The document written by the Pilgrim leader William Bradford that we read and the animated video that we watched offer an introduction to the very small group of migrants that in 1620 built one of the few lasting English American settlements, Plymouth Plantation.
Below, share a detail that you learned from the video and/or document that was previously unknown to you. There will be something : )
I did not previously know that the Native American chief and the Pilgrims had signed the friendship treaty. It is also very interesting that it lasted as long as it did.
ReplyDelete(Sakari)
DeleteI agree, I honestly didn't really think about the settlers that had better relationships with the natives that often, it's interesting.
I also thought this was interesting. It is strange how much their relationship changed later on.
DeleteIt's so interesting how different groups of Europeans managed to have such different relationships with the natives.
DeleteI didn't know this either, I wouldn't have expected them to sign this treaty based off of the other relationships between the Europeans and the natives.
DeleteI totally agree, and find it a bit frustrating that these two, very different people, were in fact capable of living in harmony, but the English had to ruin it.
DeleteI agree, given other interactions between Native Americans and Europeans that we know about, I did not think that the Pilgrims and Natives would actually have become friendly.
DeleteI agree, it is very interesting that such different groups of people were able to live in harmony.
DeleteI agree, and I also like your point about how long it lasted.
DeleteI find it interesting that the friendship lasted as long as it did because the Natives were useful, and it really tells to how the Pilgrims behaved.
Delete(Sakari)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to sound really stupid for this but I never really thought about the little things, like how the pilgrims couldn't wash their clothes for months? That's really gross, but my brain never registered the fact that they didn't have running water to spare for that. Or the fact that not everyone got off the ship at the same time. Like, they sent a small group to land first, which makes sense, but my brain just never thought about it. It's weird.
I also think their lack of cleanliness is gross, especially on a small ship where they are all together all the time. I wonder how their hygiene was when they were off the ship, because I know their ideas of health and cleaning were very different then.
DeleteI agree with this, it is crazy that they didn't have running water and I wonder if their hygiene improved on land.
DeleteSame, we barely think about the day-to-day things that we give no second thought to, but these little things could of been the reasons for death (famine, disease, etc.)
DeleteI also found this interesting. Sometimes, the little things may be very crucial. The pilgrims needed to learn these little things to survive.
DeleteLack of hygine is something that isn't really mentioned because nowadays we take it for granted, but back then they didn't have any of the tech we have now.
DeleteI never thought about the fact that the pilgrims themselves could not afford to fund their own voyage, and instead had merchants pay for their trip. Even though I knew it was a long trip, I didn't realize how slowly the boat went. I also didn't know that more people died on the ship after they found land then while they were sailing.
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting as well. It shows how risky voyages like this can be, because they are so expensive and dangerous. If the expedition fails, then you are wasting resources an losing lives for nothing.
DeleteIt was really strange to me as well how even though they spent the trip there only losing 2 people, while when they got to America the rate of death went up sharply.
DeleteI had heard of Squanto before, but the details in the article about his relationship with English surprised me. The things that he taught them about corn and fishing, as well as the way he actually helped them make a profit. The line that surprised me the most was that Squanto "never left them till he died." After hearing about all the tense relationships between natives and Europeans, I was not expecting this. It makes me think about how if there was no desire for power and control, different groups of people could learn so much more from eachother.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I was also very surprised when I heard how loyal Squanto and Samasett were to the Pilgrims. This could have been what their relationship looked like for years to come, but I guess the English just felt so threatened by such kind people.
DeleteI agree. To think of all the culture they must have shared, as well as how kind Squanto was to take all the pilgrims in. This was true cultural diffusion and human empathy unmarred by anything other than the need to survive.
DeleteI didn't know that the Pilgrims met Samasett before Squanto, and that he introduced them to Squanto. I also didn't realize that Squanto literally helped the Pilgrims with everything, from finding food to guiding them to places, and that he helped them until he died.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this, I didn't even know who Samasett was! It's crazy how we only hear about Squanto and never any other Native Americans from the 1600s.
DeleteI also didn't know this, but I also didn't know how the Natives treated the Pilgrims so well, and they payed the Native Americans back by wiping them out.
DeleteI did not know that the Pilgrims were planning on making any money in the New World, less so share it with England. I thought they were only going to seek religious freedom, but I guess they were hoping to make bank in the Americas as well.
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting as well, because from what we learned at first, we know that the Pilgrims traveled here in order to express their religion the way that they wanted, and we didn't really learn about how they wanted to make money here as well.
DeleteI also didn't realize this. Its just so telling as to the fact that no stable society can be created without a strong economy.
DeleteThis also surprised me, because I thought the whole point of the pilgrim venture was to find a religious haven
DeleteI did not know that the Pilgrims had become acquainted and were on rather friendly terms with the local Natives there. With help from the Natives, the Pilgrims were able to learn how to plant corn, fish, navigate the lands, and how to store goods. Having a beneficial mutual relationship between the Natives and the Pilgrims proved useful, and was a big key in the Pilgrims' survival.
ReplyDeleteI know! it's crazy to see how much help the natives gave to the pilgrims just to later have their land stolen away from them by those same people.
DeleteThe mutually beneficial relationship was great, and I wish it hadn't fallen apart. Our nation would probably look a whole lot better if it hadn't.
DeleteI did not realize how strong the relationship between the natives and pilgrims was. Without Squanto's help the pilgrims genuinely had no real clue of what they were doing. I knew that the pilgrims were quite unexperienced but I didn't realize just how much help they received and how badly they needed it.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Without the help of the Natives, the Pilgrims would've surely starved or froze to death, as this was a life that they were not accustomed to in the Americas, versus their past lives in Europe. They didn't know how to grow crops, to fish, to store food correctly, to even wash their clothes, and badly needed guidance on what to do from the Natives.
DeleteI didn't know, or maybe it just didn't register, that some Natives spoke English just by hearing it from the settlers. I don't know how I thought that they communicated, but I definitely didn't think it was through use of the English language.
ReplyDeleteWhat I didn't know about the pilgrims was that the children where doing a lot of work that the adults did since I never expected that they were to little to do a lot of the work they did.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think that the children were really doing much. I was surprised at how many chores they had to do. I always thought they kind of just hung around.
ReplyDeleteI had the same impression! On one hand I feel really bad for them because you would assume that they're playing and learning instead of having to take on all these chores, but on the other hand, I'm really impressed by their work ethic and resilience. I feel like they would have been spectacular people to know and I can only imagine how their experience shaped their lives.
DeleteI did not previously know that the pilgrims and the natives had such a strong and developed relationship. The natives were genuinely nice to the pilgrims, and helped them to settle down in their colonies. They had a mutually beneficial relationship.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that the Native Americans buried fish with their corn as food for the plants. Thinking about it it does make sense, but I imagine it made for very smelly crops. I wonder whether any of the pilgrims saw this as a waste of food.
ReplyDeleteI didnt know that the pilgrims went months without cleaning their clothing as a result of their conditions. thats kinda poop.
ReplyDeleteSomething I previously did not know was how slow the boats traveled over sea, the video stated that the mayflower traveled at a steady speed of only two miles per hour. That very slow compared to what we have today. Our cars, not even the top branded, can reach a more than thirty times that speed.
ReplyDeleteI knew that the trip over was bad, but not nearly as terrible as described, especially the storm halfway through, which I hadn't known about/its consequences, like how the boat took damage from it, which for some reason I hadn't considered under the assumption that somehow a wooden boat would suffer no harm in high winds and waves.
ReplyDeleteSame. I guess the difficulties of colonial sea travel didn't fully sink (ha) in until it was described as clearly as that.
DeleteI agree. I never fully knew the specific details of what made the journey so treacherous.
DeleteEthan Lader
DeleteI did not know that the Pilgrims and the Natives signed a Peace treaty, and it is a little bit counterintuitive, because out of all the Europeans, you would think the Pilgrims would be some of the most pretentious, racist, Europeans of them all.
ReplyDeleteSame. Before this I always thought that it was always a more contentious relationship between both groups.
DeleteI did not know how bad the trip was for the Pilgrims, since sea travel today is not horrible. The conditions of the Pilgrims on the ship were quite bad as well as how slow the ship moved.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that the first destination that the Pilgrims arrived at was inhospitable, and that the first band of explores traveled ten miles inland without finding any Native Americans or any farmable land.
ReplyDeleteI never knew the pilgrims themselves could not afford to fund their own voyage, and instead had merchants pay for their trip. I also didn't realize long the trip was, and how many people died on the journey. This puts thing into perspective because, today, we can just hop on a plane and arrive safely, with no risk of dying on the way.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. It's impossible to imagine being in their shoes considering how relatively better our lives are today.
DeleteI didn't know that the journey from England had been so dangerous, or that they considered turning back often. I also didn't know how big of a role children played.
ReplyDeleteI heard of Squanto before reading this document, however I didn't know the extent his relationship went with the English. To an extent, Squanto and his tribe saved the Pilgrims and taught them things they needed to survive.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know that their was a time when their was peace between natives and Europeans, which I thought was always contentious.
ReplyDeleteEthan Lader
DeleteI do not think I fully realized how horrible the trip was, along with the fact that they could not wash themselves or maintain good hygiene while on the ship.
ReplyDelete