THE PILGRIMS STORY

 THE MAYFLOWER STORY

 

THE MAYFLOWER RECREATED

This is something you didn't know. History says that The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers, on 16/9/1620. The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists–half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs–had been authorized to settle by the British crown. However, stormy weather and navigational errors forced the Mayflower off course, and on November 21 the Pilgrims reached Massachusetts, where they founded the first permanent European settlement in New England in late December. This is the 'doctored' version.

They landed, for many reasons, on the tip of Cape Cod at what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts. A party of armed men was sent out to explore the area and find a location suitable for settlement. Three weeks later, some passengers went ashore at the site located by the advance party, to a place they named Plymouth. The trip was from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, New England. 

Actually, the ship had to stop at Newlyn in Cornwall on the Land's End peninsula in England before sailing west. It was believed that the water picked up at Plymouth had caused fever and cholera in the city, so Newlyn provided fresh water to the ship. 

The first landing in New England was because the ship was running out of beer. So they halted, went ashore and collected water so that the seamen-not passengers- might have more beer. The passengers demanded beer in place of water, as they were worried about contracting Cholera. The weather was intolerable, so all passengers returned to the ship to spend winter. They suffered an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis. They drank beer, as far as possible, not water, as they thought that the water was unsafe. The beer was stored in barrels known as "hogsheads." 

When it ended, there were only 53 passengers, just over half, still alive. Likewise, half of the crew died as well.