Editing Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony) (section)

===Arrival in America===
[[File:Cape Cod 1620.svg|thumb|1620 place names mentioned by Bradford]]
The ''Mayflower'' passengers sighted land on November 9, 1620 after enduring miserable conditions for about 65 days, and [[William Brewster (Mayflower passenger)|William Brewster]] led them in singing [[Psalm 100]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/The-landing-of-the-Pilgrims-10617826.php|title=The landing of the Pilgrims|last=Meacham|first=Gene|work=[[Plainview Daily Herald]]|date=November 16, 2016|access-date=November 5, 2022}}</ref> They confirmed that the area was [[Cape Cod]] within the New England territory recommended by Weston. They attempted to sail the ship around the cape towards the [[Hudson River]], but they encountered shoals and difficult currents around Cape Malabar (the old French name for [[Monomoy Island]]). They decided to turn around, and the ship was anchored in [[Provincetown Harbor]] by November 11/21.<ref name="bradford_1_8-9" /><ref>{{harvnb|Winslow|(2003)|p=[http://static.squarespace.com/static/50a02efce4b046b42952af27/t/50a86ec2e4b0ea694c52fade/1353215682312/HypocrisyUnmasked.pdf#page=64 64].|Ref=none}}</ref>

====The Mayflower Compact====
{{further|Mayflower Compact}}
The charter was incomplete for the Plymouth Council for New England when the colonists departed England (it was granted while they were in transit on November 3/13).<ref name="necharter" /> They arrived without a patent; the older Wincob patent was from their abandoned dealings with the London Company. Some of the passengers, aware of the situation, suggested that they were free to do as they chose upon landing, without a patent in place, and to ignore the contract with the investors.<ref>{{harvnb|Bradford and Winslow|(1865)|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xb3coQS13NYC&pg=PA5 5–6]|Ref=Bradford_Winslow_1865}}</ref><ref name="bradford_2_1620">{{harvnb|Bradford|(1898)|loc=Book 2, Anno 1620.|Ref=Bradford_1898}}</ref>

The Leiden congregants, therefore, drafted a brief contract known as the [[Mayflower Compact]], promising cooperation among the settlers "for the general good of the Colony unto which we promise all due submission and obedience."  It organized them into what was called a "civill body politick,"<!-- Before changing the spelling, please see http://www.ushistory.org/documents/mayflower.htm or other sources, the original spelling is civill body politick --> in which issues would be decided by voting, the key ingredient of democracy. It was ratified by majority rule, with 41 adult male Pilgrims signing<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.histarch.uiuc.edu/plymouth/compact.html |title=Mayflower Compact, 1620|access-date=November 11, 2008|last1=Deetz|first1=Patricia Scott |first2=Christopher|last2=Fennell|date=December 14, 2007|work=The Plymouth Colony Archive Project}}</ref> for the 102 passengers (74 males and 28 females). Included in the company were 13 male servants and three female servants, along with some sailors and craftsmen hired for short-term service to the colony.<ref>John (1895). ''The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors''. Reprinted: 1970. Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications. pp. 196.</ref> At this time, [[John Carver (Mayflower passenger)|John Carver]] was chosen as the colony's first governor. It was Carver who had chartered the ''Mayflower'' and his is the first signature on the Mayflower Compact, being the most respected and affluent member of the group. The Mayflower Compact is considered to be one of the seeds of American democracy, and historians have called it the world's first written constitution.<ref>Philbrick, Nathaniel, ''Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War'' p. 43, Viking, New York, 2006. The Great Charter of the [[Virginia Company]] granted self governance to the Virginia Colony and could conceivably also be considered as a "seed of democracy", although it was not a contract in the sense of the Mayflower Compact.</ref><ref>"[http://www.pilgrimhall.org/CarverJohn.htm John and Catherine Carver] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727174640/http://www.pilgrimhall.org/CarverJohn.htm |date=July 27, 2011 }}," Pilgrim Hall Museum Web site. Retrieved January 28, 2011.</ref><ref name="Shakespeare1">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/shakespearefound00gay/page/n7|title=Shakespeare and the Founders of Liberty in America|last=Gayley|first=Charles Mills|date=1917|website=Internet Archive|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref>{{rp|90–91}}<ref name="The Fortnightly Club2">{{cite web|url=http://www.redlandsfortnightly.org/papers/burgessRon2010.htm|title=The Fortnightly Club}}</ref>

====First landings====
Thorough exploration of the area was delayed for more than two weeks because the [[shallop]] or [[pinnace (ship's boat)|pinnace]] (a smaller sailing vessel) which they brought had been partially dismantled to fit aboard the ''Mayflower'' and was further damaged in transit. Small parties, however, waded to the beach to fetch firewood and attend to long-deferred personal hygiene.

[[Myles Standish]] was an English soldier from [[Chorley]] whom the colonists had met while in Leiden, and they had asked him to join them as their military adviser. He and [[Christopher Jones (sailor)|Christopher Jones]] led several exploratory trips ashore while awaiting the shallop's repair. They encountered an old European-built house and iron kettle, left behind by some ship's crew, and a few recently cultivated fields showing corn stubble.<ref>Brown, John (1895). The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors. Reprinted: 1970. Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications. pp. 198.
</ref>

They came upon an artificial mound near the dunes which they partially uncovered and found to be an Indian grave. Farther along, a similar mound was found, more recently made, and they discovered that some of the burial mounds also contained corn. The colonists took some of the corn, intending to use it as seed for planting, while they reburied the rest. [[William Bradford (Plymouth Colony governor)|William Bradford]] later recorded in his book ''[[Of Plymouth Plantation]]'' that, after the shallop had been repaired,
<blockquote>
They also found two of the Indian's houses covered with mats, and some of their implements in them; but the people had run away and could not be seen. Without permission they took more corn, and beans of various colours. These they brought away, intending to give them full satisfaction when they should meet with any of them—as about six months afterwards they did.

And it is to be noted as a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that they thus got seed to plant corn the next year, or they might have starved; for they had none, nor any likelihood of getting any, till too late for the planting season.
</blockquote>

By December, most of the passengers and crew had become ill, coughing violently. Many also were suffering from the effects of [[scurvy]]. There had already been ice and snowfall, hampering exploration efforts, and nearly half of the Pilgrim passengers died during the first winter.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Klinkenborg|first1=Verlyn|title=Why Was Life So Hard for the Pilgrims?|journal=American History|date=December 2011|volume=46|issue=5|page=36}}</ref>

====First contact====
Explorations resumed on December 6/16. The shallop party headed south along the cape, consisting of seven colonists from Leiden, three from London, and seven crew; they chose to land at the area inhabited by the [[Nauset]] people (the area around [[Brewster, Massachusetts|Brewster]], [[Chatham, Massachusetts|Chatham]], [[Eastham, Massachusetts|Eastham]], [[Harwich, Massachusetts|Harwich]], and [[Orleans, Massachusetts|Orleans]]) where they saw some people on the shore who fled when they approached. Inland they found more mounds, one containing acorns which they exhumed, and more graves, which they decided not to disturb. They remained ashore overnight and heard cries near the encampment. The following morning, they were attacked by Indians who shot at them with arrows. The colonists retrieved their firearms and shot back, then chased them into the woods but did not find them. There was no more contact with them for several months.<ref name="bradford_1_10">{{harvnb|Bradford|(1898)|loc=Book 1, Chapter 10.|Ref=Bradford_1898}}</ref>

The Indians were already familiar with the English, who had intermittently visited the area for fishing and trade before ''Mayflower'' arrived. In the Cape Cod area, relations were poor following a visit several years earlier by [[Thomas Hunt (slaver)|Thomas Hunt]]. Hunt kidnapped 20 people from Patuxet (the site of Plymouth Colony) and another seven from Nausett, and he attempted to sell them as slaves in Europe. One of the Patuxet men was [[Squanto]], who became an ally of the Plymouth Colony. He had escaped slavery and made his way to England, where he became fluent in English. He ultimately returned to America, only to discover that his entire village had died from plague.<ref name="bradford_2_1620" /><ref>{{harvnb|Bradford and Winslow|(1865)|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xb3coQS13NYC&pg=PA90 90–91].|Ref=Bradford_Winslow_1865}}</ref>

====Settlement====
{{main|Plymouth Colony}}
[[File:Port St Louis Annotated.png|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Samuel de Champlain]]'s 1605 map of Plymouth Harbor showing the Wampanoag village of Patuxet, with some modern place names added for reference. The star marks the approximate location of the Plymouth Colony.]]
[[File:Plymouth Rock, Plymouth, MA, jjron 03.05.2012.jpg|thumb|[[Plymouth Rock]] commemorates the landing of the ''[[Mayflower]]'' in 1620]]

Continuing westward, the shallop's mast and rudder were broken by storms and the sail was lost. They rowed for safety, encountering the harbor formed by [[Duxbury, Massachusetts|Duxbury]] and Plymouth barrier beaches. They remained at this spot for two days to recuperate and repair equipment. They named it Clark's Island for a ''Mayflower'' mate who first set foot on it.<ref>John (1895). ''The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors''. Reprinted: 1970. Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications. pp. 198.</ref>

They resumed exploration on Monday, December 11/21 when the party crossed over to the mainland and surveyed the area that ultimately became the settlement. The anniversary of this survey is observed in Massachusetts as [[Forefathers' Day]] and is traditionally associated with the [[Plymouth Rock]] landing tradition. This land was especially suited to winter building because it had already been cleared, and the tall hills provided a good defensive position.

The cleared village was known as Patuxet to the [[Wampanoag people]] and was abandoned about three years earlier following a plague that killed all of its residents. The "Indian fever" involved hemorrhaging<ref name="bradford_2_1622">{{harvnb|Bradford|(1898)|loc=Book 2, Anno 1622.|Ref=Bradford_1898}}</ref> and is assumed to have been fulminating [[smallpox]]. The outbreak had been severe enough that the colonists discovered unburied skeletons in the dwellings.<ref name="bradford_2_1621">{{harvnb|Bradford|(1898)|loc=Book 2, Anno 1621.|Ref=Bradford_1898}}</ref>

The exploratory party returned to the ''Mayflower'', which was anchored {{convert|25|mi|km|spell=in}} away,<ref>John (1895). ''The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors''. Reprinted: 1970. Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications. pp. 200</ref> having been brought to the harbor on December 16/26. The Pilgrims evaluated the nearby sites and selected a hill in Plymouth (so named on earlier charts) on December 19/29.<ref>{{cite web
|url         = http://www.histarch.uiuc.edu/plymouth/smithmap.html
|title       = Smith's Map of New England, 1614
|access-date  = November 11, 2008
|last1        = Deetz
|first1       = Patricia Scott
|first2      = Christopher
|last2       = Fennell
|date        = December 14, 2007
|work        = The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
}}</ref>

The Pilgrims began construction immediately, with the first common house nearly completed by January 9/19, 20 feet square and built for general use.<ref name="John 1895 pp. 202">John (1895). ''The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors''. Reprinted: 1970. Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications. pp. 202.</ref> At this point, each single man was ordered to join himself to one of the 19 families in order to eliminate the need to build any more houses than absolutely necessary.<ref name="John 1895 pp. 202"/> Each extended family was assigned a plot one-half rod wide and three rods long for each household member,<ref name="John 1895 pp. 202"/> then each family built its own dwelling. They brought supplies ashore, and the settlement was mostly complete by early February.<ref name="bradford_1_10" /><ref>{{harvnb|Bradford and Winslow|(1865)|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xb3coQS13NYC&pg=PA60 60–65], [https://books.google.com/books?id=xb3coQS13NYC&pg=PA71 71–72].|Ref=Bradford_Winslow_1865}}</ref>

When the first house was finished, it immediately became a hospital for the ill Pilgrims. Thirty-one of the company were dead by the end of February, with deaths still rising. Coles Hill became the first cemetery, on a prominence above the beach, and they allowed grass to overgrow the graves for fear that the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become.<ref name="John 1895 pp. 203">John (1895). ''The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and their Puritan Successors''. Reprinted: 1970. Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications. pp. 203.</ref>

Between the landing and March, only 47 colonists had survived the diseases that they contracted on the ship.<ref name="John 1895 pp. 203"/> During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the ''Mayflower'' crew also died.<ref name="bradford_2_1620" />

[[William Bradford (Plymouth Colony governor)|William Bradford]] became governor in 1621 upon the death of [[John Carver (Mayflower passenger)|John Carver]]. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with [[Massasoit]] of the [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoags]]. Bradford surrendered the patent of [[Plymouth Colony]] to the [[Freeman (Colonial)|freemen]] in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. He served as governor for 11 consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms before his death in 1657.

The colony contained [[Bristol County, Massachusetts|Bristol County]], [[Plymouth County, Massachusetts|Plymouth County]], and [[Barnstable County, Massachusetts]]. The [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] was reorganized and issued a new charter as the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] in 1691, and Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony.