent Settlement
On November 25th, a party of sixteen men under the leadership of Captain
Standish set out on foot looking for a place for permanent settlement
“having such instructions as was thought meet.” They had proceeded but a
short distance when they met a small party of Indians who fled upon
approach. They were followed for some miles, when, darkness coming on,
they made camp for the night.
[Sidenote: Nov. 26 to 28]
The following day further exploration was made. Some Indian corn was
discovered, also fresh water from which they drank being sorely in need
thereof “this being the first New England water drunk of.”
Returning from the vicinity of Truro and the Pamet River to which their
exploration had taken them, they saw deer and “great flocks of wild
geese and ducks, but they were fearful of us.”[6] Also signs of Indian
habitation and “heaps of sand newly padled with their hands, which they,
digging up, found in them divers fair Indian baskets filled with corn,
and some in ears, fair and good, of divers colors, which seemed to them
a goodly sight (having never seen any such before). So their time
limited to them being expired, they returned to the ship, lest they
should be in fear of their safety; and took with them part of the corn
... of which on their return they were marvellously glad....”
The days immediately following were occupied in completing repairs to
the shallop, in cutting wood and getting tools in readiness, in
anticipation of a permanent landing.
With this in view a party of thirty set forth on Dec. 7, “for the better
discovery of this place.” They found signs of Indian habitation also
“more of their corn and of their beans of various colors. The corn and
beans they brought away proposing to give them good satisfaction when
they should meet with any of them (as about 6 months afterward they did,
to their good content).” “And here it is to be noted a special
Providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people that here they
got seed to plant them corn the next year or else they might have
starved, for they had none, nor any likelihood to get any until the
season had been past (as the sequel did manifest).”
Not finding the desired harborage or place for permanent settlement this
party returned to the Mayflower.
During their absence and while the Mayflower lay in the Harbor of
Provincetown, a son was born to Susanna White, wife of William White. He
was named Peregrine.
THE SHALLOP ARRIVES AT PLYMOUTH
The Landing
[Sidenote: Wed. Dec. 16]
On the sixteenth of December another party set out in the shallop “upon
further discovery intending to circulate that deep bay of Cape Cod.”
This party consisted of Myles Standish, John Carver, William Bradford,
Edward Winslow, John Tilley, Edward Tilley, John Howland, Richard
Warren, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Dotey, John Allerton, Thomas English,
the ship’s mates, Mr. Clark and Mr. Coppin, and the master gunner and
three sailors.
“The weather was very cold and it froze so hard as the spray of the sea
lighting on their coats, they were as if they had been glazed.”
Proceeding as far as Wellfleet they discovered a party of “ten or twelve
Indians very busy about a black thing,—what it was we could not
tell,—until afterwards they saw us, and ran to and fro, as if they had
been carrying something away. We landed a league or two from them where
we made us a barricade and got firewood and set out sentinels and betook
us to our lodging, such as it was.” This landing was at Eastham ten
miles distant.
[Sidenote: Thurs. Dec. 17]
When morning came the company was divided, eight cruising along shore in
the shallop while the remainder explored the land bordering thereon.
They came to the spot “where they saw the Indians the night before and
found they had been cutting up a great fish like a grampus.” (small
whale or blackfish).
Nothing of importance having been discovered this day, they returned to
the shallop which had come ashore at their calling. “So being weary and
faint,—for we had eaten nothing all day,—we fell to make our rendezvous
and get firewood and we fed upon such victuals as we had, and betook us
to our rest, and we had set out our watch.”
[Sidenote: Fri. Dec. 18]
In the early morning of the 18th, they had their first encounter with
the Indians “some thirty or forty of them, though some thought that they
were many more.” Many arrows were shot but “none of them either hit or
hurt us, though many came close by us and on every side of us and some
coats which hung up in our barricade were shot through and through.” But
after several shots were fired at them, they all left with apparently no
casualties. This was the first actual encounter with the Indians.
During the day the reunited party skirted the coast, the wind increasing
during the afternoon to gale force. The boat’s rudder was broken and the
mast split and they were dependent upon their oars for steering. In this
condition they were driven across the bay toward Saquish where the high
seas prevented landing. By skillful maneuvering however they managed to
round Saquish head and “although it was very dark and rained sore, yet
in the end they got under the lee of a small island,[7] and remained
there all the night in safety.”
[Sidenote: Sat. Dec. 19]
“Yet, God gave them a morning of comfort and refreshment for the next
day was a fair and sunshiny day and they found themselves to be on an
island secure from the Indians, where they might dry their stuff, fix
their pieces and rest themselves. And this being the last day of the
week, they prepared there to keep the Sabbath.”
The Historic Landing
[Sidenote: Sun. Dec. 20
Mon. Dec. 21]
This Sabbath was spent on Clark’s Island where they rested and held
service. “On Monday they sounded the harbor and found it fit for
shipping, and marched into the land,[8] and found divers cornfields, and
little running brooks, a fit place for situation; at least it was the
best they could find, and the season, and their present necessity, made
them glad to accept it. So they returned to their ship again with this
news to the rest of their people, which did much comfort their hearts.”
The romance surrounding the Rock that has become famous in history is
not easily discredited. The fact is, that Elder Thomas Faunce, who was
born in Plymouth in 1647 and died in 1746 at the age of ninety-nine
years, made a statement a few years prior to his death, at a time when
removal or covering of the rock was under contemplation, protesting
vigorously at what he considered the desecration of an object of deep
veneration. He stated in the presence of many hearers that his father,
John Faunce, who came over in the ship Anne, had told him that it was on
that rock that the Pilgrims landed as stated by them to him. It is
further probable that they may have imparted this information to him
directly as a number of the Mayflower passengers lived for many years
subsequent to his birth.
This information has passed from generation to generation. “Plymouth
Rock has now become a symbol of the Pilgrim venture into the unknown of
their day and has inspired present-day Americans with a new Faith in
democracy and in the American way of living.”
It was during their absence on December 17th, that Dorothy Bradford,
wife of William Bradford, was drowned in Provincetown harbor.
[Sidenote: Fri. Dec. 25
Sat. Dec. 26]
On the 25th, they set out in the Mayflower for Plymouth, but the wind
being unfavorable, they failed to make the harbor and put back to
Provincetown. “But it pleased God, the next day being Saturday, the wind
came fair, and we put to sea again and came safely into a safe harbor.”
This was the first arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth. Sunday was
spent on the ship.
A Permanent Settlement
It is evident that they were favorably impressed both with the security
of the harbor and the general surroundings, although there was some
division of opinion as to the best location for a permanent settlement
as the following discloses: “This bay is a hopeful place, innumerable
store of fowl, skate, cod, turbot and herring we have tasted of;
abundance of muscles, the greatest and best that ever we saw; crabs and
lobsters, in their time infinite.”
[Sidenote: Mon. Dec. 28]
“Monday we went aland manned with the master of the ship and three or
four of the sailors. We marched along the coast in the woods seven or
eight miles, but saw not an Indian nor an Indian house; only we found
where formerly had been some inhabitants, and where they had planted
their corn.”
“We found not any navigable river but four or five small running brooks
of very sweet fresh water, that all ran into the sea.”
They speak of the trees, the herbs and the soil, some sandy and some
rich and fertile. They also speak of the streams that are beginning to
fill with fish. That night they returned to the ship, “many being weary
with marching.”
[Sidenote: Tues. Dec. 29]
The next day being Tuesday, Dec. 29, the party divided, some going on
foot and some in the shallop. They came to a creek and “went up three
English miles, a very pleasant river[9] at full sea. This place we had a
great liking to plant in, but that it was so far from our fishing, our
principal profit, and so encompassed with woods that we should be in
much danger of the savages. Some of us, having a good mind for safety,
to plant in the greater isle,[10] we crossed the bay, which is there
five or six miles over. We judged it cold for our corn and some part
very rocky; yet divers thought of it as a place defensible, and of great
security.”
That night they returned again to the Mayflower determined to settle the
next day on a permanent location.
[Sidenote: Wed. Dec. 30]
The final selection of a place for settlement is described as follows:
“After our landing and viewing of the places, so well as we could, we
came to a conclusion, by most voices, to set on the main land, on the
first place, on a high ground, where there is a great deal of land
cleared, and hath been planted with corn three or four years ago; and
there is a very sweet brook, runs under the hillside, and many delicate
springs of as good water as can be drunk, and where we may harbor our
shallops and boats exceeding well; and in this brook much good fish in
their seasons; on the further side of the river also much corn-ground
cleared. In one field is a great hill, on which we point to make a
platform, and plant our ordinance, which will command all round about.”
“So there we made our rendezvous, and a place for some of our people,
about twenty, resolving in the morning to come all ashore and to build
houses.”
[Illustration: The first building, showing position in relation to
Town Brook and Pilgrim Spring]