THE STORY OF THE PILGRIMS:
STRUGGLE VS. SUCCESS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
CHAPTER 2: What is the History Behind the Settlement of Plymouth?
CHAPTER 3: What Were the Six Years of Squanto’s Life Before the Pilgrims’ Arrival?
CHAPTER 4: What Was the First Thanksgiving Like?
CHAPTER 5: Conclusion
GLOSSARY
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Did you know it took 66 days on the Mayflower to get from England to Plymouth? The Mayflower was the ship that the Pilgrims sailed to get from England to Plymouth. The colony of Plymouth became the second successful colony. The settlement was filled with very enthralling events. Squanto played an influential role. Lastly, the Plymouth colony was the site of the great first feast of Thanksgiving, which played an important role in history that still exists today. Even almost 400 years later we still celebrate it.
CHAPTER 2
WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND THE SETTLEMENT OF PLYMOUTH?
In 1620 102 Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean and sailed around Cape Cod Bay and landed on the coast of Massachusetts. The Pilgrims had landed on the land that would become the colony of Plymouth. It is possible that the Pilgrims had to fight for their land, due to the fact that the indian tribe the Wampanoags were on the land first. The Pilgrims landed by boat in a ship called the Mayflower. After sailing for about two months at sea they decided before going ashore they should draw up a plan of government, so they could live together in peace. Most of the men signed the agreement which is known as the Mayflower Compact. It is possible they made this agreement because the whole reason they moved to a new place was for religious freedom and peace. 
The Pilgrims arrived in the colony of Plymouth in the winter of 1620 and had to make their houses in the snowy weather and cold rain. Many of the Pilgrims were coughing and getting sick and sadly some came down with pneumonia. By the springtime of 1621 half of the Pilgrims had died. Only 52 people were left, 22 of those 52 survivors were children under the age of 16.
In March of 1621 a Native American named Squanto from the nearby Wampanoag tribe was kind enough to help the Pilgrims. He taught them how to plant corn, catch fish and get tasty syrup from the maple trees. After Squanto visited another Native American named Massasoit visited the Pilgrims. Massasoit was the chief of the Wampanoag tribe. He helped make a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe and they promised they wouldn't attack each other.
CHAPTER 3
WHAT WERE THE SIX YEARS OF SQUANTO’S LIFE LIKE BEFORE THE PILGRIMS’ ARRIVAL?
In 1614 Squanto, also known by the name Tisquantum, was kidnapped by an Englishman and taken to Spain. It took five years for Squanto to escape, but somehow he made it back to England. Squanto then got on a ship to get quickly back to his tribe. He got off the dark wood ship and rushed to his village that was located were Plymouth Massachusetts is today. His village was called Patuxet and it was part of the Wampanoag Nation. When Squanto arrived there was no one there, the wetus were empty and all of his tribe's things were gone. Due to reason Squanto set out to look for other Wampanoags who told Squanto there had been a terrible plague and up to a quarter of the Wampanoags had died. Apparently the Europeans had brought the illness to North America and Squanto’s tribe, the Wampanoags, had no protection from the illness. 
Over one year later in 1620,Squanto saw a dark wood ship in the horizon. Soon after Squanto saw the people on the ship getting off in the Patuxet region, where Squanto and the other Wampanoags lived, he went up to the people and realized that those people were English settlers.¨I speak English¨ quoted Squanto to the Pilgrims. This quote changed everything because the Pilgrims trusted Squanto more than any other Native Americans and Squanto trusted the Pilgrims more than any other English people he had met. Possibly Squanto learned English when he got captured by an Englishman.
Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, catch fish, find nuts and berries and how to get sweet savory syrup from the tall Maple trees. He also taught them the "three sisters," the three main agricultural crops of various Native American groups in North America. In this form of agriculture, squash, beans and corn are planted scrupulously together in what would later be called "companion farming,” this style helped weeds from growing. Is it possible Squanto only helped the Pilgrims because he didn't want what happened to his tribe happen to them, or is it possible that maybe Squanto just wanted to be part of a tribe since most of his tribe had died?
CHAPTER 4
WHAT WAS THE FIRST THANKSGIVING LIKE?
After Squanto helped teach the Pilgrims how to successfully plant crops, their first harvest was a success. Therefore, governor William Bradford organized a celebration feast. William Bradford in the years(1590-1620) was the founder and long time governor of the Plymouth colony. The feast organized by Bradford was based to be just like the feasts they used to have in England. In addition, William Bradford invited the Wampanoag tribe and their chief Massasoit. This feast included 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims,and lasted three days. This feast included food such as wild fowl, venison, Indian corn, passenger-pigeons, swan, eel, turnips, carrots, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, squash, onions, garlic and maybe wild turkey. Believe it or not there is no evidence that the Pilgrims ate turkey, although some historians believe they did. This feast is most commonly known as the first Thanksgiving. But did you know that the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving did not call this feast “Thanksgiving”, they referred to it as the Harvest Festival. This Harvest Festival lasted three days.
Interesting Rules
Where did the Pilgrims eat? Well, you might think that the Pilgrims ate inside, but the truth is not one of the Pilgrims had a house big enough to fit 150 people for dinner, so they ate outside in the middle of their only street, which they called “the street.” Imagine sitting outside on a breezy warm October day on a wood bench with a delicious plate of freshly harvested food sitting right in front of you.
The Pilgrims had to eat with limited items, they only had spoons, knifes and their hands. The Pilgrims ate meat with their hands because forks weren't introduced to the Pilgrims until about 10 years later, but even then it didn’t catch on until later in history.
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
As we only know so much from journals written over the years and historians’ research, we can only know a portion of what life was really like for the Pilgrims in 1620. The Pilgrims learned a difficult lesson that if you don’t fight for what you want, you will not succeed. For example, the Pilgrims fought through those harsh winters, sicknesses and a very low supply of food, but still got through it, managing to create a worldwide tradition. In addition, without the help of Squanto the Pilgrims wouldn’t have had the first Thanksgiving. Life now is nothing close to as challenging as life was then. Is it possible that these Pilgrims knew that their incredible feast, now known as the first Thanksgiving, would carry on almost 400 years later?
GLOSSARY
Enthralling Capturing and holding one's attention.
Pneumonia A lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection in which the air sacs fill with pus and may become solid.
Peace Treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties.
Wetus A domed hut, used by some Northeastern Native American tribes such as the Wampanoag. They were typically made out of sticks of red cedar and grass.
Plague A contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium (an acutely state of mind), typically with the formation of lymph node and sometimes infection of the lungs.
Wild fowl game birds.
Passenger Pigeons A long-tailed North American pigeon, noted for its long migrations in huge flocks.
Scrupulously close.
