Desperate Passage: 'The Untold Story Of The Mayflower'

A Voyage Long And Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America

In Of Plymouth Plantation, by William Bradford, the colonists face trials of many kinds. From ships sinking, to being blown off course, and landing in the winter, they were put in an awful position. Yet, they got through it by, “Showing herein their true love for their friends and brethren; a rare example and worth to be remembered.” They survive by these men who stayed strong. “And yet the Lord so upheld these persons as in this general calamity

But, in order to get here, they had to go through the voyage. It was full of dreadful conditions, from eating “old and sharply-salted food and meat” to disease and death at a high rate. He explains that some women had to die because they, “could not give birth under the circumstances, was pushed through a loophole (porthole) in the ship and dropped into the sea.” This was horrible but that’s not it, children had to see their parents die or vice versa. These conditions explain that coming to the American colonies was not that simple but rather difficult due to the horrifying conditions one had to face during the voyage and then when they had

The creation the Mayflower compact was a very significant event in the history of the United States because of its example of a the first type of government in North America. The Mayflower Compact was draw up by a group of people known as Pilgrims in 1620. These people, mostly English, were in search of more religious freedom and better lives in the New World. 100 pilgrims began this journey in September of 1620 (History.com staff). Before, landing in New England, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact. This legal document created “just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices” (History.com staff). This was the first example of a self-government in the New World. The founding fathers would later use many of the ideas in the Mayflower Compact in other governing documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Through these examples, it is clear that the Mayflower Compact is significant to American history because it provided many ideas of self government that are still used in our governing documents today.

The Mayflower Compact, written and signed in 1620 by forty-one white men aboard a ship called the Mayflower, provided basic laws for those who first arrived in America. Eventually the thirteen colonies expanded, which brought an economical benefit and expanded trade for Britain. However, in the mid-1700s, Britain pushed the colonists to their limits, imposing them with unfair taxes. As a result, in 1775, colonists revolted in the American Revolution. When the war ended, colonists gained their freedom, from Britain, with the signing of The Treaty of Paris (1783).

Queen Elizabeth I desired to establish a permanent English settlement in America, known then as "the New World." In the summer of 1587 a group of nearly 120 men and women from England arrived on Roanoke Island, one of a chain of barrier islands now known as the Outer Banks, off the coast of what is now known as North Carolina. This group of settlers set sail from England with the mission of making the Queen's wishes a reality.

The novel Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick has a long list of things to teach us about the New World. The fact that it’s showed us that the very first pilgrims had no idea what they were in for was crucial. They were hit with the realization that the Natives would be wild and ferocious instead of calm and tame. They’d known they would be introduced to new ways of life, and disease, but they didn’t suspect that it’d be the most destructive part to the goodwill of the newly born colony.

Mayflower: A story of courage,community,and war is about the lives of Pilgrims and the new lifestyle they are entering. The mayflower was the ship that transported the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. Mr.Philbrick discusses the relationships amongst the England Pilgrims and their new neighbors the Native Americans. Upon meeting, there is already distrust between the two groups because they do not fully know each other. The pilgrims and native americans are now on a long voyage to accumulate trust,build a relationship, adapt to the new lifestyle.

In the novel Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick, the author educates us on how the New World was discovered and created. It all started with a group of roughly 100 men and women who originated from England known as the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were sick and tired of the lack of religious freedom and work/economic opportunities. There was no future for the Pilgrims in England. This was all until the group set sail on the Mayflower in order to find new land. After a rough journey, they came across a piece of land now known as New England. The Pilgrims settled here because it was relatively empty. They believed that in New England they would be able to create a godly city or a place where they wouldn’t be criticized for their religious views.

In the opening pages of A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America, the author, Tony Horwitz, conveys:

It was the age of discovery that first provoked intrigue and curiosity of new lands, particularly the Americas, and how the Europeans could expand to fit their society within the borders of this unknown and unexplored land. By the 1580s, more had been learned about the Americas, but any colonization until this point had not even been attempted. And so it was the English, under Queen Elizabeth I's rule, that were issued to establish a colony along the east coast of North America. However, when this great accomplishment was finally made in 1587, it was not long founded until its ultimate fate ended in the disappearance of the colony three years later, instantly creating one of the greatest

Five hundred years ago, European explorers landed in North America. After trying to locate a new route to Asia across the Atlantic Ocean, they found a continent they did not know existed. Three different groups traveled to the New World, starting in 1584 (Basu, Tanya). The last group included Gov. John White, he had to return to England to submit his report to the Queen. John White tried several times to return to Virginia, but it wasn’t until a few years later he was finally able to return to his new home. In 1584, when White was finally able to return, the land was barren and deserted of people. This baffling revelation began one of the greatest mysteries of all time.

Once the English colonists decided on a site for their settlement they quickly set to work, as Thomas Abby tells us, "Now falleth every man to worke, the Councell contrive the Fort, the rest cut downe trees to make place to pitch their Tents; some provide clapboard to relade the ships, some make gardens, some nets, &c. The Salvages often visited us kindly(Tyler, 123)."

William Bradford’s writing Of Plymouth Plantation Is a written record of the journey from his old home in Europe to the settlement in the new world. The separatist traveled from England to Amsterdam and finally to the new world and later the life of the colony. Reading Of Plymouth Plantation presents us with an understanding of the basis of American culture and history. His writings are used to help us understand the reasons for the settlement of America as well as the hard ships the pilgrims had to face in order to escape the religious prosecution. His Writing also acts as an example to follow for several of our present day religions such as the many Mormons moving too their main church in Ohio. Mormons like the pilgrims move in search of religious freedom and to escape prosecution in a place with people who share similar beliefs with them. This Work also

Nathaniel Philbrick was an author who wrote many books about voyages at sea. His interest in writing so often about historical adventures on the ocean can only be because he himself, in 1978, was the first intercollegiate All-American sailor for Brown University. His book “Mayflower,” being one of his bestsellers, is an interesting book that not only presents the over told story of the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in the year 1620, but it also digs deep into the many struggles they faced after finally reaching the New World.