1620

On September 16, 1620, 101 men, women, and children set sail in a small ship – the Mayflower – from the port of Plymouth, England. They were leaving England to escape persecution for their religious beliefs. They wanted to be free to worship in their own way and to create their own community.

The Pilgrims’ goal was the shore of North America, a vast and little known coastline that had only a handful of small European settlements. For eight weeks they sailed, tossed by the stormy North Atlantic. Finally, on November 10, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod, a long sandy peninsula in present-day Massachusetts.

Inside the bay protected by Cape Cod, the Pilgrims found a site that seemed promising for settlement. Before they left the ship, they drew up an agreement to form a government that would pass laws “for the general Good of the Colony.” According to tradition, they stepped ashore on a large boulder, still known as Plymouth Rock. The first winter at Plymouth was terrible. Nearly half of the settlers died of disease or starvation. But the Pilgrims were determined, and their community survived as one of the first European settlements in North America. The first building erected by the Pilgrims at Plymouth was called the Common House, where religious services were held.