page_title: Mayflower
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Mayflower / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe
context_page_description: Mayflower was an English ship that transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, the Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached America, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod on November 11, 1620.
  The Puritans believed that the Church of England was beyond redemption due its Roman Catholic past, which forced them to pray in private. In 1608, they left England for Holland, where they could worship freely. After remaining there until 1620, a number of the Puritans purchased boats to cross the Atlantic for America, which they considered a "new Promised Land," and where they established Plymouth Colony.
  The Pilgrims had originally hoped to reach America in early October using two ships, but delays and complications meant they could use only one, the Mayflower. Arriving in November, they had to survive unprepared through a harsh winter. As a result, only half of the original Pilgrims survived the first winter at Plymouth. Without the help of local Indigenous peoples to teach them food gathering and other survival skills, all of the colonists may have perished.
context_section_description: The Pilgrim ship Mayflower has a famous place in American history as a symbol of early European colonization of the future United States. As described by the European History channel:
  Out of all the voyages to the American colonies from 1620 to 1640, the Mayflower's first crossing of Pilgrim Fathers has become the most culturally iconic and important in the history of migration from Europe to the New World during the Age of Discovery.
  The main record for the voyage of Mayflower and the disposition of the Plymouth Colony comes from the letters and journal of William Bradford, who was a guiding force and later the governor of the colony. His detailed record of the journey is one of the primary sources used by historians, and the most complete history of Plymouth Colony that was written by a Mayflower passenger.
  The American national holiday, Thanksgiving, originated from the first Thanksgiving feast held by the Pilgrims in 1621, a prayer event and dinner to mark the first harvest of the Mayflower settlers.
  The 300th Anniversary of Mayflower's Landing was commemorated in 1920 and early 1921 by celebrations throughout the United States and by countries in Europe. Delegations from England, Holland and Canada met in New York. The mayor of New York, John Francis Hylan, in his speech, said that the principles of the Pilgrim's Mayflower Compact were precursors to the United States Declaration of Independence. While American historian George Bancroft called it "the birth of constitutional liberty." Governor Calvin Coolidge similarly credited the forming of the Compact as an event of the greatest importance in American history:
  It was the foundation of liberty based on law and order, and that tradition has been steadily upheld. They drew up a form of government which has been designated as the first real constitution of modern times. It was democratic, an acknowledgment of liberty under law and order and the giving to each person the right to participate in the government, while they promised to be obedient to the laws....[A]ny form of government is better than anarchy, and any attempt to tear down government is an attempt to wreck civilization.
  With twenty Mayflower historical societies throughout the country, along with an unknown number of descendants, the celebration was expected to last during much of 1920. As a result of World War I ending a few years earlier, the original plan to hold a world's fair in its honor was canceled.
  The government issued a Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar, which portrays the ship on its reverse and passenger William Bradford on its obverse.
caption: "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe
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