History: The Pilgrims Journey Documentary

a new life in the new world in Europe Kings dictate what their subjects believe because not everyone accepts royal rule the Pilgrim Fathers preach their own way of life radical in their beliefs liberal in their social attitudes the

pilgrims

want to determine how they live themselves and how they are prepared to risk a

journey

into the unknown they want equal rights for all regardless of their religion they write a contract that becomes the model for a nation the fear of native americans danger and death mark their arrival to the new world but the very people whose fear helps them survive radical sectarians are forced to sit with american indians this is the story of the creation of the united states of america for many americans the origins of their country begin with the Mayflower but the Pilgrim Fathers have come to symbolize many American virtues In July In 1620, with jubilation, the separatists set sail from their temporary home in Holland.

They are looking for a new home in the new world. where they can live according to their beliefs a place where their children and grandchildren can be raised and educated according to their faith and philosophies a man becomes a prominent leader William Bradford recounts his adventures in his book Plymouth Plantation describes the first 30 years of settlement life a life that was to shave significantly as governor of the colony Bradford was extending the English horizon to the New World his success was not a foregone conclusion Bradford was an orphan and had to fight for the place in

history

he enjoys today , but your chances of success were probably better living within this small group of Puritans where the individual camps for more than the hierarchy the agreement of all members and important issues are paramount to Puritans want to live in peace with each other to serve the Covenant that God released free discussion and even decision making what they called the decision and the consent of the majority which was the means of trying to understand the mind of Christ in any given situation and once a common vote or consensus was reached, then that was the will of God a decision to be made. it came through a vote and it was seen as the will of god an insult to every divinely ordained monarch yes come on William Bradford was born in 1590 in the north of England at the end of the Elizabethan era orphaned as a child, finds solace in a Puritan parish who spends every free minute studying the Bible translated by John Calvin, the famous Protestant Reformer, but the Reformation in England doesn't go far enough for Puritans after more than 50 years of religious turmoil that has rocked state and society.

They continue to try to change the church from within. The Puritans in early 17th century England were not happy people who had spent the better part of the last half of Queen Elizabeth's reign desperately trying to get Queen Elizabeth to legislate changes to the Anglican Church in the Church of England to make the church was more reformed to conform the church more to their idea of ​​the type of church should be devoid of many of the vestiges of the Roman Catholic faith much of the ceremony the vestments the incense in all those things those ornaments that they felt needed to disappear that were inconsistent with Scripture, she was very reluctant to make any changes, they got nowhere with her, and so when James the First ascends the throne in 163, they hope that since he was raised in a Reformed Protestant Church that he would be more sympathetic to the puritanical point of view, they thought they went to see him and he didn't respond, in fact he basically told them if they persist in dealing r of making me change the church, i will hire them off the land and the persecution of the land is what really happens to William Bradford and the people close to him, not just Bradford and his people, there were other people who were also harassed, some of them evidently died in jail, some of them went to Holland, some of them disappeared in the country open opposition to the borders of the Anglican Church of the State for high treason the monarchy responds with persecution torture and execution to try to force the religious conformity the death of Bradford loses all hope of being able to change the church emigration seems to be the only option left to the separatists the liberal Holland that has freed itself from Spanish rule seems to be the ideal place to realize their ideals in 1608 the parishioners from Bradford traveled to their new homeland the charismatic Reverend John Robinson leads the group to the Dutch city of Leiden Leyden is the place right for a fresh start the city is flourishing there are thousands of small businesses and everyone is welcome who wants to work and obey the laws religious refugees from all corners of the world flocked to the netherlands in droves there is a surprisingly tolerant climate for these working times Commerce and profit are what count here work shapes people People's lives from sunrise to sunset Reverend Robinson and his people settle in the narrow alleyways surrounding Peters CAC Robinson's home visitor Grune informs that it is the meeting place of the parish and it is here that he presents his ideas that Robinson said in his justification for the separation that in reality, there are three forms of government in a covenant in the church: first, a monarchy with reference to God and Christ, who was even a threat to King James, and they were an aristocracy with reference to the leadership of elders who governed affairs.

The newspapers of a congregation and they were a democracy when it was about all the people and the decisions had to be made ultimately by all the people of God, that was what they call the popularizing trend that was a threat to the church and the crown, it is also a primitive form of democracy but the separatists have not lost hope of being able to change the Anglican Church, they print pamphlets and secretly send them to England, King James is outraged and causes t The Dutch ambassador under pressure the authorities in leiden jailed the authors but they were soon released as they have not broken dutch law undeterred the separatists continue to publish their beliefs they believe they serve a higher cause i want to show england and the world their straight path you know they were very sure of themselves, very smug that they were the chosen people and they had the right answer and if you didn't agree with them, they're You're probably wrong, look at the same Winthrop Asst speech in 1630 where he says we're going to be a city on a hill in the eyes of the world is upon us and we had to leave England because it's so corrupt and we're going to form our own experiment here and just by example we will be so good and so wonderful that everyone else will want to be like us so I know I am not convinced that we would be if these people would be very acceptable to us today members of the Leiden parish continue to see themselves as Englishmen in exile but the liberal Dutch attitudes that first attracted them to Holland are now beginning to repel them their children will under no circumstances become Dutch freethinkers the idea of ​​finding a new home is slowly beginning to take shape among some of the Bradford parish who now he was married is one of them, Robinson, feels that moving away from life in Leiden could be a dangerous move thick; preaches torrents of dissent and hopes to present the Puritans as more open-minded people upon seeing the story of Genesis Robinson decided that the story of the fall of the Expulsion from Paradise meant that every theological dogma, every doctrinal statement, was itself flawed and that meant that people should be relatively patient and tolerant of other people's ideas because you couldn't be sure that your own understanding wasn't flawed and would mistakenly reject it if you didn't agree with someone for their own ideas. weren't perfect and someone else's ideas weren't imperfect ct in the places you imperfectly thought they were, this led to mutual tolerance, which is very unusual at a time when the situation in Holland got worse, therefore the Dutch are on the verge of war again with the Catholic Habsburgs, finally, the separatists decide to vote whether to found a colony in America d the North after the parish wants to risk the perilous

journey

into the unknown William Bradford is among them the inexperienced Pilgrim Fathers rushed to buy a ship, the Speedwell will travel first to Southampton where they believe other believers are waiting to join they, their plan is to then set sail for the new world in two ships off the south coast of england but they are not prepared for the hard journey across the atlantic everything seems to go wrong first a storm forces them back then the speedwell leaks his journey does not seem to have God's blessing, many families decide to give up, but William Bradford is determined to make the journey.

The treacherous autumn storms roll in as 102 passes. Engers finally set sail on a chartered freighter the Mayflower the puritans aren't the only passengers on board there are also adventurers seeking their fortunes in Virginia the

pilgrims

call themselves saints and the rest of the passengers are strangers but are they realized that everyone needs to get along if the new beginning is to be successful John Robinson urgently calls on his followers to exercise tolerance and respect for others, it is clear to him that a new colony will only succeed if there is harmony among the colonists. The Mayflower sailed too late for a safe voyage. crossing the Atlantic travelers pay a heavy price for their lack of planning fears storms batter the ship the captain has no choice but to set sail and leave the Mayflower to the mercy of the elements the physical and psychological stress on the passengers is tremendous they come from the death every day in third class stinking dark added to that is the knowledge that if they survive they have no idea what the future will bring it was a giant leap into the unknown for all of them for the passengers for the sailors for all involved roughly midway through the Mayflower was in a very strong storm big waves crashing on the deck the water was seeping down and during one of those storms the main girder the girder that helps support the main mast of the ship leaned over and then cracked and it sank allowing a lot of water to run on board it must have been a very scary thing I must have thought they were sinking and even I use the Sailors who are used to life at sea and the dangers of being in the ocean were concerned about what was happening.

They were lucky enough to be able to prop that beam into place with an iron screw they probably brought home. construction to get that beam into place and then they held it up with a couple of poles working with the ship's carpenter and they were making a decision on whether to continue on to the new world or return to at that point they knew if they backed off that was probably the end of plymouth adventure end of his chance to start a colony overall his diet was slowly degrading his health the lack of vitamin c was not helpful the more the amount of salt in his diet and inactivity lent itself to him they felt more tired and weak as the journey progressed.

Many of the sailors had probably never been to the other side of the world before. They really didn't know what to expect we often associate with going into outer space it's a completely unknown alien world all these people were traveling towards you during a voyage a boy is born his parents name Oceanus sailors despise pious earth rats when they often curse to the seasick pilgrims, one crew member even wishes aloud that the passengers could be thrown overboard wrapped in white shrouds like the dead when this embittered crewman dies just a few days later, the Pilgrim Fathers see him as a divine vine. message The destination of the Mayflower is the north coast of the United States, where the English have some influence.

They hope to settle in the Hudson River Valley, the area that is now known as New York at the time, this was the northern tip of Virginia. The site where several years before the settlement of Jamestown was established, the Pilgrims bought a patent to settle this region in England and seek endless storms. it lasted so long the Mayflower is too far north the passengers are sick and emaciated after the voyage their supplies are almost gone there is nothing left to do but place their fate in God's hands on the morning of November 9, 1620 after 65 days below decks the long cry of autumn finally echoes from the crow's nest the pilgrims can already smell the land they watch in amazement as the tint of the sea merges from deep blue to pale green America a swift veil Once on shore it tells to the captain that this must be Cape Cod, a place well known to many English fishermen.

The captain realizes that they have strayed hundreds of miles too far north. He returns and begins the journey south along the coast only to turn back again. it can be fatal at this time of year trying to navigate throughthe cape reefs the ship finally drops anchor at the head of the bay said some on the mayflower when it arrived in provincetown since we are not in new new york since we are not in the hudson river valley or area turn around to the ship and go home and others said since we're not where we negotiated we'll do as we please when we get ashore and that's when they went down and the cabin and the Mayflower and they wrote the pact that everything they did was an extension of that basic liberty pact idea you agreed to do something i agree to do something ultimately i hope everything serves god that way and therefore it became part of your modus operandi gentlemen we are here no matter where you are we are supposed to be here is where we have landed we must sign to become one will you gentlemen sign to do as a company?

I will sign mr. Bradford, will you sign? I will sign, this was the way of the pilgrims to achieve unity, democracy and equal rights for all are a new phenomenon in a time when the government and the rights of the monarch are assigned according to social status here in the new world the colonists set their own terms the rights and responsibilities are written into a social contract that takes into account the different groups living in the colony the puritans wanted to have it all written down you know we talk about the english constitution which doesn't really exist in written form until the late 17th century, well the Puritans were writing rules because they wanted to know what was expected of them, they were very legalistic, all the stuff. in writing including the system of government how elections would be conducted who would have the right to vote what the conditions of individual voting rights would be how laws are to be formed and what is expected in terms of people their laws and the government to the people, that's what made this first document such a critical thing, it was such an important thing that it was a was a very primitive constitution but yet the first constitution in the

history

of the United States, the compact is only a seed on the road to full constitutional democracy, but it was the foundation from which the seeds could grow so that people could order themselves freely in a free democratic way and that the majority would rule that those principles continue to hold strong when all have signed Bradford is sent to explore the coast with a group of armed men the water is so shallow that the Mayflower has to anchor a great distance away. nance of the coast they come ashore in a small sloop and wade the last few yards through icy waves it is 15 november 1620 winter has come Bradford writes later we fell to our knees and praise God who has letters on an ocean powerful and angry and freed us from all dangers and they want the dunes the scouting party walks through to remind them of the dutch coast they find a shipwreck washed up on shore years before it almost seems as if humans haven't been here before.

They fear silence, but it also reassures them, since what they fear most are the Native Americans. They know little about the people who live here, but in Europe they have heard many horror stories about the indigenous people here in the sand they find traces of human life they discover a large amount of seed reserves of a type of maize they have never seen before the settlers have few precious seeds left and winter has come the discovery seems to be a godsend pious men have no scruples that simply taking what they need is how they came from their landing place and walking up the coast they entered the areas of storage.

Cape Cod was not a livable place for native populations during the winter months once fall began. they all moved from Cape Cod, but because it was a favorable place for the summer and this is where they had their gardens etc., they left it there, in the storage pits, there are seed plants and all that. they were going to need and it has been said that the people the newcomers took the seed and left a note that they would pay later which they never did of course and then we Indians laughed about it so they were lying from the beginning the Pilgrim Fathers continued looking for an area suitable for establishing their colony they need arable land that is easy to defend and ships must be able to anchor on shore men roam the tidal flats as they search for life it is very hard the humidity penetrates all the bitter winter nights some are freezing they never recover from the ordeal fire to keep warm is out of the question so great is their fear that native americans might see them suspicious noises and eerie shadows surround them you light the fire like it's a miracle no one gets hurt but now they have proof that people live here who don't welcome their arrival when they can't find a place where to settle, they cross to the other side of the huge bay Matt has an English name for this area Plymouth the adventurer John Smith founded a colony in southern Virginia years before it is a household name in a mysterious land a sign that they must settle here they've searched for over a month now it's December 12th The Heart of Winter, as William Bradford teased it in his book, is pretty close when they got here, even though they had John Smith's maps of New England and probably Virginia as well , the maps were not much help in deciding where to settle. to find if it was fresh water they had to find where they were good Anchorage they had to find where there was arable land none of those things are indicated on the map and the maps aren't quite accurate even then unless you know what it looks like today and so they had They had to make journeys up and down the coast until they found a place to settle, and finally they settled in the port called Plymouth on Smith's map because Plymouth had been called that. the bean had been named after prince charles and an attempt to ingratiate himself to smith had given him the prints on the map and he said put names on it and charles did but they make a gruesome discovery off the plymouth shoreline human remains scattered all over the beach they have no way of knowing what happened here was it a battle or a disease that claimed the lives of these people it would be possible to settle here but bradford and his scouting party are not convinced that death surrounds them the men are exhausted their initial euphoria fades they are too weak to continue their search there was just this barren empty land he said we've been through it all in england and holland and came to this godforsaken place that's nothing but a sand pit and here we are after all that and that's all there are some much more painful laughs awaiting William Bradford when he returns to the Mayflower to learn that his wife Dorothy has fallen gone overboard and drowned he is from the frost oh my lord Bradford is devastated by the loss of his wife and the uncertain future on this wasteland but he clings to his faith he believes that when fate is at stake one is guided by God this test must have a deeper meaning after an arduous journey after the persecutions in England there are some who theorize that Dorothy may have jumped overboard that she may have committed suicide there are some who theorize that based on the fact that Bradford is dead silent on anything except that she died on December 21, 1620 the first batch of colonists finally landed on Plymouth's frozen beach the Mayflower is abuzz with fever men women and children have died on board so they arrive they have no opportunity to grow crops there are no fresh vegetables there is nothing they can turn to many of the people of Plymouth died there their level of nutrition is declining they suffer from defi vitamin science scurvy is a problem vitamin d deficiency is a problem and of course they also get a fever as a result there is a 50% dropout rate 50% of these people who arrive alive died in that first winter christmas is coming the setters they work hard and build their first houses The celebration has little meaning to Puritans like many others William Bradford is seriously ill Fever and dysentery SAP his strength some seem to hear strange screams in the dark are they Native Americans or is it Satan and his minions coming to punish them almost there's no one left fit enough to care for the sick they're all sick the settlers die every day on top of it all they live in constant fear of the indigenous people who live here none of the satyrs have ever seen an American Indian up close, but surely some of their Ania are an obvious threat to the colony what kind of people they are little is known in Eu clothing on the native American peoples apart from the propaganda disseminated by the Spanish and Portuguese to morally justify their gruesome campaign of repression and extermination in Central and South America speak of depraved cannibals who will swirl by dint of feeding Christian culture and civilization at the point of sword savages worse than savages slaves not even humans now it's March and winter doesn't seem to want to end the constant cold and drained moisture for fear of the settlers' strength every day is a fight for survival the settlers know they are being watched this is not the time to show any sign of weakness an attack now would mean the end of the colony for those left behind for they continue in the fighting and confusion of life ashes to ashes dust to dust amen during the day even the watch of 6 tons he exhausted the men he leaned them against the trees as decoys the dead of the day have buried in the night night to prevent those onlookers from counting how many capable men were left to fight despite everything no one thinks of coming back one of the great american traits is perseverance you know you got the apostle paul kick against the pricks and you have to keep going no matter what and you you you ca We don't give up or give up we do it often but the ultimate goal is to endure anything for the good of the kingdom for the good of the Covenant or some principle that is not in oneself and that's what they did The first warmth of spring in 1621 fills the settlers with the hope that the worst is behind them now only one fear remains.

Native Americans will tolerate newcomers to their homeland Carver Bradford and the others will eventually settle in an Indian village. Abandoned protégé March 16, 1621 is the day of the first encounter A Wampanoag Indian appears on Watson's Hill on the edge of the village He is tall self-assured and appears to have po With fear of foreigners Europeans in general had a very serious misunderstanding of what native peoples thought of native peoples more in terms of wild animals in the woods when they were very unskilled and intelligent people, there seems to be a much better record among the pilgrims that among the later immigrations that made it terrifying for the Native Americans here and saw them not as wild animals but as people who would be converted, which was not a negative thing, we have to accept them as human beings who can also be part of the Covenant eventually welcoming the English greets the stranger in English no one anticipated the man ordered items of bread and beer only Europeans have his name his Somerset and has learned to speak English from the cod fisherman demonstrates an invaluable source of information for settlers Massasoit has sent to Somerset the mighty chief rules over all the people in a wide area p To meet him Somerset promises to return to Chief Massasoit and his interpreter whose English is even better than his their intent seemed peaceful they had a pretty good idea of ​​what they were getting into when they were dealing with these people and he understood very well the meaning of the relationship, but also that it was a symbiotic relationship where both parties had something to gain by forming an alliance the Native Americans at that time in Massachusetts were very weak they had been decimated by European diseases things we would call harmless childhood diseases like chickenpox and mumps but which Native Americans had not experienced without immunity to therefore up to 70 80 90 percent of a town's inhabitants could be wiped out.

People who know that both American Indians and European settlers can be very influential as mediators. The interpreter Squanto Massasoit is such a man years before he was sold into slavery. and taken to England now pursues his own goals as adviser to the squadron leader ro did great service to the English, but he also sought his own benefit and to do this he tried to undermine Massasoit society and affirm his own he. he wanted to reach a leadership position as the sole go-between five days after Sam Assad's first visit he returns to the English village with Squanto and the great meso soit Massasoit and hits a d the whopin augs wanted the English to be there they were a good buffer against their enemies they had all this really cool high tech stuff like grass no, would you rather chop down a tree with a stone ax or a steel ax?

It's a reciprocal relationship that I think both sides understood pretty well welcome to ourpeople this is my boss Massasoit please come and pick us up please at my house feel comfortable sit please follow me one of the most important adjustments we will say they were able to make was that they were able to achieve a somewhat uncomfortable peace that lasted for a long time with the people Wampanoag. Massasoit, who was the chief of the Wampanoag people, forms a treaty that he upholds for the rest of his life that allows Plymouth to settle. without fear of retaliation from the local population from the local Native Americans and as a result they were able to focus more on settling land, clearing the land and getting their crops in survival these are the creators that come to my lab in what as regards our friendship we are very happy to be here here we just want you very happy there is more there is more here we will honor this treaty we will keep it sacred to our people i am also very pleased to have your first friendship and we would give you these knives.

I would still make steel towels. However, what we do is seal our friendship. response to the arrival of the settlers he has long spent months in the swamps with his priest to make contact with the spirits awaiting inspiration on what to do better for the good of his people some of Massasoit's advisers demand the expulsion of the English given his superior strength would not be difficult, but Squanto, who knows English better than most, wields great influence, explicitly warns Massasoit of the superior European weapons Squanto hopes to secure and strengthen his position, leads me to believe that the men of the across the ocean they have their deadly diseases stored in barrels and can release them at will to destroy the Whomper, its not a blatant lie meant to push Massasoit towards a peace treaty and cements the position of the cleaners the treaties were basically one of understanding and mutual respect was a bit heavy towards the English I hope the English were doing it and we are not s sure exactly what the natives who had no written language understood what had been agreed upon but whatever it was it worked, it worked for many years, it worked as long as everyone basically respected and let each side do what they wanted soon after of the treaty conclusion Governor Carver dies unexpectedly the fledgling colony needs a strong successor in these first testing months when simply surviving is the priority William Bradford is selected after initial hesitation he accepts that it is to become the greatest challenge of his life the peace treaty allows settlers to fear and Plymouth to prosper the Pilgrim Fathers can settle in the new world the de nog teach them how to grow the native plants the seed they stole from Cape Cod flourishes here the April seed from Europe the panel is tottering too teaches them how to live in harmony with the rhythm of the seasons shows them what n Nature nature has in store for them in the spring, summer, and fall, a Massasoit and the Native Americans with him helped assist the settlers by providing them with food, and in many cases we showed them, for example, how to plant Indian corn and what the wonderful crop, you know, the wheat that helps the world eat today and if it hadn't been for the native americans who showed the pilgrims had to grow it, they probably wouldn't have survived more than a year or two. the good relationship between the colonists and the native americans lasts for more than 50 years and is one of the reasons for the success of the english settlement in north america the first marriage in plymouth takes place in the spring of 1621 in england at the time that marriage by an Anglican clergyman in a church in Plymouth is still performed is a civil ceremony a move that will have enormous consequences for the colony Edward one of the consequences of the introduction of civil marriage was a clear concept of the separation of duties from civil society from those of the church in the pilgrim colony in Plymouth Colony with a congregation of Covenant members by no means were all expected to be members of the church, therefore one had to have civil laws and civil magistrates and civil organizations that gave fair and equal treatment to people who were not members of the church, this meant that there needed to be two spheres of operation, the church and the state, one of them to deal with the believers who were covenants in the congregation and another to be dealing with the equitable treatment and the application of the laws for all the others in the colony who were considered politically equal suffrage who has said the right to vote was never conditioned on membership in the church in Plymouth Colony the first fall in Plymouth colonists harvesting enough food to get them through the winter and next year the Harvest Festival is coming up Massasoit and 90 of his men are present for this first Thanksgiving n American land they bring five deer as a gift the celebration lasts three days Later generations of Native Americans interpret this first Thanksgiving in a very different light it is not reason to celebrate is worse than a story is a lie is based on a myth is a lie there is nothing in the story of thanksgiving what have you heard all over america have you heard that it is hallowed or celebrated by the natives today many american indians that the first day of thanksgiving is a day of national mourning at the same time i think they felt it very important that they include the natives Americans in the area because even if they don't understand, even if Native Americans don't understand the Calvinist theology behind the idea of ​​thanking their God, they also wanted, of course, to reaffirm the friendship that they had. set at this point in time and we often say well if the natives really had been invited into this kind of European Calvinist environment. environment and the answer is yes, it was the best vacation in America, a fact that would be surprising to William Bradford after he was voted governor William Bradford, England's orphan, helped shape the success of Plymouth Colony for the rest of his life. he rules with foresight and a firm hand, but it was mainly thanks to the help of the Native Americans that the colony survived.

Massasoit could not have known that this handful of colonists would be followed by thousands upon thousands of land-hungry settlers who would bring this giant continent under their control a few years after the death of Bradford and Massasoit war breaks out in New England between European settlers and Native Americans after the colonists win the war they deny the American Indians their freedom and deport men, women and children as slaves today plymouth is a bustling resort town with many historical attractions the name bradford can be seen everywhere the graves of the early settlers l here on Burial Hill the oldest burial ground in the colony the Pilgrim Fathers accepted attitudes other than their own a development innovative for the time and founded their colony on the basis of the democratic consensus the Puritans they felt they had been chosen by God while laying the foundations of a society dedicated to freedom, equality and justice for all, even if reality often looks very different today, religion is a private matter and personal in the United States, perhaps because it has such enormous political significance that they create something new and what is new is that the United States is this bold experiment that is still going on to this day.

The Mayflower has become a symbol. It has become part of our social conscience. There is a Plymouth in every city in every state in the country. What you are doing is saying that now it is their land, it is no longer yours. You have to speak their language. You have to obey their laws. That was the story of the conquest. est of America religious dedication to such a degree that they are willing to make this trip and place themselves on a foreign shore and risk their lives for the sake of what they believe in. I wish I had lived there just to warn people of what was going to happen come on we are in bradford garden and sometimes when i leave church at night and lock up i think i still see him sneaking around town to see if we do well for his legacy you