Mayflower Compac, By Nathaniel Philbrick: Summary
When thinking about the name Mayflower it usually brings images of people in big hats and buckled shoes having Thanksgiving with some Indians; evoking memories of your history classes in elementary school. This isn’t the whole truth as Nathaniel Philbrick goes in deeper to what the relationship between the Pilgrims and Natives were really like. In the 1620s, English Puritans left England to the New World for the desire to seek religious freedom. They were a group of people unaware what will greet them across the vast, open ocean; taking their chances knowing the journey would prove both costly and frustrating. The English puritans arrived in Cape Cod after being blown north of their intended course, many people had gotten the plague due to close living conditions and low food supply on the ship. Many of the new arrivers died throughout the winter. To avoid chaos in the newly formed Plymouth Colony, a governing document called the Mayflower
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Compact was signed. As the Native populations were being decimated by Old World diseases from Europe and Asia, ravaging the people that had no immunity against it, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag formed a beneficial alliance to survive. The Natives taught the settlers how to farm, fish, and how to survive on this new land. This alliance worked for a while, but as tensions built between the populations, the coalition began to crumble. Following the king’s death in England, a new wave of immigration from England that wanted to come over for religious freedom and to gain materialistic wealth started to displace the Native population. A string of struggles between the Natives and settlers later led to the bloody conflict known as King Phillip’s war. New York Times bestseller author, Nathaniel Philbrick, had won many awards and praise for his electrifying book, diving deep into well known historical events. His narrative Mayflower a Story of Courage, Community, and War is no exception; It analyzes the relationship between the Native American people in New England and the Puritans to present a string of problems that becomes that becomes apparent after the first Thanksgiving which later leads to one of the most bloodiest battles in America, King Philip's War. He vividly presents a more in depth understanding of the situation compared to the generalization that many people believe that really went on. The narrative is organized in different parts, starting with the arrival of the Pilgrims to the New World.
Philbrick highlights when Mayflower arrives, there are many people who are malnourished, having signs scurvy with “loosening of teeth, and foul smelling breath” (Philbrick 1), and infected by the plague due to unsanitary conditions on the boat. There the people begin to die and endure a great deal of suffering because of the First Winter “... so many fell ill that there were barely half a dozen left to tend the sick” (Philbrick 85). As winter begins to approach, the food supply begins to run short and there are only a couple houses that are built within a span of one year: not enough for the whole population. Eventually, after the horrible winter, the Pilgrims meet Native Americans, the Wampanoag tribe in the area and they are able to form trading alliances with them which would benefit both parties. A celebration was had between the two parties in the Autumn of 1621, this would later be recognized as
Thanksgiving.
In 1623, Plymouth, Massachusetts is later developed. During this time, there are still people who are struggling with hunger and sickness. Many new people who begin to arrive from ships such as the Fortune to the colony were not prepared for the life that awaits them “... the biggest problem created… had to do with food” (Philbrick 124). Some of the Pilgrims began stealing crops from the Native Americans, straining their relationship. William Bradford, one of the leaders continued to commend the individuals to refrain from this act due to negative consequences that precedes them.
Later in the narrative, Philbrick indicates that the king of England is executed in the year 1649, which creates an increase of even more newcomers to the New World. As years progress, and the ideals of the society changes, there is a new generation of people that do not seem to be as concerned with a strong sense of spiritual-mindedness compared to their predecessors whose very life was based around. Instead, most people are concerned about gaining material wealth for a chance of getting rich, even though the levels of hardship are not necessarily any different from before.
In the last part of the book, the several conflicts that are created between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans would lead to blood and violent attacks. In one location, “... would all be away from their homes at meeting, they could be pillaging houses and killing livestock… gradually… into war “ (Philbrick 229). Philbrick tells us about the increased violence from the Native Americans due to the Pilgrims taking their goods and crops which creates more tensions amongst them. He also indicates that there are strong levels of racism that are emitted from both groups. Later, officials of Massachusetts starts to relocate many of the Native Americans to a different location and insert a new rule that states “‘no male [Native American] above the age of [14] years should reside in the colony’” (Philbrick 345). The pilgrims are trying to ensure that the Native populations would be eliminated from the colonies, but this did not settle well with them and will fight the last great battle against the Pilgrims, King Phillip’s War.
Philbrick generally stayed relatively unbiased while writing the narrative but there were still few occasions where he judged a situation too quickly. For example, he seemed only too willing to judge the morality of the Pilgrims many more times than the Natives. When it came to do so, he seemed less willing to. When the white men were to “shoot any Indians” (Philbrick 114), because they needed to get food someway, and declares it an abhorrent act that is morally wrong. They just did what they needed to do to survive, like any other new colony. But he makes no statement about the Natives who ritually torture their victims or who kill men, women and children. In fact, the one time he does discuss Indian ritual torture in any detail, he does so by mentioning a white man watching these horrible acts as an educational experience. To depict the white man, the spectator, as the evil one. While Philbrick was not trying to be bias in the Natives favor, in the narrative it seems to implement his understanding of who was the victim and who was the conquer. King Philip's war could have been blamed on either side equally for different reason, but the conflict was completely unnecessary and could have been easily avoided.
Where the book begins with the Pilgrims arriving in their new land, it ends with the losses of the Indian tribes lands and displacement of the native people. The Pilgrims were determined about developing a new life for themselves in the Americas after leaving England for religious freedom and later Holland due to the peoples secular lifestyle. Furthermore, the Native Americans wanted to continue to live on the land that they have inhabited for many years without violent and harsh disturbances. This however is not how the story ended. Philbrick brilliantly presents the many different views of the political and social issues amidst the Pilgrims and Natives. He addresses the amass of misconceptions on the time period and captures a multitude of complex reasons why the two different people groups made a certain decision; whilst giving content on the reasoning. Philbrick states that without the involvement of the Native Americans, the Pilgrims would perish. The statement presents itself to hold truth, depending on the angle you view it at. Without the Natives helping the new arrivers how to farm and survive in the harsh New England environment, the Pilgrims would have perished after couple more winters. That would have led to substantial decrease in immigration from England to the New World due to the fact that the colony would have been a fail, and deterioration of any ideas of future colonies.
Compact was signed. As the Native populations were being decimated by Old World diseases from Europe and Asia, ravaging the people that had no immunity against it, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag formed a beneficial alliance to survive. The Natives taught the settlers how to farm, fish, and how to survive on this new land. This alliance worked for a while, but as tensions built between the populations, the coalition began to crumble. Following the king’s death in England, a new wave of immigration from England that wanted to come over for religious freedom and to gain materialistic wealth started to displace the Native population. A string of struggles between the Natives and settlers later led to the bloody conflict known as King Phillip’s war. New York Times bestseller author, Nathaniel Philbrick, had won many awards and praise for his electrifying book, diving deep into well known historical events. His narrative Mayflower a Story of Courage, Community, and War is no exception; It analyzes the relationship between the Native American people in New England and the Puritans to present a string of problems that becomes that becomes apparent after the first Thanksgiving which later leads to one of the most bloodiest battles in America, King Philip's War. He vividly presents a more in depth understanding of the situation compared to the generalization that many people believe that really went on. The narrative is organized in different parts, starting with the arrival of the Pilgrims to the New World.
Philbrick highlights when Mayflower arrives, there are many people who are malnourished, having signs scurvy with “loosening of teeth, and foul smelling breath” (Philbrick 1), and infected by the plague due to unsanitary conditions on the boat. There the people begin to die and endure a great deal of suffering because of the First Winter “... so many fell ill that there were barely half a dozen left to tend the sick” (Philbrick 85). As winter begins to approach, the food supply begins to run short and there are only a couple houses that are built within a span of one year: not enough for the whole population. Eventually, after the horrible winter, the Pilgrims meet Native Americans, the Wampanoag tribe in the area and they are able to form trading alliances with them which would benefit both parties. A celebration was had between the two parties in the Autumn of 1621, this would later be recognized as
Thanksgiving.
In 1623, Plymouth, Massachusetts is later developed. During this time, there are still people who are struggling with hunger and sickness. Many new people who begin to arrive from ships such as the Fortune to the colony were not prepared for the life that awaits them “... the biggest problem created… had to do with food” (Philbrick 124). Some of the Pilgrims began stealing crops from the Native Americans, straining their relationship. William Bradford, one of the leaders continued to commend the individuals to refrain from this act due to negative consequences that precedes them.
Later in the narrative, Philbrick indicates that the king of England is executed in the year 1649, which creates an increase of even more newcomers to the New World. As years progress, and the ideals of the society changes, there is a new generation of people that do not seem to be as concerned with a strong sense of spiritual-mindedness compared to their predecessors whose very life was based around. Instead, most people are concerned about gaining material wealth for a chance of getting rich, even though the levels of hardship are not necessarily any different from before.
In the last part of the book, the several conflicts that are created between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans would lead to blood and violent attacks. In one location, “... would all be away from their homes at meeting, they could be pillaging houses and killing livestock… gradually… into war “ (Philbrick 229). Philbrick tells us about the increased violence from the Native Americans due to the Pilgrims taking their goods and crops which creates more tensions amongst them. He also indicates that there are strong levels of racism that are emitted from both groups. Later, officials of Massachusetts starts to relocate many of the Native Americans to a different location and insert a new rule that states “‘no male [Native American] above the age of [14] years should reside in the colony’” (Philbrick 345). The pilgrims are trying to ensure that the Native populations would be eliminated from the colonies, but this did not settle well with them and will fight the last great battle against the Pilgrims, King Phillip’s War.
Philbrick generally stayed relatively unbiased while writing the narrative but there were still few occasions where he judged a situation too quickly. For example, he seemed only too willing to judge the morality of the Pilgrims many more times than the Natives. When it came to do so, he seemed less willing to. When the white men were to “shoot any Indians” (Philbrick 114), because they needed to get food someway, and declares it an abhorrent act that is morally wrong. They just did what they needed to do to survive, like any other new colony. But he makes no statement about the Natives who ritually torture their victims or who kill men, women and children. In fact, the one time he does discuss Indian ritual torture in any detail, he does so by mentioning a white man watching these horrible acts as an educational experience. To depict the white man, the spectator, as the evil one. While Philbrick was not trying to be bias in the Natives favor, in the narrative it seems to implement his understanding of who was the victim and who was the conquer. King Philip's war could have been blamed on either side equally for different reason, but the conflict was completely unnecessary and could have been easily avoided.
Where the book begins with the Pilgrims arriving in their new land, it ends with the losses of the Indian tribes lands and displacement of the native people. The Pilgrims were determined about developing a new life for themselves in the Americas after leaving England for religious freedom and later Holland due to the peoples secular lifestyle. Furthermore, the Native Americans wanted to continue to live on the land that they have inhabited for many years without violent and harsh disturbances. This however is not how the story ended. Philbrick brilliantly presents the many different views of the political and social issues amidst the Pilgrims and Natives. He addresses the amass of misconceptions on the time period and captures a multitude of complex reasons why the two different people groups made a certain decision; whilst giving content on the reasoning. Philbrick states that without the involvement of the Native Americans, the Pilgrims would perish. The statement presents itself to hold truth, depending on the angle you view it at. Without the Natives helping the new arrivers how to farm and survive in the harsh New England environment, the Pilgrims would have perished after couple more winters. That would have led to substantial decrease in immigration from England to the New World due to the fact that the colony would have been a fail, and deterioration of any ideas of future colonies.