Pilgrims
-
- History Channel presents
- Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower
- Now available on DVD.
Q: Why did the Pilgrims want to sail to America in the
spring? Answer
The Pilgrims owed their lives to an English speaking native
they called Squanto,
who both translated for them with Massasoit and helped negotiate
the first Indian treaty, but who also taught the Pilgrims how
to cultivate and harvest native foods. He was generous with his
knowledge, teaching the Pilgrims survival skills in this new
land. I think Squanto would like the Web if he could reappear.
We are generous with our knowledge here, as well.
Here's how Squanto taught the Pilgrims to grow corn,
you can try it, too.
When the leaves of the oak tree are
as big as a mouse's ear [You know how little they are,
right?], put three or four corn seeds on
little mounds.
Put three fish on the mound, too, arranged
evenly with their mouths toward the seeds. [These days
we buy fish emulsion at the garden store.]
The fish will feed the corn as the corn
will feed you, with meal for bread and pudding. [Look
on the labels of food cans and boxes. Which ones can you find
that have "corn" or "corn-something" in them?
Hint: look on a Jell-O Pudding box.]
Guard your cornfields, for the wolves
will try to steal the fish. [Today it would probably be
the local cats, who will dig up your corn, looking for the fish
that smells so good -- to them. You'll not like the smell!].
 We used a wad of cotton balls
and a bit of leftover dinner fish or fish emulsion to duplicate
this method of growing corn. Put wet cotton in two clean jars
(Peanut butter or mayonnaise jars will do.). Into one bury the
bit of fish. Put 3-4 corn seeds from your local plant nursery
on each wad of cotton. Label the jars "Fish" and "No
Fish." Make a guess which corn will grow tallest. Put a
star on that label.
Close the jars, and put in a bathroom, or other dark room
that you visit occasionally, until the seeds begin to sprout.
Then you can move them to a sunny window sill. Keep your cats
away! Check with your finger to see if the cotton is starting
to feel dry. Add just enough water so the cotton feels damp,
not soggy. Measure the height of the sprouting corn each day.
Which grows faster?
 First
Thanksgiving Proclamation
It set aside the 29th of June as a day of Thanksgiving. Hmmm?
History
of Thanksgiving
From the History Channel: A Meal Without Forks | Mayflower Myths
| Pilgrim Interviews | Ask the Expert
Indians
and Colonists
Primitive man is believed to have arrived in Narragansett basin
in the late Pleistocene, about 6500 B.C. From then until the
English colonists came, fishing and hunting and local water transportation
in dugout canoes were the primary uses.
 John
Alden Museum
The most noted romance among the Pilgrims was between John Alden
and Priscilla Mullins. Their home is the last remaining structure
built by the colonists. House gif from this site.
Mayflower History
Possibly the most complete site for source documentation, especially
great for those tracing family trees.
Pilgrim
Clothing
Common colors include red, earthy greens, browns, blues,
violets, and grays. Contrary to popular myth, black and white
clothing was clearly not the most common colors worn.
Pilgrims'
1621 Thanksgiving
Includes list of foods that were available to the Pilgrims at
that time.
The Pilgrims
and Plymouth Colony:1620
Within these webpages are some lesson plans that are being made
available to assist you in the instruction of topics relating
to the Mayflower journey and Plymouth Colony.
Plimoth on the Web
Take a Virtual Tour of Plimoth Plantation if you can't visit
the museum in person.
Plymouth: It's
History and People
Information about the original Pilgrim town and its noted history.
The site to visit if you plan to travel to this town.
Plymouth Rock
Here is a stone which the feet of a few outcasts pressed for
an instant; and the stone becomes famous; it is treasured by
a great nation; its very dust is shared as a relic. Alexis De
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835. Unfortunately, as Plymouth Rock increased in fame, it began to decrease in size under the hands of souvenir hunters.
Plymouth
Rock
The fact of its identity has been transmitted from father to
son, particularly in the instance of Elder Faunce and his father,
as would be the richest inheritance, by unquestionable tradition.
The Scarlet Letter
The full novel, online. "On the breast of her gown, in fine
red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic
flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically
done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy,
that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to
the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance
with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed
by the sumptuary regulations of the colony."
Thanksgiving
Information From Indian Point of View
This is from The Center For World Indigenous Studies and The
Fourth World Documentation Project.
Thanksgiving
on the Net: Roast Bull with Cranberry Sauce
Setting people straight about Thanksgiving myths has become as
much a part of the annual holiday as turkey, cranberry sauce,
and pumpkin pie. But should historians bother? by Dr. Jeremy
D. Bangs, Director, Leiden American Pilgrim Museum.
Answer to riddle at the top of the
page: Because April showers bring May flowers!
* Thanksgiving Clip Art ideas from
Web
Clip Art on About.com
and Kids
Domain Thanksgiving Clip Art.
|