Pilgrims Land on New England Coast
Plymouth, New England, December 26, 1620 - About 100 worn and weary refugees from Old World persecution landed here today from the sailing vessel Mayflower to found the first settlement on the northern coast of the New World.
Women cried with joy and men shouted, some of then kneeling to kiss the land of the new home.
The settlers are members of a dissenting religious sect known as the Pilgrims, whose three month ocean voyage marks the culmination of years of persecution and a constant search for freedom of religious expression.
Actually New England is outside the area which the Pilgrims received permission of English proprietors to settle, but no difficulty is anticipated in obtaining the necessary formal permission.
The group is to be governed meanwhile by a compact drawn up during the voyage and signed by 41 men. Under this novel form of government, the Pilgrims pledge themselves to abide by laws passed by a majority of the group.
The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, September 16 with 101 passengers and a crew of 58. Several babies were born en route. The travelers' first glimpse of the New World was on November 19, near the tip of Cape Cod. The ship skirted the shore in search of "a suitable site for a village" and this harbor was discovered a week ago.
Their Wanderings
The establishment of Plymouth brings a climax a story of persecution and suffering reminiscent of the Middle Ages, a story brilliant, however, with the courage and heroism of men and women willing to fight for their right to religious freedom.
After worshiping in secret for many years, a small group of dissenters from the Church of England, left Scrooby, England about 12 years ago and eventually settled at Leiden, Holland.
While they found religious freedom in Leiden, they were still not completely satisfied. They found it difficult to earn a living in a strange land with a different language and customs, and above all they did not want to become assimilated by the Dutch. They wanted to remain Englishman.
The best solution to their problems seemed to lie in the suggestion that they and some associates still in England move to America where they could live according to their own ideas, yet continue to be English.
When the time came to leave Leiden for England on the first leg of the voyage, only a few of the group had the courage to face the task of making homes on a distant continent.
Printed in the News of the Nation, 05/24/1701