The Mayflower brought European settlers, largely English Separatists (Pilgrims), to North America in 1620.
The ship set sail from Plymouth, England, in early September, and arrived at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in late November.
In order to end arguments, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower compact in what is now Provincetown Harbor.
Although originally destined for the Colony of Virginia, the Pilgrims were let ashore at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.
According to tradition, they first set foot there on Plymouth Rock.
Most of what we know about these early colonists comes from the Bradford.
William Bradford (1590-1657), author of Of Plymouth Plantation, served as the governor of Plymouth Colony for approximately thirty years, off and on between 1621 and 1657. |