400th Anniversary of the Mayflower Voyage

As we look toward Thanksgiving we are reminded that 2020 marks not only the 200^th anniversary of Maine statehood but also the 400^th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage and the founding of Plymouth Colony.

Plymouth Colony was the second permanent English settlement in America.  Fisherman and traders had been traveling up and down the Atlantic Coast of North America for years and some had even attempted permanent settlements.  But only one colony had survived - Jamestown, Virginia settled in 1607.  The original Jamestown colonists, all men, had come to North America mainly to make money and find adventure while many of the founders of the Plymouth colony were members of the English Separatist Church. The separatists were Puritans, Protestant Christian fundamentalists who believed in a literal reading of the Bible, who wanted to see the Church “purified” of any non-biblical aspects such as clergy wearing vestments, the use of incense and music in worship, and adherence to the Book of Common Prayer. The separatists differed significantly from other Puritans, however, since they believed the church was corrupt, could not be saved, and true believers needed to separate themselves from it.

However there was a big problem.  The Church of England was the country’s official religion.  The leader of the church and the leader of England were the same person – King James I.  To break away from the Church of England was to break away from England itself.  Not surprisingly, the king did not look kindly on the Separatists.  One group in Scrooby, a little town in Nottinghamshire, England began to look for a place where they could live and worship freely.  They decided to move to Holland where the government allowed more freedom of religion but, because they did not have the required official permission to leave England, they had to leave in secret.

In 1609 they finally managed to settle in Leiden, Holland where they lived and practiced their religion openly for 12 years.   Life was not easy there however.  They were, after all, living in a foreign country with its own language and customs.  As immigrants many had to work at jobs that paid poorly and required hard labor.  They began to consider another move and North America seemed promising.  They decided to head for what was then the very north of Virginia – the area around what is now New Jersey.

After securing English investors to pay for their journey they bought a small ship, the Speedwell, to take them across the Atlantic Ocean.  On July 21, 1620 they said goodbye to their friends in Holland.  One of their leaders, William Bradford, later wrote,

            “So they left that goodly and pleasant city which had been their resting place twelve years; but they knew they were pilgrims.”

Before setting out for North America the pilgrims had to first return to England to meet with the settlers signed up by the investors.  These settlers had hired their own ship, the Mayflower.  That turned out to be a very fortunate thing because, after twice attempting to leave for North America and having to turn back when the Speedwell developed leaks, they left that ship behind.

The loss of the Speedwell, which had been carrying around 70 passengers, necessitated the transfer of 20 of them to the already cramped Mayflower while many who should have gone on the voyage remained behind. This event clearly impacted the passengers’ voyage across the Atlantic for the worse but, at the same time, forced the Leiden separatists into close quarters with others they called Strangers who they were forced to interact with instead of separating themselves from. The trip across, intended to be made only by the congregation in two ships, became a kind of melting pot aboard the Mayflower.   

One hundred and two passengers made up the passengers of the Mayflower on its trip across the ocean. 

 The trip took sixty-seven days.  The ship was often tossed about in storms and rough water.  Most passengers were seasick.  All were wet and miserable.  One of the travelers died on the ocean crossing just three days before they arrived in Plymouth and one child was born – a boy named Oceanus Hopkins.  Four more died as the ship was anchored in Plymouth Harbor.

On November 9, 1620 the Mayflower sighted land – at Cape Cod in Massachusetts.  Bradford wrote of the Pilgrims, “They were not a little joyful.”

But they were too far north. The captain tried to turn the ship but ran into rough waters and decided to land.  They did not, however, have permission from England to settle this far north.  Until they could get the documents they needed from England, they would have to take matters into their own hands.

So, while still on board the Mayflower, they wrote a document for every head of a household to sign. The signers pledged to be loyal to the king of England, but they also agreed to follow the wishes of the community.  The document reads:

“IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.  IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.