This is the story that was being worked on with all those steps. All those steps and this story was a research report, in case you were wondering.  Enjoy 🙂

Pilgrim Culture

Some games the Pilgrims played were tug of war, pillow pushing, and pitching the bar. Some foods they ate were fish, corn, and fowl.

They had some very different names too. One boy had the name Love.

Clothes were different also. The men wore a ruff around the neck and a felt hat on top of their head. Stockings came to just below the knee. Women wore things like a coif (a very tight hat), a jacket/ shirt item called a waistcoat, and petticoats.

Parents sometimes taught their children to read and write at home. Of course children memorized Bible verses too. That’s one of the reasons why the Pilgrims left their home in England after all.

Kids liked to play games such as shooting marbles through the “knicker box.” “The point of this game was to get the marbles through the arches without having them bounce back.”*

Kids had to do chores back then too. Some chores they did were fetching water and getting firewood.

scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/daily_life/games.htm

First Thanksgiving

Some foods they ate at the first Thanksgiving were: venison, stuffed cod, goose pudding, soup, fruit tarts, trifle, and much else. There was a party and they had a feast. The celebration lasted about a week. There was dancing also. A popcorn variation was part of the feast too. The women roasted some ducks over an open fire. Men had to hunt and kill for food. Ducks were probably the main course. In the Bay area where they lived waterfowl was plentiful.

The reason for the feast was to celebrate the Pilgrim’s first successful

harvest. Both Englishmen and Wampanoags alike celebrated with the feast.

Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday in 1863. To be exact he said it was to be celebrated on November 26, 1863.

New Land

When the Pilgrims came over to the new land the place they settled in was cleared and ready for planting. However they came late in the season and nearly starved to death. That all happened the first winter. Then Squanto came and helped them.

The geography was quite cold in the winter. They settled in what is now Cape Cod Bay.

In the new land what challenges faced them?

This question makes me think that they had many challenges. For example the first winter, where many pilgrims died. I wonder if some in their dying hour thought “Was this really worth it, or should’ve I just stay in England?” Could it be that many other people thought this? Not just the dying ones?

The Pilgrims did not refer to themselves as Pilgrims, but rather Old Comers.

Native Americans

Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to properly plant corn. Samoset was one of Squanto’s friends. Massasoit was the chief of the local Wampanoag tribe. Some Indians thought that Massasoit was dead.

Massasoit was not dead. Another time one boy got lost in the woods and he was found with another tribe, safe and sound. Another time the Wampanoag tribe was almost killed by eight other tribes.

Squanto’s tribe had lived on the land where the Pilgrims settled. Squanto was taken as a slave by the English men. That’s where he learned English. While he was a slave the rest of his tribe died of a horrible plague. He was the lone surviver of his tribe.

Mayflower

On the Mayflower the journey lasted about 66 days. There were about 100 people on the boat. About 50 of those 100 died. There were about 18 women on the boat and about 13 of those died. After the voyage was done you would have to wait for a house.  While you waited you lived on the Mayflower.

The Mayflower went from Plymouth, England to what is now Cape Cod Bay. When they sailed, they sailed southwest. They sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. They sailed in the season of autumn. The pilgrims got to the new world when it was getting colder. Therefore they had no success with crops. Many people died.

Thoughts for 66 days of unpleasant life on a tiny boat.

This thought makes me think some of the Pilgrim’s thoughts on the Mayflower were some stuff along the lines of: Is it all worth it, do I know what I’m doing, am I going to survive? The children’s thoughts might have been like this: I miss my friends and family. I’m realizing that they didn’t have a bath in 66 days. Also they started to starve. It must have been really hard not to whine or complain every 5 seconds. They also got seasick a lot.

Why Did The Pilgrims Leave England?

Some wanted fortune but most wanted religious freedom. Some also simply wanted a better life.

How difficult was life in England that the Pilgrims would leave their family and friends behind?

This question makes me think that some must have been very desperate for religious freedom. I wonder if some people left on the Speedwell, another ship that almost sunk, once they got off they decided it was safer to just stay back in England. Considering that, if you didn’t worship like the King in England and you were found you could be hung (killed), jailed, or at the least you could have your house and/or job taken away.

Leaving England meant leaving behind your family forever. You could never see them for Christmas or for birthdays. The reason for this is simple: you couldn’t just zip back and forth across the ocean.

Another thing that makes me wonder why would they leave England is that crossing the ocean is very dangerous. What if the boat would be tossed by waves and sunk? Or what if all is going well, and then the boat springs a leak in the middle of the ocean and the boat then sunk? This makes me think that it was really bad in England to not worship like the King.