If you ever get the chance to visit Plymouth Plantation, the re-creation of the town of Plymouth, circa 1631, that sits just outside of present Plymouth, Mass, I highly encourage it. It has been years since I have been but I remember going late in the year – a raw November day, the wind coming off Cape Cod Bay. If you make your way towards the south end of the small town there is a spot where you can stand and look out onto the bay and see nothing but trees and the bay – no sign of 21st century life – no sign of even 17th century life. It is a view that the first Puritans would have seen had they wandered just a short distance from their first encampment, what the hunters among them would have seen. In December 1620 they would have seen that view, and recognized that they were months and months away from any civilized life – they were alone.
To give some idea of their situation, it had taken 65 days on Mayflower – after a difficult start. They had begun as two ships: Speedwell and Mayflower. But Speedwell had been taking on water and after two attempts, they had turned back when 300 miles out of Devon. Both ships returned to Devon, transferred several of the crew and passengers to Mayflower, and on September 16th, 1620 (Gregorian calendar), they headed west.
The Mayflower was not a speedy vessel. Exact specifications aren’t known, but it is believed to have been no more than 90 feet long (“on the deck”) and about 180 – 200 gross tons. Gross tons is measure of the interior of the ship, 1 gross ton being 100 cubic feet. So, the interior space of the ship was less than 20,000 cubic feet. That equates to the interior space of a 2,500 square foot house – a normal, 3 bedroom house.
With 102 passengers and 37 crew. Try squeezing 139 people into your house. Now rock it back and forth… for a couple of months…
The Pilgrims had moved aboard ship in July, as they thought they would be able to depart in summer. But they had problems, particularly with Speedwell. So, by the time they finally headed west in September they have lived on this small ship for nearly two months.
Other conditions: Sleep on the crowded decks. Meals were simple: salted beef, dried biscuits, and beer. Hygiene? I’ll leave that to your imagination.
And then there was the passage. The weather was poor for perhaps the voyage, one man was washed overboard but miraculously grabbed a halyard as he went over and was pulled back aboard. One man died en route, and one baby was born. Mayflower was not a speed demon but to make matters worse, poor weather several times during the voyage forced the master to simply drop sail and ride out high seas and winds. You have seen pictures of Mayflower with the high stern – that was deliberate; a ship such as Mayflower could drop all sails, lash the helm up so that the rudder is amidships (lined up fore and aft) and the wind would catch the high stern and swing it around and the ship would point straight into the wind and seas. Of course, the ship would then pitch up and down and those inside weren’t having a very good day, but they survived.
During the voyage a main beam broke and they used “a large screw” – probably some sort of screw jack for a printing press or perhaps an apple press – to push the beam back into place.
They finally arrived off Cape Cod after a passage of 65 days, sighting the eastern shore of Cape Cod on November 19th. They spent two days trying to sail around the Cape to the south, but after seeing the shoal water off Cape Malabar (Monomoy Island) and the shoals to its south, and Nantucket Island, they turned north and came inside Cape Cod Bay and anchored at Cape Cod Hook – what is now Provincetown harbor – on November 21st.
Shortly before they anchored, however, they did something that changed the course of history, something that makes this all very much worth remembering, and worth saying Thank You to the Pilgrims, and to God for dropping us here; they signed the Mayflower Compact – probably drafted by William Brewster (in 20th century English):
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, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour 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 another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do 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 hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
The Compact is a simple document, just a few sentences long, but it is the sentence which I set in italics (Do by these Presents…) which is of note, for it marks the first time in history that a group of people set up a government, as the writer Rebecca Fraser described it:
Plymouth Colony was the first experiment in consensual government in Western history between individuals with one another, and not with a monarch. The colony was a mutual enterprise, not an imperial expedition organized by the Spanish or English governments. In order to survive, it depended on the consent of the colonists themselves. Necessary in order to bind the community together, it was revolutionary by chance.
As for the rest of it, it is worth noting that the weather was bitterly cold, as it can be on the New England coast in winter. They spent several weeks exploring the coastline of Cape Cod Bay, and finally settled on a spot near present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts and Mayflower dropped anchor in that harbor on December 16th, and everyone could finally go ashore; they began building a common house, which was completed on January 19th, a 20 x 20 foot building.
Conditions were miserable, 31 died by the end of February, 55 total by the end of March, as well as half the ship’s crew.
Most folks won’t read this until after they have their turkey, I suppose, but I thought I would remind all of what we all know but never think about – just how hard off the Puritans had it – and what they gave us.
It wasn’t the first Thanksgiving in the New World, Jamestown has that honor – or perhaps St. Augustine. 240 years later Lincoln enshrined it. But it was these few poor wanderers who pushed a philosophical pebble down the hill – the experiment continues to this day. But it was a small group of social misfits, seeking religions freedom, who started it all. That is worth giving thanks for…
Happy Thanksgiving!
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