The Mayflower and the Plymouth Rock Settlement

One misconception about the pilgrims is that we don't really know why harvest was a big deal to the pilgrims.

The Pilgrims set sail from England in September of 1620 because they were fleeing religious persecution and they wanted to start their own religious government.

The Pilgrims asked the London Company to start a colony in America. They also chose people who had experience with starting a colony to go with them so that their colony would be successful. They wanted to start their colony north of Jamestown. They filled the ships with supplies before they left. 

The Pilgrims ran into some trouble while sailing and one of the boats had to turn back. It was Autumn and the sea was rough.

 The Mayflower did not land at Plymouth. They had to land at the mouth of the Hudson  

The Pilgrims had to find a new place to settle but they were on the ship throughout the winter.

 it is believed that the Mayflower was blown off course. The indentured servants were not following the rules and wanted to create their own settlement. 

created a democracy where all men could vote for what was best for the whole colony. All of the men signed the Mayflower Compact. It functioned as the colony's government for 70 years.

More than half of the people who came died from disease and from being out in the cold weather. William Bradford was a leader who also died. He left a diary that talked about what happened.

Even though the Pilgrims settled in an abandoned village they didn't have enough food to last through the year. Seeds had already been planted by the Native Americans who lived there before.

Even though theWompanoag was a Native American group that lived in that are for many years, they were all gone by the time the Pilgrims got there.

Samoset wandered into the village and learned that the Pilgrims were starving. He went and told Squanto. Squanto had been kidnapped by the English years earlier. Squanto helped the Pilgrims by teaching them how to survive.