The Mayflower | A Sea of Troubles | American History Tellers

What this episode is about

In November 1620, as the Pilgrims search for a suitable site for their new settlement in Cape Cod, they stumble upon buried baskets of corn, igniting a moral dilemma about stealing from the Indigenous people who once inhabited the land. Led by William Bradford, they confront the harsh realities of survival, weighing the urgency of their own needs against the evident presence of those who once lived there.

Key takeaways

• Pilgrims' corn 'recovery': Theft masked as survival tactic on Cape Cod shores.
• Spiritual zeal met practical needs: Puritans faced dilemmas beyond mere faith.
• A ship of unlikely settlers: Weavers and shoemakers in a New World odyssey.
• Crops or conflict? Pilgrims stole to live, risking native retaliation.
• Lost, hungry, and hopeful: Pilgrims navigated survival in a desolate Cape Cod.

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: New World, Cape Cod, Mayflower, American History Tellers
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Mayflower, Jamestown, Bermuda, Captain Christopher Jones
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Cape Cod, Hudson River, Mayflower, Cape Cod Bay
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Mayflower, Cape Cod, Hudson River, Mayflower Compact
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Mayflower, Jamestown, Cape Cod, Charles River
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Mayflower, Cape Cod, Cape Cod Bay, Thievish Harbor
7. 30:00 – 35:00: Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, American History Tellers, dysentery
8. 35:00 – 35:43: Airship, American History Tellers, Andy Becker, Dorian Marina

Notable quotes from "The Mayflower | A Sea of Troubles | American History Tellers"

• Imagine it's the middle of November 1620 and you're trudging up a high sandy hill along the shore of Cape Cod. Your ship is anchored in the bay with most of the colonists on…

  about Cape Cod · at 0:14

• Mood has instantly shifted. The men are relieved by the prospect of returning to the Mayflower with this unexpected bounty. But you can't escape the feeling that your theft will come back to haunt you.

  about Mayflower · at 2:52

• They were not noblemen, soldiers, or seasoned explorers like the men who founded Jamestown more than a decade earlier. Instead, they were farmers, weavers shoemakers printers…

  about Jamestown · at 4:58

• Alone. And there was one stranger who had previously crossed the Atlantic, an adventurer named Steven Hopkins. 11 years earlier, Hopkins had sailed on the Sea Venture, the…

  about Steven Hopkins · at 5:52

• Strong westerly gales and the powerful Gulf Stream. At times, conditions were so severe that Captain Christopher Jones had to lie a hole, taking down all the sails and letting the Mayflower drift to reduce strain on the ship's structure.

  about Captain Christopher Jones · at 7:48

• Had carried them farther north than their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. But gauging longitude was much more difficult. sailors would not have a reliable tool for measuring their east west position for another 140.

  about Hudson River · at 10:00

• Hudson River. I'd forget about the Hudson. The Cape is the safest place to anchor between Virginia and Maine, and it's full of cod. The colonist stand to make a pretty profit…

  about Virginia Company · at 11:13

• Desperate to get the alien passengers ashore as quickly as possible. To reach Cape Cod Bay, he would need to sail north around the hooked tip of the Cape.

  about Cape Cod Bay · at 13:11

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• William Bradford — Person · 5 mentions · first at 0:45
  As you reach the top of the slope, one of your leaders, a 30-year-old man named William Bradford, stops in his tracks and kneels down beside a large mount of sand. look at…
• Myles Standish — Person · 4 mentions
• Captain Christopher Jones — Person · 3 mentions · first at 7:53
• Steven Hopkins — Person · 2 mentions · first at 5:57
• John Robinson — Person · 2 mentions · first at 6:30
  Such a mixed group sharing close quarters, the separatist spiritual leader, Reverend John Robinson, anticipated potential difficulties.
• Dorothy Bradford — Person · 2 mentions
• John Howland — Person · 2 mentions
• Robert Coppin — Person · 2 mentions
• John Carver — Person · 1 mention · first at 19:32
  Of the day, no women participated. Next, they unanimously elected Puritan separatist John Carver as their first governor. Carver was one of the most respected men in the…
• John Smith — Person · 1 mention · first at 22:42
  England, Stannis had been chosen as the pilgrim's military leader over the vastly more experienced Captain John Smith, who had helped found Jamestown.
• Mohammad Shazi — Person · 1 mention · first at 35:20
  Edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Mohammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Thum. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Senior producer Andy Becker. Executive.
• Molly Bach — Person · 1 mention · first at 35:22
  Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Mohammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Thum. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Senior producer Andy Becker. Executive producers are Jenny Lowour.
• Dorian Marina — Person · 1 mention · first at 35:27
  By Molly Bach. Music by Thum. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Senior producer Andy Becker. Executive producers are Jenny Lowour Beckman and Marshall Louie for Wondery.
• Andy Becker — Person · 1 mention · first at 35:30
  Episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Senior producer Andy Becker. Executive producers are Jenny Lowour Beckman and Marshall Louie for Wondery.
• Marshall Louie — Person · 1 mention · first at 35:33
  Producer Andy Becker. Executive producers are Jenny Lowour Beckman and Marshall Louie for Wondery.
• Ellie Stanton — Person · 1 mention
• Jenny Lauer Beckman — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

• American History Tellers — Company · 3 mentions · first at 3:13
  From Wondery. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story.
• Virginia Company — Company · 3 mentions · first at 11:16
• Airship — Company · 1 mention · first at 35:18
  American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Mohammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Thum. This…
• Thum — Company · 1 mention
• Wampanoag — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

• Mayflower — Product · 26 mentions · first at 2:55
• Sea Venture — Product · 1 mention · first at 6:02
  Adventurer named Steven Hopkins. 11 years earlier, Hopkins had sailed on the Sea Venture, the infamous ship that wrecked on the shores of Bermuda on its way to Jamestown. While…

Concepts & topics

• Puritan separatists — Concept · 3 mentions · first at 5:18
  Were adult men, nearly 30 were children, and roughly 20 were women. Half of the group were religious radicals, Puritan separatists who believed the only way to reform the…
• Mayflower Compact — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 18:15
  Agreement before going ashore. Over the next day, the passengers hammered out what came to be known as the Mayflower Compact. They agreed to join together and govern themselves…
• Royal Charter — Concept · 1 mention · first at 17:03
  On the night of November 9th, 1620, long simmering tensions exploded on board the Mayflower. The Virginia Company's Royal Charter gave it territorial rights over a large swath of the Mid-Atlantic coast.
• self-government — Concept · 1 mention · first at 18:30
  Come, this Mayflower Compact would be remembered for having laid the foundation for self-government in British North America. But it was not a constitution or an elaborate…
• British king — Concept · 1 mention · first at 18:32
  Remembered for having laid the foundation for self-government in British North America. But it was not a constitution or an elaborate blueprint for democracy. In fact, the…
• dysentery — Concept · 1 mention · first at 34:21
  And before long, dysentery, pneumonia, and scurvy spread through the colony, and death became a daily reality. As winter went on, an illness and exposure ravaged Plymouth. Only a.

Places & events

• Cape Cod — Place · 13 mentions · first at 0:19
• Hudson River — Place · 7 mentions · first at 10:03
• Jamestown — Place · 5 mentions · first at 5:02
• New World — Place · 4 mentions · first at 2:20
  Peas to plant when spring comes. But what if our English crops don't grow in this new world? We'll all be dead come fall. And besides, our provisions are dwindling fast. We'll…
• Cape Cod Bay — Place · 3 mentions · first at 13:15
• Thievish Harbor — Place · 2 mentions · first at 28:05
  Coppen remembered a spot with a good harbor and a navigable river. He called it Thievish Harbor. But as the scouts searched for the harbor that afternoon, temperatures plunged.…
• Plymouth Rock — Place · 2 mentions · first at 31:49
  Made any mention of stepping on the large boulder on the shore that later became known as Plymouth Rock. The next day, the scouting party returned to the Mayflower in good…
• Bermuda — Place · 1 mention · first at 6:03
  Years earlier, Hopkins had sailed on the Sea Venture, the infamous ship that wrecked on the shores of Bermuda on its way to Jamestown. While stranded there in Bermuda, Hopkins…
• Leiden — Place · 1 mention · first at 6:56
  Separatists and the strangers learn to live together. It was a stance that did not come easily to the Leiden group who saw themselves as spiritually superior to the strangers.…
• Gulf Stream — Place · 1 mention · first at 7:51
  Averaged just 2 m an hour as it battled strong westerly gales and the powerful Gulf Stream. At times, conditions were so severe that Captain Christopher Jones had to lie a…
• Pollock Rip — Place · 1 mention · first at 13:54
  Entered one of the Atlantic Ocean's most treacherous areas, an intricate maze of sholes and breakers known as Pollock Rip. By afternoon, the wind died down and the tide fell and the ship became trapped in dangerously shallow water.
• British North America — Place · 1 mention · first at 18:32
  Remembered for having laid the foundation for self-government in British North America. But it was not a constitution or an elaborate blueprint for democracy. In fact, the…
• Charles River — Place · 1 mention · first at 23:09
  Decision. Smith's map of New England clearly showed the area around the Charles River near modern-day Boston as the most suitable settlement site, but Standish insisted on…
• First Encounter Beach — Place · 1 mention · first at 27:27
  Show strength, then returned to their camp. The sight of the attack would be forever known as First Encounter Beach.
• New Plymouth — Place · 1 mention · first at 31:38
  They found cleared fields suitable for farming and a nearby stream containing fresh water. They named the site New Plymouth after the harbor they sailed from in England.…
• Provincetown Harbor — Place · 1 mention · first at 32:06
  Dorothy, had fallen overboard and drowned in the calm waters of Provincetown Harbor. The circumstances of her death would remain a mystery. It was unusual for a person to fall…
• Plymouth Harbor — Place · 1 mention · first at 32:52
  To begin building their settlement all the more urgent. So on December 15th, 1620, the Mayflower sailed into Plymouth Harbor, bringing the exhausted passengers to shore. After…
• Puxenit — Place · 1 mention · first at 33:15
  Chosen for their settlement was a place known to the local Wampenog Indians as Puxenit. It was once a thriving village of 2,000 people, but it had been completely decimated by…
• Patuxet — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

0:01 Wonder. Imagine it's the middle of November 1620 and you're trudging up a high sandy hill along the shore of Cape Cod. Your ship is anchored in the bay with most of the colonists on board, but you and 15 fellow pilgrims have come ashore to search for a suitable location for your new settlement. You pass some abandoned graves and the stubble of a harvested cornfield. Clear evidence that humans have been living here, but the land is strangely empty of people. As you reach the top of the slope, one of your leaders, a 30-year-old man named William Bradford, stops in his tracks and kneels down beside a large mount of sand. Ah, look at this. See how it's been smoothed over. You step forward beside Bradford, peering down for a closer look. Well, it looks new. Someone must have patted it down recently. We better leave it alone. It won't hurt to see what's buried beneath. I don't know.

1:05 But Bradford and a few of the others have already begun clawing at the sand with their hands. The rest form a defensive ring and musketss primed and ready. Oh, look at this. Radford unears a woven basket full of dried corn. It's so heavy that he can barely lift it. Beside it rests another basket containing three dozen ears of corn. His face brightens as he peels back the husks to reveal red, yellow, and blue kernels that gleam like jewels in the afternoon light. We should take this back to the ship. But you shake your head. That would be stealing. This corn belongs to the Indians. It's obvious.

1:40 They buried it here for safekeeping. Oh, no. Now, think clearly. We're growing weaker by the day. Will you let our children starve while all this corn lies just beneath our feet? So far, the Indians have left us alone. By all the evidence, they must not be far away. We can't risk provoking them. The other men step back nervously, scanning the woods for signs of Indian presence, but no one emerges. The land is as eerie and quiet as ever. Now, this corn is divine providence. God in his infinite mercy left it here so that we would not go hungry. Or it's Satan's temptation. We still have our seeds on the ship.

2:14 There's plenty of wheat, barley, and peas to plant when spring comes. But what if our English crops don't grow in this new world? We'll all be dead come fall. And besides, our provisions are dwindling fast. We'll eat the ears of corn now and plant the dried kernels in the spring. This corn will be our salvation. And what if the Indians come to take their revenge? Well, it won't come to that. We'll find out who the corn belongs to and repay them later. But for now, we'll take what we can carry. Our survival depends on it.

2:43 Bradford and the other men start gathering up the corn. Against your better judgment, you join them, stuffing dried kernels into your pockets. The mood has instantly shifted. The men are relieved by the prospect of returning to the Mayflower with this unexpected bounty. But you can't escape the feeling that your theft will come back to haunt you.

3:11 from Wondery. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. In November 1620, a small party of pilgrim scouts explored the desolate shores of Cape Cod in search of a site to establish a colony. In their hunger and desperation, they stole a cash of buried corn that belonged to local Indians. But with their provisions running low, they believed they had little choice. The pilgrim struggles were partly due to having sailed from England dangerously late in the season. After repeated delays, they set off on their transatlantic voyage in September 1620. And the agonizing weeks that followed, they endured brutal storms, rampant illness, and death. All the while, they knew that crossing the ocean was only the first step in their struggle to establish a spiritual community in the new world. Once they reached land, they would face a host of new challenges. Finding food and

4:18 water, building a settlement, and protecting themselves from the native communities who had inhabited the region for generations. Torn between feelings of hope and fear, they sailed into an unknown future with little to sustain them beyond their faith. This is episode two, a sea of troubles. In early September 1620, the Mayflower lost sight of the English coast and began its westward journey to America. The crew and 102 passengers on board would have to cross 3,000 mi of ocean before they saw land again. They were an unlikely group to attempt to establish a viable English colony in the New World.

4:58 They were not noblemen, soldiers, or seasoned explorers like the men who founded Jamestown more than a decade earlier. Instead, they were farmers, weavers shoemakers printers and servants with little to no experience surviving in the wild. Fewer than 50 were adult men, nearly 30 were children, and roughly 20 were women. Half of the group were religious radicals, Puritan separatists who believed the only way to reform the Church of England was to break away from it entirely. They would spend the next 8 weeks in close quarters with the so-called strangers who did not share their close-knit bonds and strong spiritual convictions. Among the strangers was Miles Stannis, an English mercenary who would serve as captain and handled the colony's military needs.

5:42 There were multiple families, including four children whose father had recently discovered their mother's adulterous affair. Questioning their parentage, he had decided to ship them off to America alone. And there was one stranger who had previously crossed the Atlantic, an adventurer named Steven Hopkins. 11 years earlier, Hopkins had sailed on the Sea Venture, the infamous ship that wrecked on the shores of Bermuda on its way to Jamestown. While stranded there in Bermuda, Hopkins had joined an attempted mutiny. He ultimately made it to Jamestown, where he lived for a few years before returning to England. He had boarded the Mayflower along with his three children and wife, who gave birth to a son during the voyage. They named him Oceanianis in honor of the unique circumstances of his birth. And with such a mixed group sharing close quarters, the separatist spiritual leader, Reverend John Robinson,

6:32 anticipated potential difficulties. Robinson had stayed behind and lied in Holland with the majority of the congregation who planned to travel to America at a later date. But he penned a farewell letter to those voyaging to America, urging them to exercise patience and tolerance to avoid conflict. He argued that for the welfare of the colony, it was crucial that the separatists and the strangers learn to live together. It was a stance that did not come easily to the Leiden group who saw themselves as spiritually superior to the strangers. According to their religious beliefs, they were members of the elect, an exclusive group destined for salvation, also known as saints. All others, including the strangers, were destined for damnation. But the wisdom of Robinson's advice became clear as the passengers endured a long and harrowing voyage on the cramped Mayflower. Crammed into dark and suffocating makeshift

7:23 cabins with only four to 5 ft of headroom, they shared space with livestock, scattered belongings, and sloshing chamber pots. When they could keep food down, their diet consisted of stale biscuits, cheese, and salted beef and fish. Their misery was compounded by the fact that they had no idea what awaited them if they survived the journey, which proceeded at an agonizingly slow pace. The Mayflower averaged just 2 m an hour as it battled strong westerly gales and the powerful Gulf Stream. At times, conditions were so severe that Captain Christopher Jones had to lie a hole, taking down all the sails and letting the Mayflower drift to reduce strain on the ship's structure.

8:02 But keeping the Mayflower and its passengers safe meant sacrificing hard-earned miles, and these strong winds made for rampant seasickness, too. One seasoned sailor taunted the sick with promises to toss their bodies overboard, only to fall ill and become the first to die himself. His body was tossed into the sea. The pilgrim leader William Bradford attributed the sailor's death to divine retribution, writing, "It pleased God to smite this young man with a grievous disease of which he died in a desperate manner." Another man plunged into the ocean during an especially fierce gale. A young servant named John Howen slipped off the deck and plunged into the freezing waters. He caught hold of a rope trailing the ship and clung on even as he was dragged more than 10 ft below the surface.

8:48 Fortunately, the crew grabbed a boat hook and managed to haul Howland back on board the ship. Then, midway through the voyage that October, a violent storm cracked the Mayflower's main beam, prompting Captain Jones to consider turning back. His crew members refused, though, fearing they would not be paid if they failed to complete the journey. Despite their inexperience, the passengers banded together to help the crew repair the damage. They used a large iron screw jack to clamp the mass of broken timber back into place. With a support post wedged beneath it, the beam was stable enough for the journey to continue. But by early November, the Mayflower was 9 weeks into a voyage that should have been completed in midsummer.

9:27 Passengers had exhausted their firewood and were scraping the bottoms of their water casks. Even more troubling was the dwindling beer supply, an essential resource in an age when water was often unsafe to drink. As ration shrank, signs of scurvy appeared, including bleeding gums, loose teeth, and foul breath. On November 6th, a 15-year-old servant became the second to die on board. All knew that more would follow if they didn't reach land soon, but no one knew how much longer they would have to travel. Captain Jones could estimate latitude and knew that storms had carried them farther north than their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. But gauging longitude was much more difficult. sailors would not have a reliable tool for measuring their east west position for another 140 years. And this meant that Jones and his crew were in the dark about how much further west they needed to

10:17 sail. Imagine it's just after 7:00 in the morning on November 9th, 1620. You're the pilot and second mate of the Mayflower, and you're standing on the mid deck of the ship as it sails west across the Atlantic Ocean. The skies are clear and the crescent moon is fading into the sky as the sun rises behind you in the east. And as you gaze west, you make out a thin gray ridge on the horizon. Your heart starts racing and you call out, "Land hoe." Your captain, Christopher Jones, rushes over. As he follows your gaze, his face breaks out in a wide grin. My god, we've actually done it. What land is that? I'm almost certain it's Cape Cod. There's no mistaking those sandy hills. You're one of the only members of the crew who have sailed to New England before. But as Jones takes in your words, concern washes over his face. But Cape Cod must be 200 m north of our destination. We're supposed to carry these people to the

11:13 Hudson River. I'd forget about the Hudson. The Cape is the safest place to anchor between Virginia and Maine, and it's full of cod. The colonist stand to make a pretty profit in fishing. All you have to do is turn her northeast and sail around the tip of the Cape. Jones stares up at the sails, checking the wind direction. From the set of his jaw, it seems he's made up his mind about something. I don't give a damn about fishing profits. We've already lost two people, so my only priority is getting the rest off this ship as soon as possible. The wind is coming from the north, moving south. If we follow it, we'll arrive at the Hudson in a couple of days. A journey north around the tip of the Cape could take much longer.

11:49 Well, yes, but if we turn south, we'll be sailing blind. We don't have any reliable charts of the waters between the southern cave and the Hudson. Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take. Phone squats by the hatch that opens down to the helmsman and the steerage below. Turn us 65° port. Maintain course southwest. Slowly the ship begins to swing souths southwest. The northerly wind filling and tightening the sails. The captain looks out on the horizon with new resolve, but you can't shake your nerves. The passengers and the crew are at their breaking point, and you're not sure it's worth the danger of sailing into the uncharted waters of an unknown coast.

12:31 Just after dawn on Thursday, November 9th, 1620, seabirds circled over the Mayflower, and the color of the water lightened to a pale green. In the clear morning light, the crew spotted a distant line of bluffs. Soon, sandy tree covered hills emerged into sight. After 65 grueling days at sea, they had finally spotted land. It was the backside of Cape Cod, a sickle-shaped peninsula in modern-day Massachusetts. But their relief was tempered by the realization that they were more than 200 m off course from their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River, where the colonists had been granted illegal permission to settle.

13:09 Captain Jones weighed his options, desperate to get the alien passengers ashore as quickly as possible. To reach Cape Cod Bay, he would need to sail north around the hooked tip of the Cape. Had there been a southern wind that morning, he might have steered that way, regardless of the colonist's charter. But the wind was blowing hard from the north. So Jones decided that the quickest course was to follow the wind, skirting the backside of the Cape in the direction of the Hudson and keep with the original plan. But in 1620, there was no reliable English charts of the waters between the bottom of Cape Cod and the Hudson River. This meant that Jones would be sailing with no knowledge of the dangers that might await. And after only a few hours, he unknowingly entered one of the Atlantic Ocean's most treacherous areas, an intricate maze of sholes and breakers known as Pollock Rip. By afternoon, the wind died down

13:59 and the tide fell and the ship became trapped in dangerously shallow water. With daylight waning, the crew prepared to anchor. But doing so near the shos risked disaster. Just in time, the wind shifted, allowing them to escape. Finally recognizing the dangers of pressing on, Jones made a fateful choice. He decided to turn around and head northeast back to Cape Cod. It would be there on the shores of New England and not the Hudson River that the pilgrims would begin their new life. But as the Mayflower sailed north, tensions boiled over, putting the future of the new settlement in peril.

14:36 Imagine it's the night of November 9th, 1690, and you're on board the Mayflower as it drifts a few miles off the coast of Cape Cod. The air below deck is thick with a sour smell of unwashed bodies, damp wood, and stale ale. You sit on a chest of clothing huddled close with a dozen men. With the Puritan separatists out of earshot, the rest of you are discussing the news that you're now going ashore in New England, not the Hudson River, as originally planned. A man named Steven Hopkins puts voice to what you're all thinking. Well, look, if we're really going to settle in Cape Cod, then we're well beyond the domain of the Virginia Company. You know what that means? Once we step foot on land, no one is obligated to follow orders. The other men shift in their seats uneasily. You can feel tension coiling deep in your gut. You mean to stir up trouble the moment we go ashore? I'm simply stating

15:37 the facts. It's every man for himself. I, for one, have no interest in bending a knee to a group of zealots. A low murmur of agreement ripples through the group. But you think about your debts to the investors back in London, the men who paid for your passage here. Well, look, I I don't care much for these people either, but they mean us no harm. We must think about what's best for the colony. Best for the colony? What do people who have spent their entire lives with their noses in the Bible know about what's best for the colony? I'm the only man on this ship who survived in America before I lived in Jamestown, remember? I know what it's like to starve, to have to tear down your own home for firewood.

16:13 I know what's waiting for us, and it isn't salvation. But that's exactly it. We're about to face the most dangerous situation of our lives. There could be strange beasts, hostile natives. The only way to survive will be to work together. Well, you go ahead and cast your lot with those religious radicals. But me, I'm going to trust my gut. If you're a man of reason, then join me. We'll do what we need to do to survive. As you stare into the hollow faces of the men around you, you know Hopkins words are hitting their mark. After 65 days at sea, they're all starving, sick, and turning mutinous. It's clear that something must be done to bind this group together before your differences lead to your ruin.

16:57 On the night of November 9th, 1620, long simmering tensions exploded on board the Mayflower. The Virginia Company's Royal Charter gave it territorial rights over a large swath of the Mid-Atlantic coast. The colonists had secured a patent from the Virginia Company to settle at the northern part of the territory near the Hudson River. But the news that the ship would be landing more than 200 miles north of their legal patent prompted some of the strangers to declare that they were no longer bound by any authority. They began talking of going their own way once they went ashore. The strangers made up roughly half the passengers, and many were troubled by the idea of joining a community led by religious radicals. But other strangers, especially those with close ties to the investors back in London, understood that cooperation would be crucial to the success of the colony. They formed an alliance with the Puritan separatists

17:48 who looked to the example of their Reverend John Robinson. In Robinson's farewell letter, he had advised them to become a body politic using amongst yourselves civil government. He also admonished them to obey any laws drawn up by their duly elected officials. In the end, cooler heads prevailed as leaders on both sides recognized the urgent need for some sort of unifying agreement before going ashore. Over the next day, the passengers hammered out what came to be known as the Mayflower Compact. They agreed to join together and govern themselves by common consent, enacting whatever laws proved necessary for the general good. In the decades to come, this Mayflower Compact would be remembered for having laid the foundation for self-government in British North America. But it was not a constitution or an elaborate blueprint for democracy. In fact, the compact opened with a declaration of loyalty to

18:40 the British king. Instead, it was a pragmatic agreement forged in crisis. The men aboard the Mayflower were simply trying to find a way to preserve a colony that was in danger of coming apart before it was even established. The next day, on the night of November 10th, 1620, the Mayflower anchored near the northern tip of Cape Cod, waiting for daylight to sail around the curling peninsula and enter what is now known as Province Town Harbor. Before anyone could disembark, all able-bodied men were required to sign the Mayflower Compact. And at dawn on November 11th, 41 men gathered in a cramped cabin to sign the agreement, affirming their commitment to self-governance. They represented roughly 90% of the adult male passengers, including servants and laborers. In accordance with the customs of the day, no women participated. Next, they unanimously elected Puritan separatist John Carver as their first

19:34 governor. Carver was one of the most respected men in the congregation and the wealthiest man on board. Not only had he played a major role in securing funding for the voyage, but he had also contributed a significant amount of his own personal savings. So with the immediate threat to the colony averted, Captain Christopher Jones sailed into the calm waters of Province Town Harbor. The passengers were immediately greeted by the sight of a pot of whales, a welcome omen for the starving passengers. But with no harpoons or nets on board the ship, they could only watch. It was quickly becoming clear that they were illquipped for what lay ahead. Though the pilgrims were relieved to have survived the voyage, they were also filled with a new sense of dread.

20:14 Their home was 3,000 mi of ocean away. The nearest English outpost was 500 mi south in Jamestown. Their clothing, already rotting from sea damp, was useless against the biting New England cold. William Bradford looked at the low, sandy land before them, describing it as a hideous and desolate wilderness full of wild beasts and wild men. He would later write, "Being thus past the vast ocean and a sea of troubles, they now had no friends to welcome them, nor ends to entertain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies." But Bradford was also overcome by feelings of awe and wonder. Looking back on that first morning, he would write, "What could now sustain them but the spirit of God and his grace?" With the Mayflower safely anchored, Bradford and 15 other men decided to venture ashore for the first time. They boarded a small boat and made their way to shore. And when they finally stepped foot on dry land, they

21:07 fell to their knees in gratitude. Over the next few hours, they walked along the windswept dunes, gathering fresh firewood to take back to the ship. The sandy coastline was covered with trees, but there were no signs of any human life. What the pilgrims did not yet know was that the region had recently been ravaged by a catastrophic epidemic. Coastal New England was previously home to around 70,000 people across 69 villages. But between 1616 and 1619, a mysterious disease spread by European fishermen killed up to 90% of the local native population. So when the pilgrims arrived, the land appeared eerily empty with no apparent threats from local Indians. Still, over the next month, the pilgrims clung to the Mayflower, while smaller scouting parties searched the length of the Cape for a suitable place to settle before winter sent in. They had quickly decided against the outer Cape where they first landed because of

22:01 its rugged terrain, and dry, sandy soil. They needed to find a location with a harbor, fresh water, fertile land, timber, and plentiful fish and game. And most of all, they hoped to find a navigable waterway that would provide access to inland trade routes. To that end, on November 15th, another scouting party went ashore under the direction of Captain Miles Stish, the stranger serving as their military leader. Stannis was a short, broad-shouldered man with reddish hair. Nicknamed Captain Shrimp, he was forced to shorten his sword to keep it from dragging on the ground. He also had a short fuse that alienated some of the colonists. Back in England, Stannis had been chosen as the pilgrim's military leader over the vastly more experienced Captain John Smith, who had helped found Jamestown.

22:46 Although Smith possessed deep knowledge of the region, and had even given New England its name, the pilgrims rejected him, fearing his strong personality would overpower their religious vision. Smith complained that the pilgrims had decided that books and maps were better to teach them than myself. The scouting party would now feel the impact of that decision. Smith's map of New England clearly showed the area around the Charles River near modern-day Boston as the most suitable settlement site, but Standish insisted on exploring the entire 50-mi coastline of Cape Cod's Bayshore. But he had only marched the scouting party a mile down the beach when they spotted six Indian men walking toward them. The group quickly vanished into the trees. Standish and his men tried to chase them, but they soon fell back due to exhaustion. They continued exploring over the next two days, camping on the beach with guards posted.

23:37 On November 17th, they came across a freshly smooth mound of sand. They began digging and soon uncovered a large cache of corn stored in baskets. Although they had bought seeds for wheat, barley, and peas on board the Mayflower. The pilgrims feared their crops would not grow well in the New England climate, a worrying prospect when their food stores were already low. They decided to take the corn back to the ship, vowing to repay the owners later. By late November, the pilgrims had repaired a larger boat, a 35- ft shallop that they had brought on the Mayflower and stored in pieces. With the shallop, they launched a third expedition, this time with more than 30 men joining. As the men went ashore, they confronted snow and bitter cold that caused their wet shoes and stockings to freeze. Frostbite and sickness forced some of the men to return to the ship, but not before looting more buried corn along the way.

24:29 The rest continued exploring and soon came upon a large grave. If they had any reservations about disturbing Indian graves, they ignored them and began digging. Beneath dishes and personal items, they found two wrapped bundles. The smaller bundle contained the remains of a native child and some strings of beads. A larger bundle contained a skull with strands of blonde hair. clearly the remains of a European man. They stole the items they deemed most valuable and refilled the graves. Later that day, they discovered some abandoned Indian homes and decided to help themselves to more household goods. Although they intended to leave beads or some other tokens of peace for stealing the Indian belongings, they forgot in their haste to return to the Mayflower and returned with their booty without leaving any compensation. The pilgrims explorations had revealed that despite their initial impressions, the land was far from

25:21 empty, and the remains of the European in the grave were a reminder of the life and death stakes they faced. As December loomed, the pilgrims confronted worsening weather, dwindling food supplies, and the growing threat of disease. They knew that as temperatures dropped, sea travel would become impossible. So, they needed to find a site and start building a colony before it was too late.

25:55 In December 1620, the pilgrims continued their desperate search for a permanent settlement site before winter set in. On December 6th, Mayflower's two pilots and a dozen colonists boarded the shallot for another scouting expedition. Following the curve west along the Cape shoreline over the next two days, they spotted more Indians and abandoned dwellings. When they camped, they formed barricades around themselves using tree trunks and branches with a small opening where Sentinel stood watch. Early in the morning on December 8th, they were preparing breakfast at their barricaded campsite when they were startled by a terrifying cry. One of their guards came running from the woods, shouting, "Indians! Indians!"

26:35 All at once, arrows started flying as the pilgrims scrambled to light their musketss. They estimated that there were roughly 30 Indians firing arrows from the trees. Most of the Englishmen were armed with cumbersome matchlocks, musketss with long wicks that needed to be lit by hand to ignite the gunpowder. The former mercenary Miles Stish had a more advanced snaplock musket and was able to begin firing while the others were still dipping matches into the campfire. Some of the Englishmen were even forced to run for the shallop where they had left their matchlocks behind.

27:05 So, one of the men guarding the barricade picked up a burning log from the fire and ran with it to the shallop so that the men on board could light their musketss. The Indian warriors continued firing their long bows until heavy gunfire finally forced them to retreat. Amazingly, the pilgrims were unharmed. They gave a brief chase to show strength, then returned to their camp. The sight of the attack would be forever known as First Encounter Beach. Although no lives were lost, this skirmish showed there was no guarantee that the pilgrims could settle peacefully. But they took comfort in having forced the Indians to retreat.

27:40 William Bradford later wrote, "Thus it pleased God to vanquish our enemies and give us deliverance." Little did the pilgrims know, their attackers were the owners of the corn they had stolen 3 weeks earlier. After picking up their things, the scouting party then sailed on, traveling west while hugging the southern shore of Cape Cod Bay. From his previous travels, Mayflower pilot Robert Coppen remembered a spot with a good harbor and a navigable river. He called it Thievish Harbor. But as the scouts searched for the harbor that afternoon, temperatures plunged. Sleet and salt spray drenched them as they struggled to navigate the shallop through the roaring gale. The rudder then snapped, forcing the men to steer the sailboat with their oars. Then that night, the shallop had become almost completely unmanageable when CoppPen cried out, "Be of good cheer. I see the harbor." Squinting through the darkness, he believed that

28:30 they had finally reached Thievish harbor. But as they tried to sail on against the howling wind, the shallop's mast splintered into pieces. They had no choice but to pick up their oars and row. Coppen's heart then sank when he realized he had been mistaken. Rather than a safe harbor, they were heading toward a wave pounded beach. Fortunately, the men managed to use their orars to steer themselves out of danger. They soon found calmer waters, but they had no idea where they were or what they should do next. Imagine it's a bitterly cold night in December 1620. You're a sailor and you're on board a damaged shallop in Cape Cod Bay with more than a dozen other men. You're soaked to the bone.

29:13 Your hands are frozen and stiff and you can barely see a thing. Tempers are frayed and you're debating your next move. One of the pilgrims, a man named Richard, drops his ore in his lap and pulls his soden coat tighter around his shoulders. Well, I say we spend the night on board the ship. We can't risk another ambush. It's pitch black. Those Indians could be anywhere. You wipe the cold salt spray from your eyes, fixing him with a hard stare. Yeah. And then what? We sit here shivering all night in the rain. Now I say we go ashore, build our fire, dry our clothes, and keep warm. We don't know this coast. The Indians could be waiting in those woods, ready to take their revenge after this morning's attack. We have to stay put.

29:52 No, we have to go ashore. And if the Indians attack, we'll attack back. I wager we can defend ourselves again. Anyway, I'd sooner take an arrow in the heart or a tomahawk to the skull than sit here shivering until my bones give way. You gaze past Richard to the shore. It's a dark, shapeless blur in the night. Fear creeps at the edges of your thoughts as you contemplate what might be waiting in the trees, but you can't let the others see it. Look, I know everyone is shaken by today's events, but now is not the time to give up. So, I'm going ashore to build a fire. Those who want to live can come with me. The rest are free to spend the night on board the shallop and freeze.

30:30 A dozen ghostly faces stare back at you, but one by one they pick up their oars, and together you begin to grope your way through the darkness and guide the shallop toward the beach ahead. You knew joining the crew of the Mayflower would be dangerous. But this voyage has been more than you bargain for. All you can do now is light a fire and pray you make it to sunrise. On the night of December 8th, the pilgrims made their way to shore and built a fire despite their fears of another Indian attack. They were grateful for their decision when temperatures fell below freezing later that night. The next day, the skies cleared and the scouting party realized that they were on an island at the edge of a large sheltered bay. As they took stock of their surroundings, their excitement grew, realizing that this might be an ideal location to settle.

31:18 They spent the day cutting down a tree to serve as a new mast for the damaged shallop. On Sunday, December 10th, they rested in observance of the Sabbath. And the next day, they finally sailed on to the far western shore of Cape Cot Bay. As the pilgrims continued to explore, they found cleared fields suitable for farming and a nearby stream containing fresh water. They named the site New Plymouth after the harbor they sailed from in England. Despite the popular legend, though, none of the pilgrims made any mention of stepping on the large boulder on the shore that later became known as Plymouth Rock. The next day, the scouting party returned to the Mayflower in good spirits, but their joy didn't last. When William Bradford arrived, he received devastating news.

32:00 While he was gone, his 23-year-old wife, Dorothy, had fallen overboard and drowned in the calm waters of Provincetown Harbor. The circumstances of her death would remain a mystery. It was unusual for a person to fall overboard while a ship lay at anchor, causing many to wonder if despair, homesickness, or grief over the separation from her three-year-old son had driven her to suicide. And although Bradford felt the loss deeply, he made no mention of Dorothy's death in his writings, except for a short poem he penned years later, in which he wrote, "Faint not, poor soul, and God still trust. Fear not the things thou suffer must." But Dorothy was not the only one to die on board the anchored Mayflower.

32:41 A servant, a 7-year-old child, and an elderly man all died from illness in the same week. The death toll made the need to begin building their settlement all the more urgent. So on December 15th, 1620, the Mayflower sailed into Plymouth Harbor, bringing the exhausted passengers to shore. After days of additional scouting, the pilgrims chose a site near Plymouth Rock, favoring its high ground, access to freshwater, and land the previous inhabitants had cleared for planting. Little did the pilgrims know, though, the site they had chosen for their settlement was a place known to the local Wampenog Indians as Puxenit. It was once a thriving village of 2,000 people, but it had been completely decimated by the recent epidemic. No native dwellings remained, and apart from the cleared fields, the only sign of a recent Indian presence were sunbleleached skulls and bones still scattered on the ground. Bradford

33:33 wrote that it was a very sad spectacle to behold. But the pilgrims interpreted this desolation as divine providence, a sign from God confirming the righteousness of their mission to settle in the new world. And soon they decided to establish their settlement between two hills, what they called Koh's Hill, where they plan to build homes, and Fort Hill, where they plan to position the cannons they had brought from England. They hoped to begin building on the morning of December 21st, but violent storms delayed construction and stranded the settlers on shore without food. When the weather cleared, they began cutting down and clearing trees. And finally, on Christmas Day, they raised the frame of their first house. But because of the shallowess of the harbor, they had no choice but to anchor the Mayflower a mile offshore. Settlers were forced to ferry supplies through freezing water.

34:21 And before long, dysentery, pneumonia, and scurvy spread through the colony, and death became a daily reality. As winter went on, an illness and exposure ravaged Plymouth. Only a handful were left to build the settlement, care for the sick, and bury the dead. All the while they could not shake the feeling that Indians were hidden nearby, watching them grow weaker and patiently waiting for their chance to strike from Wondery. This is episode two of our four-part series, The Mayflower for American history tellers. In the next episode, a brutal winter takes a deadly toll on Plymouth Colony. A lone Indian emerges from the woods and walks into the settlement, paving the way for an unexpected alliance. And the pilgrims attempt to end their hunger crisis by planting their first crops.

35:15 American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Mohammad Shazi. Sound design by Molly Bach. Music by Thum. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Senior producer Andy Becker. Executive producers are Jenny Lowour Beckman and Marshall Louie for Wondery.

Questions about this episode

What is "The Mayflower | A Sea of Troubles | American History Tellers" about?

In November 1620, as the Pilgrims search for a suitable site for their new settlement in Cape Cod, they stumble upon buried baskets of corn, igniting a moral dilemma about stealing from the Indigenous people who once inhabited the land. Led by William Bradford, they confront the harsh realities of survival, weighing the urgency of their own needs against the evident presence of those who once…

What is mentioned in this American History Tellers episode?

49 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Mayflower, Cape Cod, Hudson River, William Bradford, Jamestown, New World. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Mayflower | A Sea of Troubles | American History Tellers"?

The episode runs 36 min; the transcript is about 6,380 words in 48 timestamped sections.

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