on the Speedwell
Montague Dawson
September 16, 1620: The Mayflower departs Plymouth.
Intwo months, the Mayflower crossed the Atlantic Ocean and anchored at a harbor in Cape Cod. She was carrying 121 passengers (including 30 crew members), around half of whom were members of (or related to members of) a Separatist congregation that had fled to the Netherlands from England to avoid persecution. Although the religious environment there was tolerant and open, some of the Separatists feared the “Dutchification” of their children and future conflict between the Netherlands and Spain, so, led by William Bradford, they decided to establish their own colony in the New World. Theirs would become the oldest English settlement in New England (although not the Americas - that was Jamestown).
Around forty of the passengers were planters, merchants, adventurers, and their families. This number included Myles Standish (“Captain Shrimp”), who served as the Plymouth colony’s primary military leader. In all, 74 males and 28 females arrived on the Mayflower - plus two dogs. This group referred to themselves as the “First Comers”; the term “Pilgrim” was not applied until the late 1700s. Few people died on this initial voyage, and one baby was even born en route. He was subsequently (and aptly) named Oceanus.