Mayflower - Pilgrim History

In November, 1620, the pilgrims from Leyton, Holland arrived at Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts. which was hardly the best time of year to reach a destination that provided few living supplies or shelter, plus winter had arrived. Their destination was northern Virginia, and no one knows exactly why they ended up in Massachusetts. The second ship that was to have accompanied them had to return to Leiden, as it sprang a bad leak. Half of the passengers died that first severe winter. The group was made up of the Separatist and people John Bradford, called the “Strangers”, who were not of their faith. The Adventurers funded the trip and expected great profits.

Other ships arrived over the next few years and, of course, no one wanted to take orders from anyone else, thus the Mayflower Compact was written by John Bradford and signed by all free men. The Compact basically said each man would submit himself to majority rule.

Per their agreement with the Adventurers, the settlers agreed to live a socialistic life, sharing everything in common for the first seven years. By 1623, people were complaining that “this one was lazy and not doing his fair share of the work” and that the “industrious ones were working to support the lazy ones.” They decided to give each man, woman and child the use of one acre of land to be cultivated in any way they chose. They were still expected to work on the greater common lands for the company. After a few years the relationship with the Adventurers became very strained due to high interest rates, poor accounting and the colony’s indebtedness seemed to grow rather than decrease. The colonist sent sizable shipments of furs to England, but the Adventurers were unhappy over low profits.

Of course, the pilgrims continued working out their problems for the next few decades, continually making progress in establishing cities. Eventually we had the Revolutionary War for independence. Do any of these problems sound similar to problems we are facing today with government? Socialism certainly hasn’t worked if you look back through history. Many of these facts are available in "Plymouth Colony", by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, which is very factual account.

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