- In September 1620, a ship from England called the Mayflower set sail.
- It usually carried wine and other goods, but this time it had 102 passengers who wanted to start a new life in the New Land.
- Nearly 40 of these passengers were Protestant that we call today “Saints.”
- They wanted to have their church in the New Land.
🛳️ What Was the Mayflower?
🚢 Type of ship: Merchant ship
🌍 Departure: Plymouth, England
📍 Destination: The coast of what is now Massachusetts, USA
The Mayflower was a small wooden ship. It took a group of people from England to America in the year 1620.
These people were called Pilgrims. They wanted to find a new place to live where they could have freedom of religion.
The people on the Mayflower wanted to live in a place where they could make their own religious choices. So, they decided to sail in search of the New Land that existed on the other side of the ocean.
The trip was long and hard. It took 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean. The ship was crowded, and many people got sick.
When they finally arrived, they started a new home called the Plymouth Colony. The story of the Mayflower is important because it shows the beginning of one of the first English communities in America.
The trip was very long and difficult. The ship was crowded, and the weather was bad. But after 66 days, they arrived in a place called Plymouth, in what is now the United States.
The Mayflower is important because it was the start of one of the first English colonies in America.
👨👩👧👦 Who Were the Pilgrims?
There were around 102 passengers on the ship, including:
👨👩👧👦 Families with children
🗽Men and women looking for freedom
🛟Sailors and crew
The Pilgrims were a group of people from England. They wanted to pray and live in their own way, but the king of England did not let them.
Because of this, they decided to leave England and start a new life in America. They wanted freedom, especially freedom of religion.
Most of the Pilgrims were men, women, and children. They were not rich. Many were farmers or workers.
They traveled on the Mayflower to find a safe place to live. They are remembered today because they helped start one of the first English settlements in America.
In 1608, a group of people from England went to Holland. They were angry about how the Church of England worked. People did not want to be part of it because they thought it was almost as bad as the Catholic Church.
The Separatists were not the same as the Puritans. The Puritans wanted to change the Church of England, but the Separatists wanted to leave it completely. They went to Holland, thinking they would find freedom there.
The Separatists, or “Saints,” found religious freedom in Holland. But it was hard to live there. Dutch guilds did not let migrants join, so they could only get low-paying jobs.
Some of the children of the Separatists were not happy in Holland. They had a hard time, and they didn’t like living there.
The Separatists were very strict and religious. They wanted to live away from the government and worldly things. They sailed across the ocean to America, which they called the “New World.”
The people who started the Plymouth Colony called themselves Saints, not Pilgrims. But for some reason, no one used the word “Pilgrim” to describe them until 200 years later.
🌊 The Journey Across the Atlantic
- The journey on the Mayflower was very hard for the Pilgrims.
- The ship left England in September 1620.
- The trip took 66 days, a little more than two months.
The sea was rough and stormy, and the ship moved a lot. Many people felt sick. The Mayflower was very crowded—there were about 100 people on board, and they had little space.
The food was dry and simple, like biscuits and salted meat. There was no fresh food. Some people got sick, and one person died during the trip.
Finally, in November 1620, they saw land. They arrived in a place that is now called Massachusetts, in the United States.
The Mayflower sailed on September 16, 1620, from Plymouth in Great Britain. The ship went to America.
Today, more than 30 million people can trace their family roots back to the 102 passengers and about 30 crew members on the Mayflower when it landed in Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts. It was a cold and difficult winter.
The Pilgrims were not the first to land in America. There were already other colonies. One of them was Jamestown, founded in 1607.
The Pilgrims thought Virginia was a good place to live because people had already settled there. But they didn’t want to live too close to others or create the same kind of community.
Some of the people on board the Mayflower were:
- John Alden,
- Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton,
- Their children Bartholomew, Remember, and Mary,
- John Allerton,
- William Bradford and his wife Dorothy (May) Brewster, and their children Love and Wrestling,
- Richard Britteridge and Peter Browne.
The Mayflower took 66 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The voyage was so difficult that people could not stand up, and they were very weak because of the many storms. Sometimes the ship just drifted without using its sails. One person was swept overboard.
During the trip, a woman named Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Oceanus, because he was born during the journey across the ocean.
📜 What Is the Mayflower Compact?
The Mayflower Compact was a special agreement made by the Pilgrims before they left the ship.
When they arrived in America, they were not in the place they had planned to go. There were no rules or government there. So, they decided to make their own rules to live peacefully and fairly.
The Mayflower Compact was a short text that said:
- They would work together.
- They would make laws for the good of everyone.
- They would respect the rules they made.
It was the first form of self-government in the new land. It helped the Pilgrims live in order and build their community.
The colonists knew they were not allowed to live in the land they came to, so they wrote a document to help them look like they had some legal permission to be there.
In this document, called the Mayflower Compact, the settlers on the ship agreed to cooperate.
They also agreed to make decisions by voting and to create laws that were based on what most people wanted.
They wanted to form a government in the new land, with fair and equal laws for everyone.
They also promised to be loyal to the English king.
The Mayflower Compact was the first document in America that talked about democracy, because it gave an example for other people who later wanted freedom from British rule.
✝️ Plymouth Colony
The Plymouth Colony was the place where the Pilgrims lived after they arrived in America. They started this colony in December 1620, after getting off the Mayflower. It was in the area we now call Massachusetts.
At first, life in Plymouth was very hard:
❄️ It was cold, and there were no houses, so they had to build everything.
☃️Many Pilgrims got sick during the winter.
🪦 Almost half of the people died in the first few months.
But in the spring, they met Native American people, like Squanto. He taught them how to:
🌱 Plant food (like corn 🌽) ,
🐟 Fish,
🏝️ And survive in the new land.
Thanks to this help, the colony began to grow and improve. Plymouth Colony became one of the first successful English colonies in America.
After 66 days, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod Bay. They first landed at Provincetown on November 21, 1620. They sent an exploration team ashore and later docked at Plymouth Rock 18 days later.
The explorer John Smith had earlier named the area Plymouth after leaving Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. The settlers agreed to keep the name Plymouth because the Mayflower had sailed from Plymouth, England.
Some settlers stayed aboard the Mayflower for a few months. They went back and forth from the ship to the shore while they began building their new settlement.
In March, they finally began to move ashore permanently and build their homes. Sadly, more than half of the settlers became sick and died during that first winter because of an epidemic that spread through the colony.
Soon after they landed, the Pilgrims met a Native American man named Tisquantum, also called Squanto. He became a helper and friend to the colony.
Years before, John Smith had captured a Native man from the Patuxet tribe and taken him to England. That man was Squanto. He later escaped and returned to his homeland. Because he spoke English, he acted as an interpreter between Plymouth’s leaders and the Pokanoket tribe’s leaders.
Another Native American, Samoset, also spoke English. He helped the Pilgrims form an alliance with the Wampanoag tribe. The Native Americans showed the settlers how to hunt, gather food, and grow vegetables.
🇬🇧 Why Is the Mayflower Important in British History?
The Mayflower is important to British history because it tells the story of people who left England to start a new life in a different land.
- The Pilgrims were English people. They left because they wanted religious freedom.
- Their trip on the Mayflower shows a part of England’s past—a time when people could not always believe or pray freely.
- The journey helped start one of the first English colonies in America. This was the beginning of British influence in the New World.
- The story of the Mayflower is also about courage, hope, and building a new society—important ideas in both British and American history.
So, even though the Pilgrims left England, their story is still a key part of British heritage.
📚 Did You Know? (Fun Mayflower Facts)
- The ship was about 30 meters long.
- A baby was born during the trip!
- There was no bathroom on the ship.
- The first winter in America was very hard; many people died.
- The Mayflower sailed back to England in 1621 — alone.
🧝🏼♀️ Pocahontas: The Powhatan’s girl who became famous thanks Disney
Who was Pocahontas?
Where did she live?
Who did she live with?
She lived with her family and her tribe. Her father was Chief Powhatan, a powerful leader who ruled more than 30 Native tribes. She probably lived with other women and children in homes made of wood and bark.
Who were the Powhatan?
The Powhatan were a group of Native American tribes. They:
- Spoke the Algonquian language
- Lived in small villages
- Survived by farming (corn, beans, squash), hunting, and fishing
All the tribes together were called the Powhatan Confederacy.
Why is Pocahontas important?
Pocahontas became important in history because she helped create peace between the Powhatan people and the English settlers, at least for a short time.
Her story reminds us of the first meetings between Native Americans and Europeans in North America.
🎊 Thanksgiving: The Celebration
What Is Thanksgiving?
The Story Behind the First Thanksgiving
Why Is Thanksgiving Important to American Culture?
- It is a time to give thanks for the good things in life: family, friends, food, and health.
- It reminds people about the history of the Pilgrims and Native Americans working together.
- It is a day when families and friends meet to share a special meal.
- Many people help others on this day by giving food or money to people in need.
- Thanksgiving is a symbol of peace, sharing, and kindness in American culture.
📚 Discover More Stories from British History
Explore other key moments and figures that shaped the world. Keep learning through real historical content in simple English.