Hear from thell Plimoth Patuxet deputy executive director Richard Pickering told and about the origins of the mayflower compact. I Plimoth Patuxet deputy am executive director Richard Pickering. Themter by the name gives the name pilgrim fathers. They are still called this today. We as americans tend to call them pilgrims. The reason that this is cited is because William Bradford refers to them as pilgrims. Pilgrims,p but lowercase. We need to remember that they did not have a group identity. They were a heterogeneous group that had to learn to live together. When you think about how do people sound in colonial england. The first few ships that will follow, there were upwards of 17 different dialect regions represented in plaintiff they lived in an age prior to recording. Very rarely did you hear anybody speak english other than your own dialect or accent. Begine what it is like to aboard a ship we are trying to figure out what is she saying to be echo we are accustomed to watching television to have a newscasters accent. This was not always the case back in the 1600s. There are Vocabulary Words and grammar practices. People may have been looking at each other and thinking what . Raise originally supposed to leave in july of 1620 with another vessel, speedwell. When they got out to see improved that speedwell was very leaky, they had to turn around for england twice. They were delayed leaving until early september. They had no choice. There is no turning around. People had sold their homes and businesses. It was not safe to stay in england. Even though it was late in the year, and they were going to be arriving to where thought was virginia late in the fall, we had to move forward. It took three years for them to find merchant to back the mayflower venture. William bradford, the governor of the plymouth colony, wrote a chronicle and describes the voyage in its earliest week as being fair and pleasant. The second half, they were sea. Led by constant at the first part is peaceful, and the second part is very pneumatic. Very dramatic. Brought them to new england trying to make speed, to try to get down the coast, only to discover that new englands waters are very dangerous. He refuses to go southward. There is no legal document hoarding them together. The most powerful men within the company of passengers, they create a covenant saying that they will stand together until we can get new authority to be here in new england where we have to stay. Ultimately, the mayflower compact becomes the constitution for the colony. For 72 years, it the founding document. It is read in all court sessions. It is very important example of american exploitation of Self Government great the 400 anniversary of the mayflower compact is a cordon in an election year. You see a group of strangers. There is a misconception that there were two groups among the mayflower. Holland had come out of for religious regions religious reasons and the strangers, people they do not know, who had no interest and religion. This is not the case. People who do not know each other well. Those in holland had been worshiping together for 12 years. Some of the people who had joined them joint for religious regions. They wanted the opportunity in the americas to worship as they wanted and earn a little money. Coming get along in crisis, and some people in the group said, we are in new england, not virginia. I am going to go off and do i want to do. These people who did not have a strong experience of government, it drafted a document that held them together. What, to me, is amazing is that at the beginning, you have a community that could have imploded, but only six months later when the first governor there is safe transition of power. , probably ofies heat stroke after working in a cornfield. Admittedly, the power is transferred. The men gather and they approach William Bradford to become the second governor. To at the skill funnest, and to look at the practice of to look at the skill set and look at the practice of consensus, they were trying to create a community. They wanted rules, and they wanted the rule of law. They spent the time, determining commonly what they would do together. When the pilgrims arrive to new english, they are anchored off at what is now provincetown, massachusetts. It takes them a month to find a place to settle. They do free voyage of the discovery on what we now call the lower cape, a little bit of the midcape. On the third discovery, they come here to Plymouth Harbor. They find a place of good soil, constant water. The native word for the place means land of little falls, land of little streams. That was one of the concerns about staying on tape caught, they could staying on cape cod, they could not find good water there. They moved the mayflower from provincetown, harbor, here to Plymouth Harbor late in december. There is the traditional story but they landed on Plymouth Rock and began to build their houses on christmas day, 1620. Essentially, the mayflower becomes a place that the colonists live until there is efficient housing ashore for everyone. The ship staying in new england drives up the cost of the venture. When it returns home in april, that charter, think of mayflower as a plus. It has been hired to bring this people over. The charter is getting more emerged missive, the longer that the ship stays. She leaves in 1621, and no one from plymouth returns from her. She arrives in england in the middle of may. Much to the distress of the merchants, she returns utterly empty, with nothing to compensate for the investment that they made. I cannot even imagine what the first went there was light. 102 passengers arrived in november. By the end of february, half of them are gone. We know from the writings of William Bradford that there were times in february when two or three a day were dying. Their houses were incomplete. Imagine simple little houses that are on the outside, with insulation of two or three inches of clay. People are watching that wash away. Imagine the sickness, the death, and houses literally melting into winter weather. Speed intheir february. February comes beautiful, but they did not know that it would be followed by a brutal new england march. The native people come to them late in march. This is the first time that they have seen each other. The first time that they can actually talk is march of 1621. Period of peace sustained for the next 55 years. One of them will remain with the english and be a translator. Plantl teach them how to the indian corn. There are native People Living just on the other side. The english can look over and see with the native women are doing and their cornfield and also learned that way. The first harvest comes in and is a good harvest. William bradford, the governor, steps aside days for a manner of rejoicing. We would think of it now as they harvest feast. It was a special manner of rejoicing. It is part of the harvest feast tradition. But as reformed christians would be practicing it. Their neighbors across the way, and for three days, there are at least 90 native men. There are probably women and children coming from the other side of the brook as well. Living english men, women, and children. At a minimum, there are two native people to every english person. Are foursh men, there natives. Imagine the old traditional way that we thought about thanksgiving, a long table full of english people with a couple of natives at the end. It is far more native people. People,the english children under the age of 16 years old, and some that are just infants. What we see in that first year in new england is an excellence of diplomacy. The wapout how much how long think about the natives suffered before that. Maine,at is now portland some communities completely disappeared off the face of the earth. Came to theive english in 1621, he was making a choice for the preservation of his people to get the technology of the strangers, because the power politics were shifting and native english. That made him and his people a little more stable in that shift. For the english, it gave them access to native technology, knowledge, entrance into the march, whens, so in a peace treaty is agreed to, the first thanksgiving that will follow, for many that is confirmation of that treaty. This facetoface encounters they kept alive the relationships that they were able to sustain for 35 years. 455 years. For 55 years. Shipyoure saying is the as it would have looked when she returned to england in april 1621. Everything gone. I am able to stand out aboard mayflower. When the ship was designed in the 1950s, it was understood that it would be a museum site and people would need to be able to walk comparably. Be able to walk comfortably and that the height would be of further and a half less. Ships are not made for people in the 17th century. They are made for cargo. A 180hip is described as ton vessel. About this high, a type of task this area would have all been cargo, adapted. You need to imagine that the passengers are bent over much of the time to get where they are going, if indeed they can get out on deck. For us, it is brightly lit. The gun ports are open. The above are open. In 1620, it wouldve been pitch black, with the gun ports close, the gratings covered. Canvases over them to keep them dry. Imagine that you have all of these little cabins on both sides. Then, in the middle, somehow there are pieces of a 33 foot long boat. There are so many people down here that have to sleep in the parts of the boat. There are mattresses in the different pieces. D,en they arrived at cape co it takes the ship carpenter days to put the shows up again because it is been driven apart by people sleeping in it. Think about how congested it was and the smells. The chamber pots are being emptied right down into the bilge. It is collecting below. The airout how fetid was. When we are at cape cod, one of the first things they did was cut juniper. Juniper burns so sweetly and with such a fine perfume. They could actually fumigate down here. We know that at least once they were anchored in provincetown, they had braziers where they were able to keep themselves warm. Imagine and think about what ive told you. All of these cramped, canvas wouldnt cabins and bunks, people practically on top of each other, trying to get along with the board that they did not know very well. There is one family known as the billingtons. Over time, they would prove to be very troublesome. We know that John Billington senior, while ashore, one of his boys was in his cramped cabin. He decides to play with his fathers gun. He sets off a musket in between decks, and the gunpowder that he was using spilled. I imagine right nearby, there are people around our brazier that are trying to keep themselves warm, and there was spilled gunpowder on deck. The ship could have blown because of that boy. We also know that in the middle of the voyage, a young man went overboard. Thank about the size of the mayflower. That man goesif overboard, they would keep sailing, because that would take almost one hour for the ship to make a complete turn to go back to someone. Swim in the 17th century. It would be considered questioning gods will to put yourself in that position. John howland washes overboard. We are told by william brad ford that he was fathoms below the ship, but he was able to catch onto a rope. , and men holdout up their trousers with belt. Even in the past, admin had doubts. Hookwere able to put april in their suit and pull him out. And he lived. One of the things to think about, if that man had not lived, if his wife had not survived the first winter. And she was the only member of her family to survive that winter. Million americans today he would not be alive. Million over time. Americans2. 5 million alive today that dissented from that family. John howland and Elizabeth Holland were the grandparents of joseph smith. They would be no church of jesus christ of latterday saints. There are strands of the roosevelt family, the bush family, they would not have affected american history. To be a film lover, there wouldve been no casablanca. Henry grover ship homeought the from massachusetts, some of the crew were living history educators he read per trade john how is. They who per trade john howland. They talked about about what it was to be on the ship during sale and work the ratings. They saw themselves as the ship was moving how the ropes were moving. The three young men talked among themselves, and they could see how the ship is in dramatic water, and it spills over. That is what it is doing in the water with john holland. The power of museums is that we are experimentals. We are experiments in archaeology. We try to recreate the work of the past. In that recreation, we discover something about those people who came before us. Gives usg the ship insight into the original 1620 voyage. The restoration brings the ship closer to the original 1950s vision that was had for this ship. The ship arrives differently since 1957. A gets us closer to the physics of the ship. There are so much discovery yet to be done. The passengers brought the yearssupply with them. They knew that they were going to have to depend on dried pea beef,ed beans, salted salted pork to get them through until the first harvester coming. The deck below us was the hold. It was filled with supplies. Families brought their personal things. Thee was a tradition that families were allowed one chest and the six feet of space. I have no idea where that tradition comes from, but it was her magic and compelling. People brought what they had because they were going to be removing their households from college or from england to here. There is furniture, there are linens. What we know is that one of the men who started out on the ip with theh mayflower, the speedwell, robert cushman. When it was decided the only one ship could come to new england on that and that some people would have to stay behind. Robert cushman was one of those that remained kind and only for reasons of health, so the also that he could be helpful to those remaining behind. Robert cushman says isnt it sad that we are all students and that there is no one to teach us . We know that the letters they go back early on, the colonists in new england are writing to friends or those interested in coming to england and saying, this is what you should do. Wrote a letter in goat advising, bring a kid to slaughter and have fresh meat catholic across. Rate limit or other fruit that fruitng linens or other that seemed to fight off the scurvy. They do not have as much as we have today. There are probate inventories that exist. Plymouth started a practice of writing down everything that the deceased owned. This is so the estates can be divided equally. This is a perfect catalog from the 16 20s. They did not have a great deal. Of furnituret full as our rooms are full of furniture. Mattressestually that go down on the breeds at night. And then they can go out of the way. They did everything with forethought. To findars of planning the merchants, to find the voyage to america. About what had happened in virginia, running from the virginians as they planned this particular voyage to the best of their ability. One year supply, all of their personal goods coming, and we even know that brooks came over ks camemayflower boo over on the mayflower because libraries were inventoried. The manssible that chiefly responsible for the defense of the colony, we know that he owned the earliest english translation of the iliad. We know that he owned an english tradition an english translation of caesars commentary on the gala towards proved this was a place of thought. These are people who read and brought their libraries with them. The deck that we are standing on would have been filled with things that were needed every day. Linens, canvas betting stuffed out with straw. Curtains to give families a little bit of privacy in their small box. We are not sure how they fed themselves. That is still a matter of controversy, up for grabs. We do not know whether or not the cooking is being done by the ships cook and then food distributed among the passengers to keep down the dangers of wasbird at one point, it thought that maybe there were sandboxes with little brazier that were used for cooking during the voyage. We do not know. The record is not thick enough for us to get those kinds of details. You might have had cooking and plummeted here on this deck. We do not know. We do know that john all event, he was a cooper, he made barrels to carry barrels, he was given the responsibility under supervision to get the allotment of food, so that the supplies would last, and that they would stay free from saltwater and being but we dont know. Didnt go off to the ships cook and food was redistributed for the passengers . These are ministries these are mysteries. Down below is everything that would remain in new england. Me, the grading above as well, once they were in Plymouth Harbor, it was the job of the sailors to remove everything. Using cranes to lift everything up, over, and out. To get it a mile and a half to short. O shore. That theen imagine mayflower above. Think off the fact we the pilgrims as so important, we think in their day, they were considered important. For master jones and his crew, they were cargo that needed to be moved from point a to point b. Probably, the mayflower compact is signed down here. Leadersssible that the it was determined it was determined nobody was getting off the ship until every man was representing his household so they would be bound together by a covenant. They agreed they would walk together commonly in the way of christ. What they wanted to do was take the Church Government and bring it into the civil world. Imagine going from cabin to cabin to cabin . Maybeery cramped they were carrying a lantern with them. It was dark down here. Glorious signing of the declaration of independence, but something cramped, something oneonone. Dide were so some in who not want to some men who did not want to sign the document. It was Political Drama of the highest order. This is a reproduction of the original mayflower that was a leasedessel, rented or like you would rent a uhaul to bring the pilgrims and other passengers to the new world. The mayflower was a typical early 17th century merchant vessel. This ship was 180 tons burdened. That is how many one ton barrels a ship would hold. It is a volumetric measure. It could carry 180 tons of those barrels as cargo. Size, kind of small, very small by todays standards. We have some pretty cool parts of the ship we use every day. A fully operational vessel. Is used for loading and unloading cargo. It is used for lowering and raising yards. Any kind of heavy work is done with the cast and is done. I am sure everybody has seen in the movies. Do is you wrap drum and weound the simply walk around. Bars on the main deck and two down below, we could put as many as eight or 10 sailors and do some very heavy lifting work. Some point, maybe we will go below it does the same thing on the between deck but it is for raising your anchors. Horizontal, which we can look at on the between tween deck. Theering will was not Steering Wheel was not used until about 1690 by the dutch. Earlier, ships of this size were using this vertical stick that you move from side to side, attached to the router or taylor rudder or tiller. We have a compass. The officer of the deck would be on the half deck. The helmsman would simply be using a magnetic compass to northnortheast, whatever direction he was given by the officer of the day. Some of the colorful geometric why sos, you wonder brightly colored paint . That was so you could actually identify a ship over a long distance. If you are looking across a mile look at thecould specific colors and patterns and say oh, there is the mayflower. When the crews get together and all the captains know each other, that is how they would get to know which ship is which ship and be able to say, there is soandso. Here, this is the great cabin. This would have been the master cabin. This is where master Christopher Jones would have slept. He was the master of the ship and one quarter owner of the ship. Had a desk and ot or bunk. Hanging caugh we have not gotten the furnishings sorted out yet. He might wouldve had a couple of gentlemen back your with them. No ordinary sailors. Ordinary sailors would sleep all the way forward. All of the passengers, 102 passengers, would have slept down below. Many different jobs for the sailors. The most important person is the cook. The ships crew runs on their stomach and we always joke about that. The captain will have a couple of mates or officers of the deck that ran the sailors and were in charge of the vessel. As the captain gave different orders. You would have had a sail maker on the ship. You would have specific top men who were the ones who went along and took sail. And you would have mast captains , who would run their little group. Hundreds of different lines used for actively sailing the vessel ils anding the sa yards around. It can be overwhelming when you think that there are three miles of rope on the ship. When you take it one at a time, each sailor has his designated , when you break it down that way, it is like a well oiled machine. The mast captain, mates, and captain are the one who orchestrated this team to make the ship sail safely and effectively. The sailors would have been broken into two watches. They wouldve been called the starboard watch. Ay, we use star board starboard and port. Also designating the different crew. Might go to see as early sea as early as 10 years old. The old salts would not have been much more than 40. The sailors, some of the more experienced sailors, might have already been to the new world. The english had been coming to the new world for quite a while. 1602 bartholomew got small bartholomew came to this area on exploratory journey. We do not know the actual makeup of the crew but i can say that for a lot of the crew sailing across the ocean for long distances, probably no big deal. They felt comfortable sailing a ship like this on the ocean. They did every day. Passengers, it would be like you and i going to the moon. The fear and uncertainty coming to the new world. Ii came about through england. In the ship was built and given to appreciation of our help in world war ii. Idea that whene he was on his way home from world war ii, he was in the Africa Campaign with montgomery. On the side of the atlantic, we had henry hornblower, who started plymouth plantation. Idea to have ae reproduction ship built. He had already contracted with William Avery baker to have plans drawn up. The two got word of what the other were trying to do and they met and got together and hornblower said, we have the plans. I will build the ship if you guys will take care of it. Limits plantation has taken care of the ship for the last 64 years. We just finished a massive restoration. It got back to plymouth on august 10 from a three year restoration in connecticut. I hope that people get the same sense of history that i do when i look at this ship. For us, keeping the skills and abilities to be able to sail a ship and maintain a ship of this age as well as tell the multiple stories that Plimoth Patuxet has to tell, all of the good, bad, and ugly of all aspects of history is so important to where we are going. For me, of course, the maritime part of the ship itself and the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to build and sail and maintain a ship like mayflower ii is very, very important. Darius coombs, wampanoag and eastern woodlands director at Plimoth Patuxet discusses the culture of the wampanoag people who lived in the plymouth area prior to the arrival of the pilgrims. How the remaining members, including him, live today. The Nantucket Historical association hosted this event and provided the video. Hello . [laughter] means good morning. Good morning, friends. How are you doing today . My name is darius coombs. My people have been around this area for over 12,000 years