The PilgrimsIn the 1600's, England was ruled by a King and religion was a very important part of English society. Unlike the freedoms we enjoy today, the people in England at this time were required to follow a particular religion as it was laid out by the royal family. Regardless of what people believed in, they were forced to practice religion as the King desired. It was actually illegal to worship anywhere other than the Church of England. Those who refused to follow the Church of England’s teachings were harassed, fined, or even sent to jail. Eventually, some people felt they could no longer suffer these difficulties in England, so they chose to flee to the Dutch Netherlands and then eventually to America. Against great odds, the Pilgrims made their famous 66-day voyage aboard the Mayflower. On December 16th, 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth Harbor. They faced a harsh winter and terrible illness, but with great determination (and help from the Wampanoag tribe), the Pilgrims founded Plymouth Colony, where they could practice their own religion without fear of persecution from the English government or its church.
|
Voyage Aboard The Mayflower
The Pilgrims endured an extremely difficult voyage to "The New World", which we now know as the United States of America. They packed 102 people inside a ship called the Mayflower. The Mayflower was never meant to carry people-- it was a cargo ship. People slept on the floor and crammed together all day, every day, for the entire 66 day voyage. There were no bathrooms, no showers, and very little to eat or drink. Many people became very ill and one died, but the rest survived these hardships in hopes for a better life in America.
|
Mayflower Virtual Field Trip
Learn more about the Mayflower aboard the Mayflower 2, a replica of the original Mayflower that can be found in Plymouth today! Watch here: Mayflower Virtual Field Trip
The Mayflower Compact
Before exiting the Mayflower, the Pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact. They knew that previous settlements in "The New World" had failed because they lacked order and goverment, so the Pilgrims came up with a set of rules that everyone agreed to follow for the good of the colony. Watch here: The Mayflower Contract
Learn more about the Mayflower aboard the Mayflower 2, a replica of the original Mayflower that can be found in Plymouth today! Watch here: Mayflower Virtual Field Trip
The Mayflower Compact
Before exiting the Mayflower, the Pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact. They knew that previous settlements in "The New World" had failed because they lacked order and goverment, so the Pilgrims came up with a set of rules that everyone agreed to follow for the good of the colony. Watch here: The Mayflower Contract
Thanksgiving
Learn the meaning of Thanksgiving through the eyes of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang!
Watch the full video here: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
More about the Pilgrims & The First Thanksgiving
The Pilgrim Village
Travel back in time to explore life as a Pilgrim in 1620. This Scholastic video explains the lives and culture of the Pilgrims... How they traveled to America, how they settled in Plimoth Colony, how they ate and worked, and how they organized the different areas of their village. Watch here: The Pilgrim Village
The First Thanksgiving
Experience the First Thanksgiving in this "virtual field trip," live from Plimoth Plantation. Travel back in time to the year 1621, just a year after the voyage of the Mayflower and about a month after the now famous feast. Learn more about the Wampanoag and Pilgrim people... How they lived, how they ate, how they gave thanks, and how they enjoyed the famous 1621 harvest celebration that we now know as the first Thanksgiving! Watch here: The First Thanksgiving
5 Questions with a Pilgrim
Thanks to Plimoth Plantation, you can listen in on an interview with a Pilgrim! Watch here: 5 Questions with a Pilgrim
Talk like a Pilgrim
The Pilgrims talked a bit differently than we do today! This page, sponsored by Plimoth Plantation, teaches you how to speak just like a real Pilgrim! Learn more here: Talk Like a Pilgrim
Travel back in time to explore life as a Pilgrim in 1620. This Scholastic video explains the lives and culture of the Pilgrims... How they traveled to America, how they settled in Plimoth Colony, how they ate and worked, and how they organized the different areas of their village. Watch here: The Pilgrim Village
The First Thanksgiving
Experience the First Thanksgiving in this "virtual field trip," live from Plimoth Plantation. Travel back in time to the year 1621, just a year after the voyage of the Mayflower and about a month after the now famous feast. Learn more about the Wampanoag and Pilgrim people... How they lived, how they ate, how they gave thanks, and how they enjoyed the famous 1621 harvest celebration that we now know as the first Thanksgiving! Watch here: The First Thanksgiving
5 Questions with a Pilgrim
Thanks to Plimoth Plantation, you can listen in on an interview with a Pilgrim! Watch here: 5 Questions with a Pilgrim
Talk like a Pilgrim
The Pilgrims talked a bit differently than we do today! This page, sponsored by Plimoth Plantation, teaches you how to speak just like a real Pilgrim! Learn more here: Talk Like a Pilgrim
Pilgrim Myths
"Myth" (noun): a widely held but false belief or idea.
The people we know as Pilgrims have become so surrounded by myths and legends that we are tempted to forget the truth... Pilgrims were real people who survived great odds to settle in America. Many of the images we have come to associate with the Pilgrims are actually not true interpretations of how they dressed and lived. For example....
MYTH #!: Pilgrim men wore buckles on their hats and shoes
Give a quick thumbs up if you've seen a picture of a Pilgrim with a buckles on his hat and shoes... If you gave a thumbs up (I did!), you have fallen victim to myth #1. Pilgrim Men never wore buckles on their hats or shoes. Never. Plimoth Plantation historian James W. Baker explains that in the nineteenth century, when the popular image of the Pilgrims was formed, buckles served as a kind of emblem of quaintness.
MYTH #2: Pilgrims only wore black
Many people think the Pilgrims always wore black clothes. This may be because in many images of the time, people are shown wearing black clothes. This is because in the 1620s, best clothes were often black, and people usually had their portraits painted while wearing their best clothes. It was not easy to dye cloth a solid, long-lasting black. It took a great deal of skill. People kept clothes made of such beautiful, expensive cloth for special occasions. Everyday clothes were made of many colors. Brown, brick red, yellow and blue were common. Other clothes were made of cloth that was not dyed. These clothes were gray or white, the natural color of the cloth.
MYTH #3: Pilgrim children didn't have toys to play with, they had too much work to do.Pilgrim parents believed that it was important to teach their children the skills they would need as an adult, so it is true that Pilgrim children needed to work hard. However, many Pilgrim parents also allowed their children to play as a way of resting from work-- as long as their children weren't playing instead of working! They thought that the best kind of games and sports for children were those that exercised their bodies (like running races) or their mind (like draughts). They also liked children to play games in which they practiced skills that they would need later in life (like playing house or playing with dolls). They didn't like their children to play games that involved luck because that was too much like gambling (and gambling was considered sinful).
MYTH #4: The Plymouth Colony Pilgrims founded America
The Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth were not the first people from England to settle in America. Jamestown (now located in Virginia) was actually founded by English settlers thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth.... And even before Jamestown, Spanish explorers settled in Florida early in the Sixteenth Century. The thing that makes the Pilgrim settlement in Plimoth Colony special is the reason for settling. Unlike the Spanish settlers, who were hungry for gold, and the the Jamestown settlers, who sought to expand England, the Plimoth Pilgrims sought religious freedom. This idea of freedom is the foundation of our government and democratic practices today, which is why the Plimoth Pilgrims are idolized.
MYTH #5: The Pilgrims ate turkey, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce at the first Thanksgiving
Turkey and other fowl was most likely served at the first Thanksgiving; however, it was not the only meat served. In addition to turkey, fish was also most likely prepared and served. As for pie, the Pilgrims did not have refined sugar or ovens to bake in, so the corn breads and pumpkin pies we have come to enjoy as a Thanksgiving staple were most likely not present... at least not in the same way. The same goes for cranberry sauce. Pilgrims may have served cranberries, but the lack of sugar means that they were not served in a sweetened sauce.
The people we know as Pilgrims have become so surrounded by myths and legends that we are tempted to forget the truth... Pilgrims were real people who survived great odds to settle in America. Many of the images we have come to associate with the Pilgrims are actually not true interpretations of how they dressed and lived. For example....
MYTH #!: Pilgrim men wore buckles on their hats and shoes
Give a quick thumbs up if you've seen a picture of a Pilgrim with a buckles on his hat and shoes... If you gave a thumbs up (I did!), you have fallen victim to myth #1. Pilgrim Men never wore buckles on their hats or shoes. Never. Plimoth Plantation historian James W. Baker explains that in the nineteenth century, when the popular image of the Pilgrims was formed, buckles served as a kind of emblem of quaintness.
MYTH #2: Pilgrims only wore black
Many people think the Pilgrims always wore black clothes. This may be because in many images of the time, people are shown wearing black clothes. This is because in the 1620s, best clothes were often black, and people usually had their portraits painted while wearing their best clothes. It was not easy to dye cloth a solid, long-lasting black. It took a great deal of skill. People kept clothes made of such beautiful, expensive cloth for special occasions. Everyday clothes were made of many colors. Brown, brick red, yellow and blue were common. Other clothes were made of cloth that was not dyed. These clothes were gray or white, the natural color of the cloth.
MYTH #3: Pilgrim children didn't have toys to play with, they had too much work to do.Pilgrim parents believed that it was important to teach their children the skills they would need as an adult, so it is true that Pilgrim children needed to work hard. However, many Pilgrim parents also allowed their children to play as a way of resting from work-- as long as their children weren't playing instead of working! They thought that the best kind of games and sports for children were those that exercised their bodies (like running races) or their mind (like draughts). They also liked children to play games in which they practiced skills that they would need later in life (like playing house or playing with dolls). They didn't like their children to play games that involved luck because that was too much like gambling (and gambling was considered sinful).
MYTH #4: The Plymouth Colony Pilgrims founded America
The Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth were not the first people from England to settle in America. Jamestown (now located in Virginia) was actually founded by English settlers thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth.... And even before Jamestown, Spanish explorers settled in Florida early in the Sixteenth Century. The thing that makes the Pilgrim settlement in Plimoth Colony special is the reason for settling. Unlike the Spanish settlers, who were hungry for gold, and the the Jamestown settlers, who sought to expand England, the Plimoth Pilgrims sought religious freedom. This idea of freedom is the foundation of our government and democratic practices today, which is why the Plimoth Pilgrims are idolized.
MYTH #5: The Pilgrims ate turkey, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce at the first Thanksgiving
Turkey and other fowl was most likely served at the first Thanksgiving; however, it was not the only meat served. In addition to turkey, fish was also most likely prepared and served. As for pie, the Pilgrims did not have refined sugar or ovens to bake in, so the corn breads and pumpkin pies we have come to enjoy as a Thanksgiving staple were most likely not present... at least not in the same way. The same goes for cranberry sauce. Pilgrims may have served cranberries, but the lack of sugar means that they were not served in a sweetened sauce.