The Starving Time came upon the colony in l623. Tradition tells us that each person received only five kernels of parched corn a day...
For the descendants of Mayflower passengers, the five kernels of corn are symbols of the Pilgrims' willingness to fight great hardships for their beliefs, and most importantly, their greatest legacy - a government by consent of the people with just and equal laws.
(Presented by the Society of Mayflower Descendants, l995)
Think about it. After a hard day's labor, home didn't have big screen TV's, heat or even food. You didn't drive there in a huge SUV or truck. 75% of the Mayflower passengers died during the first winter. There was no healthcare, much less free healthcare. No schools or public education.
The Mayflower Compact served as a model for the Constitution, which wasn't written for another l50 years, generations after the ancient ones arrived. Perhaps immigration ceremonies and instruction should include study of those people, both Pilgrims and Strangers who really did sacrifice for us.
Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth : 1620
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
Mr. John Carver
Mr. William Bradford
Mr Edward Winslow
Mr. William Brewster
Isaac Allerton
Myles Standish
John Alden
John Turner
Francis Eaton
James Chilton John Craxton
John Billington
Moses Fletcher
John Goodman
Mr. Samuel Fuller
Mr. Christopher Martin
Mr. William Mullins
Mr. William White
Mr. Richard Warren
John Howland
Mr. Steven Hopkins Digery Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow
Edmund Margesson
Peter Brown
Richard Britteridge
George Soule
Edward Tilly
John Tilly
Francis Cooke Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Ridgdale
Edward Fuller
Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner
Mr. John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doten
Edward Liester
National Election Reform Examiner.com, made possible by Mayflower passenger and Stranger, Stephen Hopkins, the originator of going rogue.
Photo credit: Amazon
Comments
"The Starving Time came upon the colony in l623. Tradition tells us that each person received only five kernels of parched corn a day...
For the descendants of Mayflower passengers, the five kernels of corn are symbols of the Pilgrims' willingness to fight great hardships for their beliefs, and most importantly, their greatest legacy - a government by consent of the people with just and equal laws...."
funny, I saw it as a case of very bad planning
walrus: Typically, you can only see a tiny sliver of reality. Perhaps bad planning was part of it. Whatever. You get to post your comments because of the their legacy. I like to point this out whenever the long list of grievances is presented.
walrus is a little off -- remember that the colonists were headed for Virginia to join the existing colony there. Instead they got lost and landed at Plymouth rock, held an observance of Thanksgiving two years after the folks down here in Virginia and then started telling the rest of us how to live. They haven't stopped yet.
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