10 Interesting Facts about Plymouth

It is Thanksgiving weekend, and I am sure that all of you are looking forward to Thanksgiving itself. We have probably all heard the story of the Pilgrims: they left England to escape religious persecution, they immigrated to America on a rough voyage aboard the Mayflower, they survived a very difficult winter, they met some Indians who helped them adapt to the New England climate, and they celebrated the First Thanksgiving. But the Pilgrims did a lot more for America than just introducing the first Thanksgiving feast and create a national holiday. I had the privilege of doing a research paper over Thanksgiving in 7th grade. Unfortunately, I don’t have the paper with me anymore, but here are ten unknown things about Plymouth and the Pilgrims that I have come across in my studies.

1. The Mayflower was not the only ship that was supposed to take the voyage.

The Speedwell was going to go on the voyage as well, but it needed to be repaired badly. Some of the Separatists had to stay in England because of that incident.

2. The Mayflower Compact is not a constitution.

You may have heard that the Mayflower Compact set up a government in Plymouth, but that is incorrect. It didn’t set up any form of government actually, but it was a written agreement to obey the government that would be established.

3. Plymouth was supposed to be in Virginia.

Why did the Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact? The Pilgrims received a charter from the Plymouth Company, a failing joint-stock company. They were to land in the area of modern-day Virginia, but they landed in Cape Cod (in modern-day Massachusetts) instead. This was many miles north of their chartered area. Because they weren’t in the correct location, the government set by the charter no longer applied. Being God-fearing people, they stated in the Mayflower Compact that they would obey the government that was established. Fortunately for them, they received a democracy.

4. Plymouth is not the real name of the colony.

You are probably going to yell at me when I explain this point. The colony’s real name is New Plymouth quite like how the Massachusetts colony’s real name is Massachusetts Bay Colony. Plymouth is a town in England, so New Plymouth is the name of the colony. It was not uncommon for colonies to be named after towns in the Old World. For example, take a look at the names for New Amsterdam and New Sweden.

5. The Pilgrims had very good relations with the Indians.

Although most say that the Pilgrims abused the Indians as other white settlers did, this is not true. They treated the Wampanoag Indians very fairly and respectfully. The Wampanoag Indians attacked Plymouth years later because it had been enveloped into the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the Puritans did not treat the Indians fairly. This would cause later conflicts between the Puritans and Roger Williams, but that is for another article.

6. There were two Thanksgiving feasts with a very different menu than those we see today.

There was one in 1621 and one in 1623, not to mention how the first Thanksgiving was a three-day festival. Venison, Indian corn, fowl, barley, seal, lobster, squash, and swan were on the menu, but turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin were not. The latter two hadn’t been introduced to New England yet.

7. The history of Thanksgiving as a national holiday

In 1789, President George Washington declared the first ever Thanksgiving celebration, but it wasn’t a national holiday, just a national event. Sara Josepha Hale, an American writer and the author of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” campaigned for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday. She was also responsible for the publishing of classic Thanksgiving recipes such as turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War. It was to be celebrated on the third Thursday of November, but was moved to the fourth Thursday by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941.

8. Some say the Spanish held the first Thanksgiving.

I believe that most of the people who say this are ignoring the religious significance of the holiday. Some say that Pedro Menéndez de Avilé, a Spanish explorer, had the first “Thanksgiving” by inviting the Timucua tribe for a feast in St. Augustine, Florida. This however is obviously not a feast of Thanksgiving because they were not giving thanks to anyone for that matter. That was a feast. Thanksgiving is a holiday to praise God for the blessings and provisions He has given us each year. The purpose of the holiday is destroyed otherwise.

9. Important historical figures in Plymouth

William Bradford was not only elected the governor of Plymouth thirty times, but he is also called “The Father of American History.” He wrote The History of Plymouth Plantation (sometimes called Of Plymouth Plantation), America’s first history book. John Alden and Miles Standish also probably never argued over Priscilla Alden when she was unmarried like The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow records. This narrative poem is just legend. Noah Webster was also related to some of the Pilgrims. That was just an added fact.

10. Plymouth became part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1691.

The next generation of Pilgrims were responsible for defending against Indian attacks, not treating the Indians poorly just yet as many of the other settlers will later on. The Massachusetts Bay colony formed the New England Confederation with other colonies in the area. The son of Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoag Indians who had the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, started a raid against the settlers in New England. King Phillip (or Metacomet) led his tribe to its fall. That was basically the end of a good relationship with the Indians and the settlers in New England.

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I hope you learned some very interesting things from this article. I know that I did when I was doing some research. Below is a video about the history of Thanksgiving from history.com. I hope that you have a bounty of things to thank God for this year and for many years to come as well.