The Story of American History for Elementary Schools

CHAPTER IV.
THE STORY OF THE PILGRIMS

40. The Old-Time Idea about Kings.– We shall do well to remember that in England, about three hundred years ago, the sovereign's will commonly had the force of law. Many people really thought there was such sacredness about a royal ruler that whatever he commanded must be right, whatever he forbade must be wrong. Indeed, there was a proverb, "The king can do no wrong." He had his own kind of church and his own mode of worship. Everybody must attend that sort of church and practise that form of worship, or be punished.

41. Sturdy Englishmen dare to disobey the King.– But there were, after all, many honest, sturdy people in England who did not accept this notion about the king. They did not like his style of religion, and they would not pretend to like it. Besides, they felt that they had a right to meet quietly by themselves, publicly in their own churches, or privately in their own homes, and worship in their own way.

But these people were regarded with suspicion. Presently a number of them were seized and thrown into loathsome jails; not a few were heavily fined or made to suffer bodily harm; some died on the gallows; and all this because, in spiritual affairs, they had dared to disobey the monarch.

42. The Pilgrims seek a Home in Holland; the First Attempt a Failure.– Those who were brave enough to oppose the king's despotism in religious matters were at first styled Separatists, because they separated from the "established church." Afterwards some of them came to be called familiarly Pilgrims, because they wandered from place to place on the way "to heaven, their dearest country," as they said. They longed to go where they could be free to worship God as they pleased.

At last a company of them hired a vessel to take them just across the North Sea to Holland. They chose Holland, because in that country all people were allowed to worship as they thought best.

But just before the hour at which they had intended to embark, watchful officers found them, seized most of their money and goods, dragged them back, and put them in prison. It was indeed a pretty hard lot, punished if they stayed in the country, and punished if they tried to get away!

43. The Second Attempt Successful.– The next year the Pilgrims again tried to leave their native land. This time they succeeded. Taking their wives and little ones, these resolute men, led by their pastor, the good John Robinson, went as strangers and pilgrims to Holland. From time to time the same refuge was sought by other persecuted people, till many hundreds had settled in the old city of Leyden. Here they first exercised that freedom of faith which had been denied them in the land of their birth, and now they first experienced the delight of holding their religious meetings without fear.

They were so industrious and honest that their Dutch neighbors took very kindly to them.

But when they had lived in Holland about twelve years, they decided to remain no longer. Their children were learning the Dutch language, and they themselves were slowly becoming foreigners. They were not pleased with such results, for they still regarded themselves as Englishmen, still loved the English people, the English ways of living, and the glorious memories of their mother country.

About this time people were beginning to go to the New World beyond the ocean, and these Pilgrims made up their minds to leave Holland and seek a dwelling place in far-off America.

There were then about a thousand of them living in Holland. Nearly a hundred of the young and strong were selected to go in advance and make a beginning in the New World. They managed to charter for this purpose two small vessels, the Speedwell and the Mayflower. In July, 1620, the Speedwell sailed from Delftshaven; the Mayflower was chartered to sail from an English port.

A very pathetic parting it was for these poor exiles upon the shore of Holland, clasping their friends' hands for the last time, and looking upon the dear faces they were to see no more. With their beloved minister, Elder John Robinson, they knelt upon the sand while he prayed earnestly for God's blessing upon their perilous undertaking. The Pilgrims stopped at Plymouth, England, on the way, and as the Speedwell seemed to be unseaworthy, they all, with others of the same faith who joined the company there, went on board the Mayflower. In this one vessel, after many delays, the one hundred and two people that finally made up the Pilgrim company sailed from Plymouth in September, 1620, on their long and dangerous voyage.

44. The Pilgrims' Voyage across the Stormy Atlantic.– Crowded upon their little craft, this devoted company of men, women, and children had a dreary and anxious voyage of nine weeks. During severe weather the seas sometimes ran so high that for days the Mayflower was driven at the mercy of wind and waves, while all of the company, except the sailors, were compelled to remain, shivering and seasick, below the deck. In the foul air were bred the germs of quick consumption, the disease which carried off so many of this "Pilgrim band" during their first winter on the wild New England shore.

45. An Incident of the Voyage.– During one of these storms a lively young man named Howland fell overboard and would have been lost had he not seized a rope which was trailing in the sea. Bradford quaintly says in his journal that the young fellow "was sundry fathoms under water," but that he held on until "he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water," and with the aid of a boat-hook was at last safely landed on deck. Howland was none the worse for his cold bath. He lived to sign the compact at Cape Cod, and became a most useful citizen of the new commonwealth, and the ancestor of many families.

46. Arrival on the Bleak New England Coast.– How often, in the last days of that dismal voyage, did the Pilgrims gaze far into the west, always hopeful, but no doubt sometimes dreading the future! As the weeks passed by, the weather became very cold, and they had scanty means for warming their cabin. When they neared the coast a driving storm compelled them to change their course, so that instead of going up the Hudson River as they had intended, they were forced into Massachusetts Bay, as it is now called, and along the icy shores of Cape Cod.

All the coast was white with snow, and the future looked cheerless and dark. There were no light-houses to warn them of dangerous shoals, no life-saving men patrolling the beach to help shipwrecked mariners. No one stood on the barren sandy shore to welcome them; they felt that they were indeed strangers in a strange land.

47. They sign a Compact in the Mayflower's Cabin.– Inside the curved point of Cape Cod, in a small bay which is now the harbor of Provincetown, the Mayflower first dropped anchor. While there, John Carver and William Bradford wrote a formal agreement for the government of the company, and all of the forty-one men signed it.

This compact was drawn up and signed on a chest belonging to Elder Brewster, which afterwards served as a table in his family. During the first winter, when food was very scarce and the Pilgrims were obliged to live almost entirely upon clams, the good Elder never failed to ask a blessing upon their scanty meals, and to thank God, "who had yet given them of the treasures hid in the sand."

By the compact it was agreed that all were to have equal rights. They pledged themselves to help and to defend each other, and to obey such laws as they might make for the good of the colony. They then chose John Carver for their first governor.

48. They explore the Cape Cod Shore under the Lead of Captain Miles Standish.– A small party soon landed and tramped along for miles looking for a suitable place to make a home. They could nowhere find good drinking water. For three or four weeks the Mayflower with its precious cargo sailed along the inner coast, trying to find a safe and inviting harbor. Small parties often went ashore to explore the country.

One day a company of sixteen, led by Captain Standish, went ashore to spend a number of days exploring a little way inland. This Captain Standish, although one of the company, was not really a Pilgrim in his way of living, nor in his religious views. His business was that of a soldier, an employment more common then than now. He had met some of the Pilgrims in Holland and was much pleased with their simple habits and honest ways. When they were preparing to sail to the New World, he thought it likely that they would need a soldier to show them how to fight. So he came with them, and they soon were glad to have just such a man. It was indeed well he did come, for he was often the most useful member of the whole colony.

While the Mayflower lay at anchor in Provincetown harbor, and the explorers were searching for a landing-place, a baby boy – the first New England child of English parentage – was born on board of the vessel. They gave him the quaint name of Peregrine. At Plymouth you may still see the cradle in which little Peregrine White was rocked.

49. Their Travels along the Shore of Cape Cod Bay, and what they find.– They discovered the remains of a hut which seemed to have been recently occupied. So they surmised that Indians were living somewhere in the vicinity. They came upon some piles of roasted acorns, and the next day they caught a glimpse of a few savages and a deer. Soon afterwards they saw a dog and more Indians. "The wild men ran away and whistled the doggie after them." One day they discovered two or three mounds of earth. One of these contained rude mats and an earthen dish. They dug into other mounds and unearthed the skeletons of a grown person and a child, a box containing Indian bows and arrows and spears with flint points.

50. They find Baskets of Indian Corn.– In another place they noticed heaps of sand freshly smoothed over. On scraping away the earth, what should they find but Indian baskets full of corn! They had never seen any such grain. They were delighted with the sight of the bright-colored kernels, some red, some yellow, and others blue. The baskets were round, narrow at the top, and contained about three bushels each. They carried to the vessel all the corn they found, for they were in sore need of food; but they were careful to save enough for seed in the spring. They were honest men, and when long afterwards they found the Indians who had buried the corn, they paid them a fair price for it.

One day these Pilgrim wanderers shot three fat geese and six ducks. These they ate with wonderful relish, or "with soldier stomachs," as their story says. At another time, as they were tramping through the woods, William Bradford, not very careful, perhaps, as to where he was stepping, suddenly found his foot entangled in a queer way. When his companions came to help him out, they found he had been caught in a deer trap set by the Indians!

51. First Attack by Indians.– One morning, just after their night's sleep by a camp fire, and while engaged in their prayers, the weary men were startled by a wild cry, very different from anything they had ever heard. For a moment even Captain Standish was alarmed. It was an Indian war-whoop; and the cry was followed by Indian arrows. Standish and his men now fired their guns at the Indians. The firing caused the savages to run away in great astonishment. They had never known of guns, and were greatly afraid of these strangers who could instantly make thunder and lightning. The Pilgrims had never before been targets for arrows, so they kept these strange weapons, which were pointed with eagles' claws or sharp pieces of deer's horn, as curiosities.

52. The Search for a Home.– The Pilgrims were very anxious to get settled as soon as possible; yet when Sunday came they stopped all work and spent the day in reading the Bible, in singing their hymns, and in prayer. For nearly a month they sought, with much weariness and in bitter cold, a place suitable for settlement. It must have been a cruel and pitiful work for those poor men. They waded knee-deep in the snow; slept unprotected under the wintry sky; often suffered from hunger; and, for fear of Indians, were always compelled to keep anxious watch.

After a tedious search along the shore of what is now Massachusetts Bay, these stout-hearted wanderers at last found a sheltered place where, not far from the shore, there was an abundant spring of good water. Near by were some old cornfields that had formerly been used by the Indians. Here they decided to land. The water being shallow, the vessel was anchored nearly a mile from the beach. The Pilgrims were brought in their boat, a few at a time, from the vessel to the landing-place. To reach the shore, it is said that they found it convenient to step upon a large stone. This is now known as Plymouth Rock. It is claimed that the first English woman to set foot upon this stone on the Plymouth shore was Mary Chilton.

53. The Famous Plymouth Rock.– Plymouth Rock is not very large; but it is sacred in the eyes and the hearts of every American. Every year thousands go to look upon "the stepping-stone of New England"; to linger by the graves of the Pilgrims; and to see in Pilgrim Hall the many curious interesting things which once belonged to those pioneers of western civilization.

From the name of the last town they had left in England, the Pilgrims named this, the first spot in Massachusetts settled by white men, New Plymouth. The date of the landing was December 21, 1620, and its anniversary is now celebrated as "Forefathers' Day."

CHAPTER V.
MORE ABOUT THE PILGRIMS

54. The Hardships caused by the Winter Season.– We may think it unfortunate, and so indeed it was, that the Pilgrims had not come to this country in the spring or summer. They would have had a much pleasanter voyage, and on their arrival might have found the forests green, the birds singing in the trees, and the ground adorned with flowers. If they could have come in April or May they would probably have had warm, pleasant weather for landing or exploring, and could have built their houses at their leisure. They could have planted their fields as soon as they landed, and in a few months could have gathered sufficient crops for their support.

55. The Toil and Perils of the First Winter.– As it was, our Pilgrim fathers found the landing very tedious. In a single small boat they had to come and go, and bring all their provisions and household goods. Some of these very articles of furniture, such as Governor Carver's armchair, old spinning wheels, odd-looking seats and chests, and the big iron kettles in which they boiled their dinners, and also Captain Miles Standish's sword, we can see at Plymouth to-day.

While the men were moving the goods, and until rude structures had been prepared for their shelter on shore, the women and children remained on the Mayflower. Of course the best houses that could be made were very rude affairs. In fact, rough though they were, it was a hard task to build them at all; for hardly one of the company was really fit for such work.

Many times the weary men were forced to wade in deep snow. When they ran their loaded boat on the sandy beach, they often had to leap into the cold water up to their waists to pull it ashore. More than once they were obliged to be out all day in a furious storm of rain and sleet, which froze on their clothes till every man wore a covering of ice.

56. Suffering, Sickness, and Death make Sad Havoc.– Thus it came about that the Pilgrims suffered severely from exhaustion and disease. There were soon only a few men well enough to chop down the trees for their houses. Without beasts of burden, the tired workers themselves had to drag the logs as best they could, and then with slow and painful toil hew them to the right size and shape and put them in their proper places.

Through that long and tiresome winter nearly all sickened, and many died. Before spring one-half of those who had landed from the Mayflower were gone. That the Indians might not know how terribly the numbers had been diminished by death, the bodies were buried secretly; and the graves were marked by no mounds nor stones, but were made level with the surrounding soil.

The wonder is that these Pilgrims, ill, hungry, and cold, did not become discouraged, give up their enterprise, and go back to England in the Mayflower. Splendidly courageous indeed they were to pursue their purpose so bravely. Weeks and months they worked and suffered, but they never flinched. They were content and even happy in the consciousness of freedom gained and duty done. They had come to stay – and they stayed.

At last the dreary winter wore away. Spring came, bringing the soft south winds and the songs of birds. Busy hands were soon planting and cultivating. The hearts of the Pilgrims were filled with hope.

57. A Kindly Visit from the Indians.– One day in early spring they were surprised at seeing an Indian march boldly into their settlement, saying, "Welcome, English! Welcome, English!" His name was Samoset. He had learned a little English from fishermen on the coast of Maine. The settlers received him very kindly. After several hours he went away.

In a few days he came back with another Indian named Squanto, who had once lived in Plymouth but had been kidnapped and carried to England. Squanto said that Massasoit, the chief of the tribes in the neighborhood, was near by, and that with sixty of his men he would shortly pay a visit to the Pilgrims. The Indian chief soon appeared and was cordially received. He promised to be a good friend to the English, and in return the settlers agreed to treat the Indians kindly. For over fifty years this promise was sacredly kept.

Squanto made himself very useful to the Pilgrims. He showed them how to plant maize by first manuring the ground with fish, then putting the kernels and the alewives together in the hill. The grain now first received the name of Indian corn. He also taught the settlers how to catch eels by treading them out of the mud with their feet. Shortly afterwards Squanto came to live with the Pilgrims, and proved himself their firm friend.

Sometimes other Indians were hostile. Once a chief named Canonicus, who was an enemy of Massasoit and did not like the Pilgrims, sent to Governor Bradford a bundle of arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. He meant this to be a threat of war. The resolute governor threw the arrows on the ground, filled the snake's skin with powder and bullets, and sent it back to the chief! Canonicus was quick-witted enough to take the hint, and thereafter he let the Pilgrims alone.

58. First Houses built in the New Home.– The first building the Pilgrims put up was a log house twenty feet square, in which they stowed away their scanty provisions, furniture, guns, and powder. They slept there till houses were built for separate families. This storehouse also served as a kind of fort till they had put up a better one on top of the high hill, now known as "Burial Hill," close by. As they had no shingles nor boards, they used for a covering of the roof long grass and seaweed. The chimneys they made mainly of big stones; the upper part, however, consisted of large sticks plastered over with clay.

The dirt floor was soon trodden hard and smooth. The large cracks between the logs of the walls were filled with a kind of mortar made of mud and grass. In those days glass was very costly, and so for windows oiled paper was used.

After the storehouse was sufficiently advanced, the settlers began to work on other houses. They laid out a street which they called Leyden Street, and built their houses on each side of it. The same street with the same name is in Plymouth to-day. The whole colony was divided into family groups, each unmarried young man choosing a family to live with, and each group having its own dwelling.

59. Perils and Mishaps of the First Winter.– Even before the houses were finished, the men built a high picket fence around the whole settlement, with a stout gate on each side; for they were in constant fear of the Indians. In fact, they had to keep a sharp lookout every day, and a guard watched every night to give the alarm in case of danger. So watchful were they that, whether chopping wood, eating dinner, or at meeting on Sunday, every man had his gun close at hand, ready for instant use.

One day, soon after the storehouse was finished, it happened that Governor Carver and William Bradford were both within, sick in bed. Suddenly the dry thatch caught fire from the chimney sparks, and the whole roof went up in a blaze. The sick men were lifted out safely. No serious damage was done to anything but the roof, and that was soon replaced by a new one.

60. How the First Log Houses were built.– If we could have made a visit to one of the rough log houses of the Pilgrims after they had brought in their scanty furniture from the vessel, and when affairs had become a little settled, many things would have seemed strange to us.

There is no front entry to the house, for there is only one rough door, and that opens directly into the house; no parlor, no bedroom, no kitchen, but all in one, with perhaps a loft overhead. The inside walls are like the outside, rough, but plastered between the logs. The roof is made of timbers, for there is no sawmill for sawing logs into boards. The timbers do not fit closely, and although there is a covering of thatch, the snow blows in quite freely.

61. A Peep into a Pilgrim's House.– Let us take a glimpse into one of these Pilgrim houses. The huge fireplace, made of rough stones laid in clay, fills nearly one whole side of the house. The men bring in great logs of wood for the fire. Even when the logs are on the fire there is room for a person to sit on a stool at each end of the logs, and yet be inside of the fireplace. This is the children's favorite seat.

The chimney has a big throat, as large as a hogs-head. One can sit at the end of the logs and look up and see the sky. The sides of the chimney are roughly laid, and the big stones project so far into the room that the children use them as a staircase in climbing up to their bed in the loft.

In those days nobody had ever heard of a stove. All the cooking of the family was done over a huge fire or in front of it. They used the iron pots and skillets they had brought from England, some of which are still preserved at Plymouth. If they had the good luck to shoot a wild goose or turkey, they thrust a long iron rod through it and roasted it above or before the fire, giving it a turn now and then; or else they hung it very near the fire with a stout string, turning it around at times. The wintry winds often dashed in strong gusts down the big chimney, making it freezing cold all through the house.

62. The Scant Furnishings of their Homes.– There were few or no chairs, but here and there a stool, or some solid blocks cut from the trees. In one corner, on a rude shelf resting upon two wooden pins driven into the log, were a few books, – always a Bible, a hymn book, the Psalms, and possibly a few others.

Hanging from a beam was a little iron cup, in which there was some fish oil, with a twisted rag or a bit of wick; this contrivance served for a lamp when needed. But the big fire usually answered for an evening lamp.

On one side of the room was a rough cupboard or case of shelves for their few dishes. They had no nice glass or china with which to make a display. The glass they had was coarse and of a brownish tint. The early settlers often used leather bottles, leather cups, and rough plates called trenchers, chipped from blocks of wood. Often two persons ate out of one trencher. At this time forks were not in general use. The Pilgrims cut their food with knives and then managed it with their fingers.

Their few pewter dishes they were very proud of, and they kept them in sight in the cupboard, bright with frequent scouring; for the Pilgrim women were excellent housewives, and everything about the house was scrupulously neat and clean.

63. Other Articles of Household Furniture.– Around the log cabin were two or three big chests, in which each family brought over its goods. These were used to keep their better clothing in, if they had any, and for seats. In the corner was a spinning wheel to spin the wool for their clothing. On these large wheels the mothers and daughters used to spin great piles of wool and flax. Two or three of the houses had large looms – machines on which the thread they spun was woven into stout cloth for the family.

We should have seen no timepiece in their living rooms. There was neither clock nor watch in the whole settlement. On sunny days the women knew when to have dinner ready by the noon mark, as it was called – a notch cut on some beam near the window, showing just where the line betwixt sunshine and shadow came at twelve o'clock.

In the corner of the log house was the gun, close to the door, where it would be ready for use at any moment.

Although the family slept in the one big room, we should not have seen any bed in the daytime. It was turned up against the wall, and fastened to the side of the cabin. At night it was turned down and nearly filled the room. None of the beds were very soft, for they were filled with hay or leaves. By and by, after they had shot enough wild fowl, they had feather beds.

64. Around the Dinner Table.– When the little family gathered around the table for dinner, there was before them neither an abundance nor a variety of food. There was no milk, butter, nor cheese; for there was no cow in the colony. It was four years before a cow was brought over from England. They had no eggs, no beef nor pork nor lamb, and of course no vegetables yet, nor any nice white bread. The provisions they brought in the ship were partly spoiled, and were nearly used up. So they had to get food as best they could.

Now and then the colonists killed some game, but they had to be careful and not waste their powder and shot. One day they shot and cooked an eagle; but, as Bradford wrote in his journal, it was "woefully tough." They could not often shoot a bear or a deer. They obtained some corn of the Indians by trading such trifles as they could best spare. The records tell us that once a Pilgrim bartered a little dog for a peck of corn.

65. The Daily Fare becomes scant; Hardships increased by Hunger.– By and by all the other food failed, so that their main article of diet was corn. This they made into meal by pounding it on smooth stones. But even this supply from the Indians was often scanty and uncertain, so that at times they were without it until, after a year or two, they raised their own crops.

The rest of their provisions they obtained from the ocean – clams, lobsters, and various kinds of fish. But their fishing boat was so frail and their hooks and nets were so poor that this source many times disappointed them.

Thus, the two articles on which they chiefly depended being Indian corn and sea-food, they were sometimes entirely destitute, unable to obtain either.

What a condition! "I have seen men," wrote one of the Pilgrims, "stagger by reason of faintness for want of food; they knew not at night where to have a bit in the morning." They were so badly off that if it were possible for a friend to visit them, the best they could offer him would be a piece of fish and some water!

Such was the daily living of the first Pilgrim settlers in this country. Such were a few of the hardships they bravely and patiently endured. And yet, strange to say, when the Mayflower sailed for home in the early spring, as we have before stated, not one of these stout-hearted men and women returned in her to England.