The Mayflower
Book Report: The Mayflower
The voyage of the Mayflower is one we have known since childhood. The pilgrims sailed over and became friends with the Native Americans, who taught them the ways of the land while they feasted over a large Thanksgiving dinner and discovered America. Well Nathaniel Philbrick tells this story in a slightly different way than we have grown to know it, and for some reason his version seems to make much more sense. This novel takes you on a journey with the original settlers who had been handed a great deal of adversity to overcome, landing them in Cape Cod only to deal with more pain and struggle. Along their travel these settlers have come in contact with the local Indians, Mr. Philbrick paints a vivid picture of the experiences and relationship between the two. It all started with a small group of Christians who wanted to separate themselves from England’s church and needed to escape being persecuted. This group, known as “separatists” had initially emigrated to Holland to practice their religion. It only took a few years in Holland before the separatists decided their children were beginning to lose touch with their own heritage. Feeling the need to find a new land where they could recreate their English lifestyle and still worship freely, it was once again time to set sail and head off, this time for the Americas. There were 104 passengers on the ship including the 2 dogs, not everyone had been part of the Pilgrims congregation, some passengers were just men and women looking to make a new home in a new world. A long, treacherous trip across the Atlantic had left everyone starving and dehydrated but only down 2 passengers. Because of the extra time it took them on their journey to America, the pilgrims landed in a very near winter November rather than their expected September or October. Landing on cold Cape Cod with little to no food, water or supplies put everyone in an even worse position than they were in
The voyage of the Mayflower is one we have known since childhood. The pilgrims sailed over and became friends with the Native Americans, who taught them the ways of the land while they feasted over a large Thanksgiving dinner and discovered America. Well Nathaniel Philbrick tells this story in a slightly different way than we have grown to know it, and for some reason his version seems to make much more sense. This novel takes you on a journey with the original settlers who had been handed a great deal of adversity to overcome, landing them in Cape Cod only to deal with more pain and struggle. Along their travel these settlers have come in contact with the local Indians, Mr. Philbrick paints a vivid picture of the experiences and relationship between the two. It all started with a small group of Christians who wanted to separate themselves from England’s church and needed to escape being persecuted. This group, known as “separatists” had initially emigrated to Holland to practice their religion. It only took a few years in Holland before the separatists decided their children were beginning to lose touch with their own heritage. Feeling the need to find a new land where they could recreate their English lifestyle and still worship freely, it was once again time to set sail and head off, this time for the Americas. There were 104 passengers on the ship including the 2 dogs, not everyone had been part of the Pilgrims congregation, some passengers were just men and women looking to make a new home in a new world. A long, treacherous trip across the Atlantic had left everyone starving and dehydrated but only down 2 passengers. Because of the extra time it took them on their journey to America, the pilgrims landed in a very near winter November rather than their expected September or October. Landing on cold Cape Cod with little to no food, water or supplies put everyone in an even worse position than they were in