The
Mayflower was the famous
shipA ship is a large vessel that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and passenger capacity. Ships may be found on lakes, seas, and rivers and they allow for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing, entertainment, public...
that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from
SouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to Plymouth,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
(which would become the capital of
Plymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts...
), in 1620. There were 102 passengers and a crew of 25-30.
The vessel left England on September 6 (
Old StyleOld Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though contemporary documents use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian calendar ,...
)/September 16 (New Style), and after a gruelling 66-day journey marked by disease, which claimed two lives, the ship dropped anchor inside the hook tip of
Cape CodCape Cod, often referred to as simply the Cape, and called Cape of Keel by early Norse explorers, is a peninsula in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States. It is coextensive with Barnstable County...
(
Provincetown HarborProvincetown Harbor is a large natural harbor located in the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The harbor is mostly 30 to deep and stretches roughly one mile from north to south and two miles from east to west, i.e., one large, deep bowl with no dredged channel necessary for boats to enter and...
) on November 11/November 21. The
Mayflower was originally destined for the mouth of the
Hudson RiverThe Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into...
, near present-day New York City, at the northern edge of England's Virginia colony, which itself was established with the 1607
Jamestown SettlementThe Jamestown Settlement Colony was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America. Named for King James I of England, Jamestown was founded in the Virginia Colony on May 14, 1607...
. However, the
Mayflower went off course as the winter approached, and remained in
Cape Cod BayCape Cod Bay is a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is enclosed by Cape Cod to the south and east, and Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to the west; to the north of Cape Cod Bay lie Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Cod Bay is the...
. On March 21/28, 1621, all surviving passengers, who had inhabited the ship during the winter, moved ashore at Plymouth, and on April 5/15, the
Mayflower, a privately commissioned vessel, returned to England. In 1623, a year after the death of captain
Christopher JonesChristopher Jones was an English sailor, and master of the Mayflower between at least 1609 and 1622, who captained it on the transatlantic voyage that established the Plymouth Colony settlement....
, the
Mayflower was most likely dismantled for scrap lumber in
RotherhitheRotherhithe is a district of central south-east London in the London Borough of Southwark, England. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area....
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
The
Mayflower has a famous place in American history as a symbol of early European colonization of the future US. With their religion oppressed by the English Church and government, the small party of religious
PuritanA Puritan of 16th and 17th-century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group piety. Puritans felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough, and that the Church of England was tolerant...
separatists who comprised about half of the passengers on the ship desired a life where they could practice their religion freely. This symbol of religious freedom resonates in US society and the story of the
Mayflower is a staple of any American history textbook. Americans whose roots are traceable back to
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
often believe themselves to be descended from
Mayflower passengers.
The main record for the voyage of the
Mayflower and the disposition of the Plymouth Colony comes from
William BradfordWilliam Bradford may refer to:*William Bradford *William Bradford , son of Governor Bradford, military commander of Plymouth during King Philip's War...
who was a guiding force and later the
governorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of the
colonyIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
.
Ship
The
Mayflower was used primarily as a
cargo shipA cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
, involved in active trade of goods (often
wineWine is an alcoholic beverage typically made of fermented grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast consumes...
) between England and other European countries,
(principally
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, but also
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, and
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
). At least between 1609 and 1622, it was mastered by
Christopher JonesChristopher Jones was an English sailor, and master of the Mayflower between at least 1609 and 1622, who captained it on the transatlantic voyage that established the Plymouth Colony settlement....
, who would command the ship on the famous transatlantic voyage, and based in
RotherhitheRotherhithe is a district of central south-east London in the London Borough of Southwark, England. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area....
, London, England. After the famous voyage of the
Mayflower, the ship returned to England, likely dismantled for scrap lumber in Rotherhithe in 1623, only a year after Jones's death in March 1622. The
Mayflower BarnThe Mayflower Barn is situated on the edge of the Chiltern hills in the South Buckinghamshire countryside, about midway between London and Oxford, in the small village of Jordans....
, just outside the Quaker village of Jordans, in
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
, England, is said to be built from these timbers, but this is likely apocryphal.
Details of the ship's dimensions are unknown, but estimates based on its load weight and the typical size of 180-
tonThe terms "Tonnage" and "Ton" have different meanings and are often confused. Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage,...
merchant ships of its day suggest an estimated length of 90–110 feet (27.4–33.5 m) and a width of about 25 feet (7.6 m).
The ship probably had a crew of twenty-five to thirty, along with other hired personnel; however, the names of only five are known, including John Alden. William Bradford, who penned our only account of the
Mayflower voyage, wrote that John Alden "
was hired for a cooper [barrel-maker],
at South-HamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, where the ship victuled; and being a hopefull yong man, was much desired, but left to his owne liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed, and maryedMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
here."
Pilgrims' voyage
Initially, the plan was for the voyage to be made in two vessels, the other being the smaller
SpeedwellThe Speedwell was a 60-ton ship, the smaller of the two ships intended to carry the Pilgrim Fathers to North America...
, which had transported some of the Pilgrims embarking on the voyage from
DelfshavenDelfshaven is a borough of Rotterdam on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas, in South Holland, the Netherlands. It was a separate municipality until 1886.The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft...
in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
to
SouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, England.
The first voyage of the ships departed Southampton, on August 5/15, 1620, but the
Speedwell developed a leak, and had to be refitted at Dartmouth on August 17/27.
On the second attempt, the ships reached the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
but again were forced to return to Plymouth because of the
Speedwells leak. It would later be revealed that there was in fact nothing wrong with the Speedwell
. The Pilgrims believed that the crew had, through aspects of refitting the ship, and their behavior in operating it, sabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions...
d the voyage in order to escape the year-long commitment of their contract.
After reorganization, the final sixty-six day voyage was made by the Mayflower
alone, leaving from a site near to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England on September 6/16. With 102 passengers plus crew, each family was allotted a very confined amount of space for personal belongings. The Mayflower stopped off at
NewlynNewlyn is a town in southwest Cornwall, England. The town forms a small conurbation with neighbouring Penzance, and part of the civil parish of Penzance...
in Cornwall to take on water.
The intended destination was an area near the
Hudson RiverThe Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into...
, in "
North VirginiaThe Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on April 101606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
". However the ship was forced far off-course by inclement weather and drifted well north of the intended Virginia settlement. As a result of the delay, the settlers did not arrive in Cape Cod until after the onset of a harsh
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
winter. The settlers ultimately failed to reach Virginia where they had already obtained permission from the
London CompanyThe London Company was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by Eugene and Katrin on October 26, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. It was not founded as a joint stock company, but became one under the 1609 charter...
to settle, due to difficulties navigating the treacherous waters off the southeast corner of Cape Cod.
To establish legal order and to quell increasing strife within the ranks, the settlers wrote and signed the
Mayflower CompactThe Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower...
after the ship dropped anchor at the tip of Cape Cod on November 11/21, in what is now
Provincetown HarborProvincetown Harbor is a large natural harbor located in the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. The harbor is mostly 30 to deep and stretches roughly one mile from north to south and two miles from east to west, i.e., one large, deep bowl with no dredged channel necessary for boats to enter and...
.
The settlers, upon initially setting anchor, explored the snow-covered area and discovered an empty Native American village. The curious settlers dug up some artificially-made mounds, some of which stored corn while others were burial sites. The settlers stole the corn and looted and desecrated the graves, sparking friction with the locals. They moved down the coast to what is now Eastham, and explored the area of Cape Cod for several weeks, looting and stealing native stores as they went. They decided to relocate to Plymouth after a difficult encounter with the local native Americans, the
NausetThe Nauset tribe, sometimes referred to as the Cape Cod Indians lived in what is present-day Cape Cod, Massachusetts, living east of Bass River and lands occupied by their closely related neighbours, the Wampanoag...
s, at First Encounter Beach, in December 1620.
During the winter the passengers remained on board the Mayflower
, suffering an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvyScurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus. Scurvy leads to the formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding...
, pneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid ....
and tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
. When it ended, there were only 53 passengers, just more than half, still alive. Half of the crew also died then. In spring, they built huts ashore, and on March 21/31, 1621, the surviving passengers left the Mayflower
.
On April 5/15, 1621, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth to return to England, where she arrived on May 6/16, 1621.
Passengers
The Mayflower left England with 102 passengers plus crew. One baby was born en route, and a second was born during the winter of 1620-1621, when the company wintered aboard ship in Provincetown Harbor. One child died during the voyage, and there was one stillbirth during the construction of the colony. Many of the passengers were Pilgrims fleeing persistent religious persecution, but some were hired hands, servants, or farmers recruited by London merchants for the originally intended destination in Virginia.
These were the earliest permanent European settlers in
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
.
Second Mayflower
A second ship called the Mayflower made a voyage from London to Plymouth Colony in 1629 carrying thirty-five passengers, many from the Pilgrim congregation in
LeidenLeiden is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands and has 118,000 inhabitants. It forms a single urban area with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten, Valkenburg, Rijnsburg and Katwijk, with 254,000 inhabitants. It is located on the Old Rhine, close to the cities...
that organized the first voyage. This was not the same ship that made the original voyage with the first settlers. This voyage began in May and reached Plymouth in August. This ship also made the crossing from England to America in 1630, 1633, 1634, and 1639. It attempted the trip again in 1641, departing London in October of that year under master John Cole, with 140 passengers bound for Virginia. It never arrived. On October 18, 1642 a deposition was made in England regarding the loss.
Mayflower II
After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, an effort began to reenact the voyage of the Mayflower. With cooperation between Project Mayflower and
Plimoth PlantationPlimoth Plantation is a living museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts that reconstructs the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by English colonists, some of whom later became known as Pilgrims, being among the first to emigrate to America to avoid religious...
, an accurate replica of the original (designed by naval architect
William A. BakerWilliam Avery Baker was a distinguished naval architect of replica historic ships and a maritime historian, who was curator of the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1963-1981.-Early Life and Education:The son of William Elisha Baker and his wife Margaret...
) was launched September 22, 1956 from
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
, England, and set sail in the spring of 1957. Captained by
Alan VilliersCaptain Alan John Villiers was an author, adventurer, photographer and Master Mariner.Born in Melbourne, Australia, he first went to sea at age 15 and sailed all the world's oceans on board traditionally rigged vessels including the full rigged ship Joseph Conrad...
, the voyage ended in
Plymouth HarborPlymouth Harbor is the name of a harbor located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a town in the South Shore region of the state. It is part of the larger Plymouth Bay...
after 55 days on June 13, 1957 to great acclaim.
The ship is moored to this day at State Pier in Plymouth, and is open to visitors.
Popular culture
The Mayflower
voyage and the ship became famous as an icon of a perilous one-way trip to a new life, with many things named for it:
Mayflower
is the emblem of the English football club Plymouth Argyle F.C.Plymouth Argyle Football Club , commonly known as Argyle, or the Pilgrims, is an English professional football club and is one of only two clubs in the Football League to play in a principally green home strip...
, who are known as "The Pilgrims".
The Mayflower theatre in Southampton is named after the Mayflower
ship.
YesYes are an English progressive rock band that was formed in London in 1968. Their music is marked by sharp dynamic contrasts, extended song lengths, abstract lyrics, and a general showcasing of instrumental prowess. Yes blends symphonic and other 'classical' structures with their own brand of...
member Jon AndersonJon Anderson, born John Roy Anderson on 25 October 1944, is an English musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes...
& VangelisEvangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou , is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
(as "Jon & VangelisJon & Vangelis is the collaborative effort between the singer Jon Anderson , and the Greek synthesizer musician Vangelis. Together they released a number of successful albums in the 1980s....
") made a song about the ship called "The Mayflower" released on their album The Friends of Mr. CairoThe Friends of Mr. Cairo is the second collaboration of Jon Anderson and Vangelis as Jon & Vangelis. There are two editions of this album, with different sleeves. Both versions were released in 1981 within a few weeks of each other. The second edition includes the single "I'll Find My Way Home",...
.
The space-shuttle parody in the movie Airplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The Sequel is an American comedy sequel to the 1980 film Airplane! First released on December 10, 1982, the film was written and directed by Ken Finkleman and stars Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn, and Sonny Bono.- Plot :The moon has...
is called Mayflower One
.
Mark Carew wrote a book titled Flight of the Mayflower
where NASA builds an intergalactic space ship (named the Mayflower
) to travel to a new world due to the fact that Earth has become a place where terror, geo-political shift, ecological crisis and nuclear war are pandemic.
See also
- Carpenter sisters
The Carpenter sisters of Leiden, Netherlands and Plymouth Colony provided a unique genetic impact and moral influence to the colonization of the Plymouth Colony in America in the early 1620s...
- Billericay
Billericay is a small commuter town in Essex, England with a population of 40,000.-Geography and geology:Billericay is a semi-rural town, with many green spaces, including Norsey Wood, Mill Meadows Nature Reserve, Queen's Park Country Park, Sun Corner, Lake Meadows, Hanningfield Reservoir and...
, where the Pilgrim Fathers met prior to the voyage
- Leigh-on-Sea
Leigh-on-Sea is a civil parish administered as part of Southend-on-Sea, in Essex, England. In 1996, it became a civil parish, and a town council was created, funded by an increased council tax rate in the area. The parish, which is the only one in Southend, had a population of 20,737 according to...
, where the
Mayflower
was outfitted
Susan ConstantSusan Constant, at 120 tons, was the largest of three ships of the English Virginia Company that were led by Captain Christopher Newport on the 1607 voyage that resulted in the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America, Jamestown, in the new Colony of Virginia...
, GodspeedGodspeed was one of the three ships of the English Virginia Company that was led by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold on the 1607 voyage that resulted in the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America, Jamestown, in the new Colony of Virginia. All 39 passengers and 13 sailors she...
, and DiscoveryDiscovery was a 20-ton "fly-boat" of the British East India Company, launched before 1602.Discovery was the smallest of three ships that were led by Captain Christopher Newport on the voyage that resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia in 1607...
were the ships that settled Jamestown, Virginia
Taylor-Bray FarmThe Taylor-Bray Farm is a farm in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, and was originally owned and settled by Richard "of the Rock" Taylor in 1639 while it was still part of Plymouth colony....
, a farm in southeastern Massachusetts owned by descendants of Mayflower passengers
Filmography
- Plymouth Adventure (directed by Clarence Brown, 1952)
- Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure
Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure is a 1979 film directed by George Schaefer and starring Jenny Agutter....
(1979)
External links