TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2024 - PILGRIMS

 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2024

THE PILGRIM’S JOURNEY

Mostly taken from 

https://www.ucf.edu/news/11-lesser-known-facts-about-the-mayflower-and-thanksgiving

The passengers were diverse people, including religious separatists (later known as the Pilgrims), non-separatists, and family groups. There were 74 men, 28 women, and 31 children, with one child born on the voyage.

The Puritans and Pilgrims (a cross-section of Puritans) first traveled to the Netherlands to establish a Christian church free of government influence. There, they had to learn a new language and new customs. Many of them labored as textile workers when they had been farmers at home. They also became concerned that their children were not growing up English—they were being integrated into Dutch society. “They left behind everything they knew and had to find their way in a new place.”

After 12 years in the Netherlands, they decided to sail to the New World, where they could worship freely and develop an English culture.

It took nearly three months to secure supplies and manually load them. Instead of crossing the ocean in June, they battled the storms and cold of late fall.  They arrived at Cape Cod in November 1620 and established the land colony on December 26, 1620.  They could have planted crops and built shelters if they had arrived in May or June.  Arriving in Winter was devastating.

Only 50 of the original 102 passengers survived the first winter. “They weren’t thinking about colonizing,” says Beiler. “They were simply figuring out how to eat and stay warm in this new place.”  

The first Thanksgiving, in 1621, was an expression of gratitude: “They were grateful to be alive while also mourning the loss of so many loved ones.”

When the Mayflower arrived, French and Dutch colonies were already fishing and gathering along the East Coast. The Spanish had settled in Florida decades earlier.

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The Pilgrim story gained more attention as it was documented and published, while the other early settlements started building, clearing land, and becoming self-sufficient. The other colonies didn’t make as big of a deal as the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving.  

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That was quite a trip - and with so many dying.  

What would it take to leave your home and cross the ocean to an unknown land?

Was it faith that drove them, or adventure, or love?

LOVE WINS