So named for their intention to separate themselves from the Church of England, the Separatists first migrated to Amsterdam in 1608, away from King James I, who had made it illegal for them to hold their own religious services. The next year they moved again, this time to the Dutch town of Leiden, where they stayed for more than a decade.
When the Separatists decided to set sail for the New World, John Carver, who eventually would become Plymouth Colony’s first governor, returned to England to arrange for transportation for the Separatists and others who planned to cross the Atlantic, including people of lower social status and servants.
The group crowded aboard the Mayflower, originally a cargo ship, when one of their two ships, the Speedwell, proved unseaworthy.
After a few false starts, the Mayflower contingent decided to settle at Plymouth; they disembarked in December 1620, only to face the ravages of a New England winter. About half did not survive their first year.
Eventually, dissension grew in the settlers’ ranks. So the colonists drew up the Mayflower Compact, a covenant by which they agreed to establish a temporary government and to be bound by its laws. In doing so, they created the basis for written law in this country.
After 41 men, 37 of them Separatists, signed the compact, they chose Carver as the colony’s governor. Upon Carver’s death less than a year later, William Bradford became governor and served 30 years. His “Of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647” supplies what historians know about the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony.
Investors who financed the Mayflower’s voyage had expected the colonists to repay their loan by shipping marketable materials back to England. But there was nothing to send when the captain of the Mayflower began the journey home in April 1621, so he had to load the vessel with rocks as ballast. The Pilgrims eventually sent timber and pelts, producer-director Lisa Q. Wolfinger said, but it wasn’t until 1648 that the loan was fully paid.
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