Mayflower (ship)

Mayflower ship that in 1620 brought the Pilgrims from England to New England. She set out from Southampton in company with the Speedwell, the vessel that had borne some of the English separatists from the Netherlands back to England for the momentous voyage. However, the Speedwell proved unseaworthy, and the ships put back to Plymouth, where the Mayflower took on some of the smaller ship's passengers and supplies. The Mayflower, under the captaincy of Christopher Jones, then set sail alone on Sept. 16. After a two-month voyage the ship sighted land (Cape Cod) on Nov. 19. Some time was spent in selecting a suitable place for the colony, and on Dec. 26 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Before landing, an agreement for the temporary government of the colony by the will of the majority was drawn up in the famous Mayflower Compact . Much effort has been spent on the identification of the Mayflower. It is known that she was a wineship, of 180 tons burden, and presumed that she was of a type commonly used in that period. In 1957 a British group sponsored the voyage of a replica of the original Mayflower from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Mass. The vessel was given to the United States as an expression of international goodwill and remains on exhibit at Plymouth, Mass.

Bibliography: See studies by W. Charlton (1957), C. Gill (1970), and N. Philbrick (2006).

Mayflower the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to America. It arrived at Cape Cod on 21 November 1620 after a voyage of sixty-six days.
Mayflower Compact a document signed by 41 of the male passengers prior to their landing at Plymouth; it formed the signatories into a body politic for the purpose of establishing a government.

Mayflower, ship that brought 102 Pilgrims from England to Plymouth Colony. After twice setting sail accompanied by the unseaworthy Speedwell, the voyagers abandoned this smaller ship, and left Plymouth, England (Sept. 16, 1620), arriving in the present Provincetown harbor (Nov. 21). A land party went to the present Plymouth (Dec. 21), followed five days later by the ship. The Mayflower Compact (drafted Nov. 11) was an agreement among the 41 adult males, binding them together in a civil body politic to enact, constitute, and frame laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, with reference to the general good of the proposed colony. Mourt's Relation contains a journal of the voyage and a record of the compact, as does the History of Plimmoth Plantation by Bradford.