Mayflower

Mayflower

The Mayflower was an English ship that transported a group of English families from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, the Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached America, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21. Celebrations for the 400th Anniversary of the landing have been planned during 2020 in the U.S., United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

About Mayflower in brief

Summary MayflowerThe Mayflower was an English ship that transported a group of English families from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, the Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached America, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21. The Pilgrims chose to separate themselves from the Church of England because they believed that it was beyond redemption due to its Roman Catholic past and the church’s resistance to reform. Celebrations for the 400th Anniversary of the landing have been planned during 2020 in the U.S., United Kingdom and the Netherlands, but the coronavirus pandemic has put some of those plans on hold. The U. S. Postal Service issued a new \”Mayflower\” stamp which went on sale September 17, 2020. The Mayflower has become a cultural icon in the history of the United States. It is one of the earliest colonial vessels, the ship has become an important part of American history, and was used in the opening of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. In 1620, the community determined to cross the Atlantic for America, which they considered a \”new Promised Land,\” where they would establish Plymouth Colony. The following year, they celebrated the colony’s first fall harvest along with the Indigenous people, which centuries later was declared the first Thanksgiving Day. As a result of the harsh winter, only half of the original Pil Grims survived the first winter at Plymouth. The community determined that God wanted them to go to this new land, despite all the arguments against traveling to the new land.

The Puritan separatists also learned of the constant threat of attacks by Indigenous peoples despite all their conviction that God held sway over all of the peoples. They decided to leave Holland to leave America, as many did not have enough time to settle their affairs and their budgets were too meager to buy the necessary travel supplies. The Separatists were illegal members of a church in Nottinghamshire, England, secretly practicing their Puritan form of Protestantism. But rather than work for change in England, they chose to live as Separatist in religiously tolerant Holland in 1608. As separatists, they were considered illegal radicals by their home country of England. The government of Leiden was recognized for offering financial aid to reformed churches, whether English, French or German, which made it a sought-after destination for Protestant intellectuals. They were forced into menial and backbreaking jobs, such as cleaning wool, which led to a variety of health afflictions. Many members of the congregation fled in the night with little more than the clothes they were wearing, and clandestinely made it to Holland. The congregation decided that the younger members should go the rest of the way, and the larger Mayflower would be used to transport most of the passengers and supplies to America. Not all of them were able to depart, as some did not travel all the way.