The Mayflower
The Pilgrims departed from Southampton, England on 5 August 1620. Because the pilgrims were Quakers and the king of England wouldn't let them have freedom of religion. The voyage from England to America was more than 3,000 miles and beset by dangerous Autumn storms. The sips master Christopher Jones is an experienced skipper, but the two month journey will not be a smooth one.
On the upper deck thirty men work the sails, while below deck the Pilgrims hardly got a fresh breath of air. There wasn't much room to move around below deck.
They mostly drank beer because it was more abundant than water and it wouldn't go stale. They had to eat the same thing everyday, the food went bad some food has worms and was moldy so they preferred to eat in the dark.
The Arrival in America
The Pilgrim's original plan was to land in Virginia but due to storms they were forced to land in Plymouth Massachusetts. The Mayflower carried supplies as well as passengers. It carried barrels of water and food, seeds to plant, tools for planting, tools for building houses and clothes, knives, and beads to trade with the Indians.
The First Winter in America
The first winter in America was a terribly rough one because they couldn't grow food. They chopped down trees to build houses. The pilgrims worked as hard as they could to finish their houses before it snowed. The Pilgrims couldn't find enough food in the forests. The people were hungry and cold about a half of them died from sickness and starvation.
Spring
The hard winter passed and Spring arrived! One day a native American walked right into one of the Pilgrims camps, he said “welcome” his name was Samoset he spoke English. The Pilgrims asked him a lot of questions and gave him presents. Samoset came back with another native American named Squanto.
Squanto spoke better English. He liked the Pilgrims and he helped them. He taught them how to find nuts, berries, and how to grow corn.
Summer
The Pilgrims worked very hard building their houses from bark and branches. Each house had one room and the only heat it got was from the fireplace.
They planted gardens with the seeds they brought with them on the mayflower.
That summer the gardens were full of food and the corn was ready to harvest.
That year was a massive harvest and no one was hungry all that year.
