Remembering the Pilgrims

During this week we are called upon to recall the Pilgrims who settled in New England and celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the New World. Who were the Pilgrims and why did they settle at Plymouth?

The Pilgrims were Reformed Christians and separatists from the Church of England. They were coming to the New World in order to settle in the English colony of Virginia, and hoped to be able to worship God as they believed proper.

On their way to Virginia their ship, the Mayflower, was blown off course to the north by a storm. They were headed south again along the coast trying to reach Virginia, but they never made it. Instead, they settled in New England.

Here is the question. Why did they stop so far north and not continue south to Virginia?

Read about their reasons from one of their own journals, "after we had called on God for direction, we came to this resolution: to go presently ashore again, and to take a better view of two places, which we thought most fitting for us, for we could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals [i.e. food] being much spent, especially our beer…"

They were running low on food, but most importantly, they were running out of their supply of "beer."

I think that’s a good reason to stop and regroup!

The Pilgrims quickly got there brewery going (it was the first permanent structure they built) and brewed some more beer.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Kenith