Week 26 Essay

          This week I learned about a few early settlements. They were Jamestown, Plymouth Colony, and the Pilgrims and the Mayflower. In this essay, I will write about the third option, the Pilgrims.

          It all started with King James I of England. He was the next ruler after Queen Elizabeth I of England. He believed in the Divine Right of Kings, which meant that God gave him this role, so he would only obey God. He abused his power and took over the church, changing the religion entirely.

          The Pilgrims did not agree with this, so they fled to Holland. However, this was not suitable for them because they were all farmers. Leiden, Holland, which is where they were, was an urban area. Therefore, the Pilgrims did not stay in Holland for long.

          Finally, a man named Thomas Weston worked out a deal with the London Company to let the Pilgrims go to “The New World” to start a colony North of Virginia. The London Company thankfully agreed, and they started to get ready. They took a ship called the Speedwell from Holland to England.

          From England, they took the Speedwell and another ship called the Mayflower. Not long after setting sail, the Speedwell developed a leak, and both ships returned to shore. The Speedwell was fixed and they set sail again. They made it a little farther this time, but the Speedwell got a second leak! It was starting to seem like someone on the ship did not want them to get to America! This time, they were too far from shore, so the entire crew and all the supplies went onto the Mayflower and the leaking ship was abandoned.

          Even though this ship was completely stuffed with people and supplies, the Mayflower made it to America in November of 1620, and is one of the most famous and well known ships today. However, before getting off the Mayflower, the leaders noticed that there was much tension regarding the passengers, so he had everyone sign the Mayflower Compact. This was basically made to help everyone to know that everything was going to be alright. They all needed to work together, and there was no reason to be distressed.

          I have been looking forward to this week for a long time. I love learning about how America started and came to be. I thank the Pilgrims for being brave, leaving what they think is wrong, and doing something completely new! I can not wait to learn more about the settling of America that the Pilgrims helped with.