The Mayflower essays

The Mayflower essays The famous ship the Mayflower can be dated back to 1609, when it was used as a merchant ship. In 162o, a Thomas Weston and John Carver hired the Mayflower and the Speedwell to undertake the voyage to plant a colony in Northern Virginia. The Speedwell turned out to be a leaky ship and could not make the famous voyage. Captain Christopher Jones left Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers on September 6, 1620. Of these 102 passengers there was 3 pregnant women, which all three had their kids aboard the Mayflower. 2 of the children were born healthy and the other was born stillborn. There was one other death while on the voyage, a young boy also died. The conditions on the Mayflower were horrible. The food consisted of hard tack, dried fish, cheese and beer. There was no place to bathe on the ship, so you could imagine the smell. The ship also had no sanitary facilities, except for the traditional bucket. The mayflower was a very small ship, it was very crowded and there was no privacy. There were also many mishaps. One night during a storm, a main beam spilt in half. Also a man of the name John Howland will overboard, but he was rescued. The Pilgrims first sighted land on November 9, 1620, and landed on land November 11th. The original plan of landing in Virginia spoiled, for they had sailed farther up the coast to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. For the next month they explored this area, particularly Provincetown Harbor. Because the Pilgrims had no legal right to settle this area, they drew up the Mayflower compact. This created their government. They elected John Carver as their governor. A month later on December 12th, they began exploring Plymouth Harbor, where they settled and established the first English Colony in America that would endure. ...