OfPLYMOUTH

PLANTATION-by William Bradford

-illustrated by Myles Winklestorf

“You Down With OPP?”“Yeah, you know

me!”

The Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth

In 1620, the Pilgrims sail in treacherous seas from Holland to Virginia. A storm blows the Mayflower off course, and the ship lands in present day Massachusetts. A few months after their arrival, nearly half of the 100 Pilgrims have died of disease. Native Americans befriend the Pilgrims and return the tools they had previously stolen. Squanto becomes an interpreter, guide, and teacher to the Pilgrims, who learn to provide for themselves, and celebrate the first Thanksgiving after the harvest.

The Pilgrims held to a strict work ethic. They believed the devil finds work for idle hands. In England, the calendar year included about 240 working days, but the Pilgrims worked most days of the year, taking holidays only on the Sabbath, election day, Harvard commencement day, and public days of thanksgiving. The Pilgrim calendar did not include Christmas as a holiday because it was viewed as a pagan remnant.

Historical Note

Philosophy

• Religious beliefs were the basis of their outlook on life

• Legal documents influenced by the Bible and English common law

• Puritans held education in high esteem

History• In 1608 when King James

Stuart succeeded Queen Elizabeth, the Puritans fled to Holland and later asked for the right to settle in the vast holdings the British held in America.

• The Pilgrims (1620) and the Puritans (1630) came and settled in Massachusetts. The Puritans wanted to build the “New Jerusalem” or Boston as it came to be known.

• The Quakers came and settled in the Pennsylvania area.

• The Catholics later came and settled in Mary’s Land to escape persecution (later became Maryland)

What’s the difference?

Pre-Colonial Times Modern Times

Discuss what has changed in the American perception of immigrants and what makes one iconic and the other problematic.

What has changed in our ideas of what it means to re-colonize

lands?

THEN? NOW?

Fact: Buckles did not come into fashion until later in the seventeenth century and black and white were commonly worn only on Sunday and formal occasions. Women typically dressed in red, earthy green, brown, blue, violet, and gray, while men wore clothing in white, beige, black, earthy green, and brown.

Myth: The pilgrims wore only black and white clothing. They had buckles on their hats, garments, and shoes.

Fact: The first feast wasn't repeated, so it wasn't the beginning of a tradition. In fact, the colonists didn't even call the day Thanksgiving. To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast--dancing, singing secular songs, playing games--wouldn't have been allowed. The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims minds.

Myth: The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 and the pilgrims celebrated it every year thereafter.

Fact: The original feast in 1621 occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11. Unlike our modern holiday, it was three days long. The event was based on English harvest festivals, which traditionally occurred around the 29th of September. After that first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest.

Myth: The original Thanksgiving feast took place on the fourth Thursday of November.