Common Mayflower Myths
#1) MYTH: Mayflower passengers were Puritans.
ANSWER: Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England, while Separatists took a more extreme approach--desiring to separate entirely from it. Mayflower passengers (at least those passengers belonging to the Pilgrim's church in Leyden) are properly classified as Separatists.
In general, Separatist views were not as extreme as Puritanical beliefs regarding social customs, but were more extreme when it came to separating ties with the established Church of England. There are also some significant differences between the Pilgrim and Puritan views regarding the relationship between Church and State. Both Puritanism and the Pilgrims' separatist movement, as well as Presbyterianism, descend from John Calvin and the Calvinists of the mid-1500s.
Puritans came to America starting about 1629, and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of Governor John Winthrop. After the English civil war, Puritans and Pilgrim-Separatist movements became indistinguishable, though they and their descendants tended to keep to separate Colonies even into the 1690s (primarily because of differing Church-State views rather than differing theological views).
For More Information: The Pilgrims' pastor John Robinson puts forth his beliefs on his Separatist movement in his book, The Justification for the Separation from the Church of England (1610). The distinctions between Separatists and Puritans are covered in depth in Orthodoxy in Massachusetts, 1630-1650, by Perry Miller, and is briefly summarized in Plymouth Colony: Its History and Its People, 1620-1691, by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, and The Puritans, by Thomas H. Johnson.
#2) MYTH: The Pilgrims stole the land for their Colony from the Indians, and mistreated them.
ANSWER: The Pilgrims arrived and found a place to settle, called Plymouth on Captain John Smith's map of 1614. The native Indians called the area Patuxet. The Patuxet tribe had been completely wiped out in a 1618 plague (probably smallpox), and so there was at the time no tribe inhabiting or claiming the land the Pilgrims settled. The only Patuxet survivor of the plague was Tisquantum, more commonly called "Squanto" (who had been in England at the time of the plague). Squanto was accepted into the Plymouth Colony and acted as interpreter and negotiator with Massasoit and the Wampanoag confederation of tribes--the Pilgrims nearest neighbors.
The Wampanoag never overtly challenged the Pilgrims' right to live on the land (until 75 years later), and in fact it appears Massasoit liked the idea of having Englishmen neighbors and allies because it increased his own power within the region by keeping his enemies at bay.
#3) MYTH: The Mayflower passengers always wore black and white clothes, without any color, and had big buckles.
ANSWER: Wearing only colorless clothing was occasionally a Puritan extreme, but not a Separatist extreme. When a Mayflower passenger died, an inventory of the person's estate was taken by the Court, for purposes of probate. These inventories show that John Howland had two red waistcoats. William Bradford had a green gown, violet cloak, lead colored suit with silver buttons, and a red waistcoat. And William Brewster had green drawers, a red cap, and a violet coat. Black, white, grey, and brown were by far the most common colors worn by the Pilgrims, but were definitely not the only colors.
The Pilgrims did not have buckles on their clothing, shoes, or hats. Buckles did not come into fashion until the late 1600s--more appropriate for the Salem Witchcraft trials time period than for the Pilgrims time period.
You can follow this link for more information and sources on Pilgrim clothing.
#4) MYTH: The Mayflower made a second voyage to America.
ANSWER: The Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to America was never used again as a passenger ship. From its return in April 1621 until the death of its master Christopher Jones in March 1621/2, it resumed its former occupation as a trading vessel. After Christopher Jones' death, the ship sat in harbor slowly decaying while it was in probate. Christopher Jones gave his part of the ship to his widow, Josian, and in 1624 an inventory of the Mayflower was taken. It is described as being "in ruinis", and valued at £128-08-04 (a ship of its size should have been worth about £1000 pounds). Ships in this condition were always broken up and sold for scrap wood--an extremely valuable commodity in England at the time.
There is no evidence as to who purchased the wood or riggings. The claim that the wood was used to build a barn in Jordan, England, is made without any credible evidence. For sources and a history of the ship Mayflower, click here.
#5) MYTH: The Mayflower passengers were mostly old men.
ANSWER: This is one of the most prevailing stereotypes, and couldn't be further from the truth. The average age of a Mayflower passenger was 32. The oldest Mayflower passenger, James Chilton, was 64. Only five of the 104 Mayflower passengers were over 50--and only fourteen Mayflower passengers were over 40. About 60 passengers were between 20 and 40 years old. At least 30 passengers were under the age of 17.
As for a gender breakdown, there were about 51 men, 22 boys, 20 women, and 11 girls. The oldest Mayflower passenger still alive to partake in the first Thanksgiving was William Brewster, at the age of 54.
#6) MYTH: The Mayflower was headed for Virginia, but due to a gross navigational error they ended up making landfall at Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
ANSWER: This myth is caused by a failure to elaborate on the facts, rather than a misrepresentation of them. The Pilgrims in their writings and documents (including the Mayflower Compact itself) refer a place called "Northern Virginia." However, students are often left to assume that "Northern Virginia" is relative to the modern-day State of Virginia, thus suggesting the Mayflower was off course by almost 500 miles. This misconception that the Mayflower was drastically off course has even found its way into some otherwise decent documentaries and histories.
In fact, the Virginia Company (and thus the "state" of Virginia at the time) had rights to almost the entire eastern seaboard of America. When the Pilgrims say "Northern Virginia," they are referring to a region which on modern maps would be roughly southern New York State.
Based on numerous contemporary accounts, including Bradford's own History, it is quite clear that the Pilgrims originally intended to settle the Hudson River region (near Long Island, New York)--a part of Northern Virginia (although the Dutch also claimed the New York region). Once Cape Cod was sighted, they turned south to head for the Hudson River, but encountered treacherous seas and nearly shipwrecked. They then decided to return to Cape Cod rather than risk another attempt to head south.
#7) MYTH: The Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving every year.
ANSWER: The Pilgrims had the "first" Thanksgiving, but it was never made into an annual event. When William Bradford's History Of Plymouth Plantation was rediscovered in 1854, it brought a lot of interest and attention to the Pilgrims history. Encouraged by the lobbying of Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. Click here for more information on the "first" Thanksgiving.
#8) MYTH: During the famine of 1621, the Pilgrims were only rationed 5 kernals of corn to eat per day.
This was a myth that apparently began in 1820. It has no foundation in historical fact. Five kernals of corn would have no nutritional value whatsoever; yet not a single Pilgrim died from the food shortages of 1621. There was a shortage of planted crops that year, and hunger was a problem, but their diet was supplimented by enough fish, shellfish, nuts, waterfowl, turkeys and deer to keep everyone alive.