Facts about the Pilgrims

1. 12

   Seven Pilgrims who survived the first winter returned to England aboard the Mayflower in 1621, choosing to abandon Plymouth Colony rather than endure another year in New England.

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2. 11

   Plymouth Colony's first elected government convened in November 1620 aboard the Mayflower, establishing the Mayflower Compact as a foundational democratic agreement signed by forty-one male passengers.

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3. 10

   Elder William Brewster, the Pilgrims' spiritual leader, brought over four hundred books to Plymouth Colony, an exceptionally large personal library for the 1620s colonial period.

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4. 09

   Scurvy and pneumonia killed most of the fifty Pilgrims who died during the winter of 1620-1621 aboard the Mayflower and in their early Plymouth settlement.

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5. 08

   Squanto, a Tisquantum who spoke English and had been enslaved in Europe, taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate corn, catch fish, and extract nutrients from soil in 1621.

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6. 07

   Wooden construction of the Mayflower took approximately two years to complete, with the ship measuring 106 feet in length and weighing around 180 tons when the Pilgrims boarded in 1620.

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7. 06

   Miles Standish, the Pilgrims' military advisor, was not actually a Separatist but a hired soldier of fortune who became instrumental in Plymouth Colony's defense and survival.

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8. 05

   Separatist Pilgrims adopted the surname Bradford from their settlement location rather than carrying it from England, with William Bradford being born William Hanson in 1590.

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9. 04

   William Bradford served as governor of Plymouth Colony for thirty-one consecutive one-year terms between 1621 and 1657, making him the Pilgrims' primary political leader.

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10. 03

    Before departing England, the Pilgrims spent twelve years in Leiden, Netherlands, where they established a self-governing Protestant congregation separate from the Church of England.

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11. 02

    In 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest with a three-day feast featuring wildfowl, corn, and shellfish alongside approximately 90 Wampanoag Native Americans.

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12. 01

    Approximately 102 Pilgrims sailed aboard the Mayflower in 1620, with nearly half dying during their first winter in Plymouth Colony.

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