One this day in 1620, one week after the Mayflower was anchored
at Plymouth harbor in present-day Massachusetts, construction
of the first permanent European settlement in New England began.
These dwellings would shelter them through their difficult first
winter in America.
ED DANAHUE
Apollo 8 crew (from left) Frank Borman, William Anders, and James Lovell.
On September 16, 1620, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth,
England, bound for the Americas with 102 passengers. The
ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists—half
religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs—had been
authorized to settle by the British crown. However, stormy
weather and navigational errors forced the Mayflower off
course, and on November 21 the “Pilgrims” reached
Massachusetts, where they founded the first permanent
European settlement in New England in late December.
Thirty-five of the Pilgrims were members of the radical
English Separatist Church, who traveled to America to
escape the jurisdiction of the Church of England, which
they found corrupt.
On December 18, 1620, the British ship Mayflower docked at modern-
day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers prepared to begin their
new settlement, Plymouth Colony.
The Mayflower sails from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with
102 passengers. The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists–half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs–had been authorized to settle by
the British crown. However, stormy weather and navigational errors forced
the Mayflower off course, and on November 21 the “Pilgrims” reached Massachusetts, where they built the first permanent European settlement
in New England in late December.
Depiction of the signing of a document that today is called the
Mayflower Compact. It was signed by 41 of the Pilgrim men and
John Carver was elected as the first governor of the colony.
John Carver (before 1584–1621)
