Posted
on September 16, 2015
They
set sail on a perilous journey, to a mostly-unknown land.
They
were hoping to start a new life in the so-called New World.
They
got aboard a 100-foot sailing ship, ready to live on the Tween Deck,
just 68 feet long by 24 feet at its widest – with about 100 other
passengers! Sunlight never reached the Tween deck – so it was
always dark, and cold, and damp.
 |
| On this diagram, the "Tween Deck" is called the "Main Deck." |
The colonists who boarded the Mayflower, choosing to leave everyone
else they had ever known and everywhere they had ever been,
were going to be in those miserable cramped conditions for two entire
months!
Today
is the 395th anniversary of the Mayflower setting sail
from Plymouth, England. That's right: in just five years we can celebrate the Mayflower's quadricentennial!
Did
you know...?
- Although we refer to the colonists who came to the New World on the Mayflower as “Pilgrims,” only some of them were Protestant Separatists, who did not want to pledge allegiance to the Church of England. And they did not call themselves “Pilgrims”; instead, they called themselves “Saints”!
Actually, the word
“Pilgrims” (which means people who journey to a sacred place for
religious reasons) wasn't used for the Mayflower colonists until
1820.
Another thing we are not so historically accurate about is that the Separatists (or Saints) weren't fleeing religious persecution from the Old World, undertaking the dangerous ocean crossing and unknown dangers of the New World in a desperate attempt to gain religious freedom. In actual fact, the English Protestants moved from England to Leyden (or Leiden), in Holland, to gain their religious freedom. And they DID have religious freedom in Holland!
But the easygoing
atmosphere of Holland that allowed them to worship as they liked also
“drew away” some of the Saints children into a more secular life.
And the Saints didn't like that one bit. So, in a way, coming to the
New World was a way of REDUCING religious freedom – of making sure
that their kids pretty much only heard THEIR version of religion!
Also, to be fair, living
in Holland, it was hard for the English folks to get good jobs. The
Dutch craft guilds excluded the migrants, and they only got the most
menial, low-paying jobs (you know, the kind the migrants tend to get
these days, as well).
So the Saints hoped to
start their new life with no governmental interference and no worldly
temptations.
- Notice that I said that only some of the “Pilgrims” were Separatists. About 60 of the new colonists were secular – they were going to the New World for reasons that didn't pertain to religion. The Saints called them “Strangers.”
Originally
the plan was to said earlier – not in the storm season. And to
take two ships, the Mayflower and the much-less-famous Speedwell.
But the Speedwell began to leak, so they had to turn back, squeeze
everyone onto the Mayflower, and set off again.- Because of this delay, the journey was way more unpleasant and dangerous because of the rough seas. Many passengers could not even get up, they were so seasick; one passenger was swept overboard and drowned.
Plan
ahead:
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out my Pinterest boards for:
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here are my Pinterest boards for:
Hi, I would really like to use the images that you have posted in this article for a lesson about the pilgrims that I am doing for my daughter's 3rd grade class. Is there any way you could provide me with the sources? I would particularly like to make a large copy of the mayflower route map and the picture of the cutaway of the ship. Thank you!
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