Lecture 9: Plymouth & the Pilgrims

European Exploration of Northeastern U.S. and Canada

European exploration began in the 16th century.
In the same year John Smith was sent to Jamestown by the Virginia Company of London, the Virginia Company of Plymouth sent colonists to Maine, but the settlement failed.
John Smith named the area "New England" in 1614.
The region, from Long Island to the Gulf of Maine, was similar to Virginia demographically.
Native American groups included the Massachuset, Narragansets, Abenaki, and Mohegan-Pequots.
These groups were semi-sedentary, living in villages during the summer for farming (corn, beans, squash) and moving to winter camps for hunting.
Local leaders (sagamores in northern New England, sachems in southern New England) paid tribute to paramount leaders, similar to the Powhatan confederacy in Virginia.
Political unity was maintained through reciprocal gift-giving between smaller groups and paramount chiefs.

Native American Familiarity with Europeans Before 1620

The Grand Banks off Newfoundland were profitable for fishing in the 16th century, with some anglers moving south.
After Jamestown's settlement in 1607, some Virginians, including John Smith, explored further north.
In 1616, a devastating disease, possibly introduced by Smith's voyage, wiped out 90% of the Native population along the New England coastline between 1616 and 1618.
Entire tribes were eradicated, and survivors formed new cultural groups.
English settlers in 1620 found unburied skeletons.

Mythmaking of New England Colonies

The traditional narrative depicts Pilgrims as fleeing religious persecution and establishing free and democratic societies.
Thanksgiving is celebrated as a testament to their courage and godliness.
Peter Charles Hoffer argues that the Puritans did not embrace political freedom, religious toleration, or social diversity, and persecuted those who challenged their views.

English Reformation and Puritanism

The English Reformation resulted in the Church of England, a Protestant church retaining some Catholic rituals.
Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England of its Catholic past, objecting to hierarchies, vestments, stained glass, and elaborate altars.
They desired a simple faith based on a literal interpretation of the Bible.
The Church of England was Protestant, breaking with the Pope in the 1530s, conducting services in English, allowing clergy to marry, and emphasizing salvation by faith and predestination.
However, it still appeared Catholic in many ways.
King James I sponsored a conference at Hampton Court Palace in 1604 to address these issues.
James rejected dismantling the episcopal hierarchy, stating "no bishops, no king."
He agreed to a new state-funded translation of the Bible, the King James Version, in 1611.

Puritanism as a Religious Movement

Puritanism was popular in London and East Anglia, with pockets throughout England.
Most Puritans aimed to reform the Church of England from within.
Separatists, led by Robert Brown (Brownists), wanted to completely abandon the Church of England and established independent churches.
Pilgrims were one group of Separatists.
Puritans were devout, gathering in conventicles for prayer and study, practicing "practical divinity" through self-examination, and castigating neighbors for moral failings.
Puritanism was a grassroots movement focused on a direct relationship with God.

The Pilgrims' Journey and Settlement

The Pilgrims were English farm families from Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, dissatisfied with the Church of England due to its Catholic elements.
They separated from the Church of England, believing it was doctrinally corrupt, which was a radical act.
The Scrooby Separatists moved to Holland in 1607, finding religious toleration.
They settled in Amsterdam and then Leyden, where they worked as tradesmen and worshipped freely.
However, they feared their children would lose their religious and cultural identity and be pressed into the Dutch army.
They sought a place to practice their religion and maintain their culture, initially petitioning the Dutch New Netherland Company before turning to the Virginia Company.
In 1620, they received permission to settle in Virginia Company lands, financing the voyage through a joint stock company with communal property for seven years.
Thirty Separatists, led by William Brewster, departed from Delft on the Speedwell in July 1620.
The Speedwell proved leaky, so they sailed on the Mayflower, also taking on non-Separatist migrants known as Strangers.
In September 1620, 42 Pilgrims (17 men, 10 women, 14 children) and 60 Strangers left England on the Mayflower.
The Mayflower landed in Massachusetts, outside the Virginia Company's jurisdiction, possibly intentionally.
The Pilgrims formed a "civil body politic" and created the Mayflower Compact, signed by adult males, to establish a representative government based on consent.
William Bradford emphasized the need for an association and agreement to submit to a government chosen by common consent.

Relations with Native Americans and the First Winter

The settlers reached Massachusetts in November, too late to plant crops.
In December, they established Plymouth on an abandoned Native American town, finding human bones due to recent devastating diseases.
The first winter was devastating, with half of the 102 settlers dying.
In the spring, they formed relations with the Pakanoket people, led by Massasoit, who sought an alliance against the Narragansets.
They were aided by English-speaking Native Americans, Samoset and Squanto.
Squanto, a member of the Pauwtuxet tribe, had been to England twice and spoke English, assisting the colony with translation and teaching them planting and fishing methods.
The Pilgrims considered finding an English-speaking Native American an act of Providence.
The colony initially depended on local Native groups for corn but, by 1624, grew enough to feed themselves and trade furs as additional business.

The First Thanksgiving

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims invited Massasoit and 90 warriors to a three-day feast at Plymouth.
Accounts from Edward Winslow and William Bradford describe the event, but do not mention turkey or football.
The feast included venison, shellfish, fruits, and vegetables like cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce, parsnips, and pumpkins, along with native artichokes, garlic, cranberries, grapes, walnuts, and chestnuts.
The event was a diplomatic opportunity and a time for giving thanks.
Men outnumbered women at the feast, with only four English women surviving in the colony.
Thanksgiving was not nationally recognized until Lincoln declared it a national holiday in 1863, seeking to galvanize the North around the myth of hardy pioneers.

Plymouth Colony's Development

Plymouth colony never grew wealthy.
Initially, colonists worked for the joint stock company.
In 1623, William Bradford introduced private property.
In 1627, the Pilgrims bought out their investors for £1,800, paying it off over 18 years in £200 installments.
Plymouth remained a small, quiet colony of farmers and fishermen.
Each town had an independent, self-supporting congregation.
The colony embraced representative government, with an annually elected governor and General Court.
William Bradford maintained peace with local Native groups, though there were incidents of violence led by Miles Standish.
Plymouth was absorbed into Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.

Thomas Morton and Merrymount

Thomas Morton arrived in 1524 with indentured servants, seeking to make money.
He preferred Native Americans, finding them more humane.
Unable to get along with the Pilgrims, he established a trading post at Mount Wollaston, called Merrymount, where he and his men lived openly with Native women.
He was considered an "impious, drunken libertine" by the Pilgrims.
On May 1, 1527, Morton held a Maypole celebration, a traditional English spring festival with fertility and sexuality symbols.
The Pilgrims, horrified, sent Miles Standish to arrest Morton and tear down the Maypole.
Morton was sent back to England but returned in 1629, continuing to bother the Pilgrims and writing a satirical account, New English Canaan.

The Maypole Celebration

Morton brewed beer and provided cheer for all comers, erecting a pine tree of 80 foot long with buckhorns nailed near the top.
The buckhorns symbolized adultery and lascivious sexuality.
William Bradford described the parties with drinking, dancing, and inviting Indian women as consorts, calling them "Mad Bacchanalians."
The word "frisking" was used to describe their romping, implying sexual connotations.

Conclusion

Most "Strangers" settled peaceably, with the Pilgrims following their policies.
Miles Standish was a "Stranger" who never joined the Separatist church.
William Bradford did not require residents to attend church, unlike later Puritans in Massachusetts Bay.
Thomas Morton was an anti-Puritan who challenged the Pilgrims' beliefs and foreshadowed future threats to Puritan ideals in the New World.