The Mayflower

THE MAYFLOWER (« Fleur de Mai ») The Mayflower was a commercial ship of the XVIIth century. In 1620, some English Protestants were chased away from England because of the persecutions of the King Jacques 1st. Indeed, this last didn’t want to let them practice their religion freely. Those Protestants, called the Pilgrims fathers, decided to leave their country and bring with them everyone who wanted to live in a new land without any persecutions. For the journey to the New World, there had to ships: the Mayflower and the Speedwell. Those lasts will make two stopovers: at Southampton and at Dartmouth. The Speedwell will turn back because the hull has been damaged during one of the stopover. Finally it is 102 people, including women and children, who take on board on the Mayflower the 6th September 1620. The crossing last 66 days during which a pilgrim die because of the winds and the storms which were very violent. A few days before the landing, Pilgrims fathers wrote the “Mayflower Compact”. This contract is considerate as the base of the United State constitution that we know today. The 26th November, they discovered a new land in the Massachusetts, and decided to build their settlement there. They called it Plymouth because the Mayflower had sailed from Plymouth in England. However, the colonists arrived too late for plantations and live a first difficult winter. Only 52 survived to the winter, the rest of them died because of starvation and diseases. In the next spring, the native Indians teach them the culture of the corn, as well as the hunting and the fishing. Following their first harvest, the colonists decide to thank God and the Indians, the 4th Thursday of November. This feast become a tradition which still exists nowadays: it is the origin of Thanksgiving. Now, Plymouth count 51 701 inhabitants and it extend on 350 squares kilometers. (((We can count a thousand of Americans who have in their families an ancestor who were a passenger of the Mayflower. We can include George Bush, Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, and many others famous personalities.))) on le met ça?