Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction work Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War (#462) was published several years ago, but what prompted me to finally pick it up and read it now was hearing Mr. Philbrick interviewed on NPR as my husband and I were driving to our own family Thanksgiving on the Outer Banks. When you think of the First Thanksgiving, do you picture the Pilgrims in their quaint white-collared garb gathered around an outdoor table, sharing their feast with their Indian friends Massasoit and Squanto?  If you were ever in a school pageant, that's probably the version you and your classmates enacted.  Well, prepare to have those pretty myths dispelled.

In Mr. Philbrick's Mayflower, a much more accurate picture of the Pilgrims emerges; one much more nuanced and real, from their decision to leave England where they suffered for their religious beliefs for a more tolerant Holland.  During their time in Leiden, they realized that their children were losing their English identity.  It was time to find a new place to settle without corrupting influences, and the New World beckoned.  Never mind that they did not possess the skills necessary to survive in the wilderness: God would provide.  And He did, through the intervention of the Native Americans - a relationship that lasted peacefully throughout the lives of the first generation of Pilgrims.  But as the families of the original settlers reached adulthood, and set about establishing their own farms on what had previously been tribal lands, relationships began to sour. Fifty years after landing at Plymouth Rock, pressure to expand from Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north and Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south finally caused the spark that ignited King Phillip's War.  Never heard of it?  Probably not, if you're not a New Englander, but it was the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil in terms of lives lost in the percentages of both Europeans and Native Americans, and yes, we're counting Antietam.  Although the war technically ended with the death of Phillip in 1676, the wars on the frontiers wouldn't be over until two hundred year later so it was tremendously influential in its impact. 

Greed and ambition played a large role on both sides of the equation, just as moderation and fair play governed the actions of others.  There were heroes and villains on both sides.  Squanto is usually portrayed as one of the "good guys" in our mythology.  After reading Mr. Philbrick's Mayflower, you may find yourself changing your mind!  If you want to learn more about America's early days, the well-told Mayflower with  its unexpected twists is highly recommended!