Mayflower And The Arrival Of The Pilgrims example essay topic

Many citizens of the United States believe that the Civil War, or the September 11th 2001 tragedy was among the most defining moments of US history. But I think that the arrival of the Mayflower was. Without the arrival of the Mayflower many of us wouldn't be here. Without the people of the US, almost all of the crisis and massacres wouldn't have happened. United States is one of the places that people and immigrants would go to for a choice of religion. Without the people with great minds, many of today's technologies wouldn't have happened.

Many nations also proposed a business affair by trading or using currency with other nations. The Mayflower Compact was the root of all-important documents of the United States. The founding of the New World also inspired other explorations. But the arrival of the Mayflower lead to the Native Americans to almost extinction, slavery of the Africans and Natives, many religious disputes, and the land use for trash.

What other event in American history could change all that if it weren't to exist? Now what do you think? Isn't the arrival of the Mayflower more important then you thought it was? First, many citizens of the US don't know or have little education on the Mayflower. So the story of the encounter of the Wampanoag and the pilgrims of the Mayflower ship starts here. The earliest known contact with the Wampanoag (in the Algonquian language Wampanoag means "People of the Dawn") and the English were during the 1500's on the New England coast area, where there were fishing and trading posts.

Most encounters were friendly but European leaders were known to have captured Natives and sell them as slaves. In 1614 Captain Thomas Hunt captured a Patuxent named Squanto and sold him in Spain. He eventually found his way to England to become a translator for a journey to Newfoundland. He returned to his village in Massachusetts, but found it empty and without life. Unfortunately, many decades before, an epidemic plague spread through the Wampanoag land and many natives died. Squanto (actual name Woosamaquin or "Yellow Feather") stayed with the survivors and became the sachem Massasoit.

Being the sachem of a tribe was like the leader of the tribes. Tribes had no actual royalty. Back in England, a group of English settlers were gathering to leave England. Some left because they thought that their children were becoming accustomed to and keen on Dutch traditions.

The Church of England was a strict church that allowed no other religion. Separatists wanted to be alienated from the Church of England. They disliked the idea of having to follow the current pastor's beliefs. They wanted to completely change the Church of England to their demands. Seeing it was impossible, they decided to set foot on new land, to live by their rules. Puritans were those who wanted to still be in the Church but make some changes.

They were forced to leave because King Charles I refused to change the Church. So they were put into jail or put on a ship to send them a place where they could no longer bother him. Many wanted to start a new life or wanted to explore the world. Also, some Dutch settlers were afraid of war between Spain and the Netherlands so they fled along with the passengers of the Mayflower.

Therefore, they all gathered to journey to the New World. Two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower, were built and set sail with 102 passengers and Christopher Jones as master of the ship. But the Speedwell had a leak before they reached the New World and had to put together all passengers of the Speedwell and the Mayflower onto one ship. This was the first problem of sailing to a foreign land. The passengers onboard were John Alden, the Allerton family of 5, the Billington family of 4, the Bradford couple, the Brewster family of 4, Richard Britteridge, Peter Browne, William Button, Robert Carter, Carver family of three, Chilton family of three, Richard Clarke, Cooke family of a father and son, Humility Cooper, Crack stone family of a father and son, Edward Doty, Eaton family of three, Thomas English, Moses Fletcher, Fuller family of five, Richard Gardiner, John Goodman, William Ho lbeck, John Hooke, Hopkins family of six, John Howland, John Lang more, William Latham, Edward Leister, Edmund Marges son, Martin couple, Desire Minter, More family of four, Mullins family of four, De gory Priest, Solomon Power, Ragsdale couple, Rodgers family of two, Henry Samson, George Soule, Standish couple, Elias Story, Edward Thompson, Tilley family of five, Tinker family of three, Turner family of three, Richard Warren, White family of three, Roger Wilder, Thomas Williams, and the Winslow family of three. On the ship, the pilgrims wrote the Mayflower Compact to set up rules, and to prevent servants and slaves from running away when they got on land.

They needed all the help they got to help with shelter and food with winter approaching. All male passengers agreed to tolerate the laws approved by the society. The females did not participate in this because the European culture hasn't gotten to the issue of women rights. All forty-one male passengers signed, agreeing to cooperate.

This document also declared that leaders would be elected and there would be equality among the immigrants. It was the constitution for the Plymouth Colony. It was the first American document to "establish government of the people, by the people, for the people". On November 21, 1620, they reached Provincetown, which is now known as Cape Cod.

They explored till they found Plymouth on December 26th, a recognizable fishing port. But it was near winter and they had no shelter or food. This was their second problem. Half did not survive through the first winter.

On March 1, 1621, a Wampanoag native named Samoset, approached them with kindness. Samoset said, "Welcome!" in plain English. He had picked up a small amount of the language from English fishers and traders. He came again bringing along Squanto who was more advanced in English because of his time in Europe. He taught the English everything they needed to know to survive. Squanto provided the skills to hunt, fish, farming and some communication skills.

After their friendship had grown strong, Samoset signed a treaty with Governor John Carver that gave the pilgrims 12,000 acres of land to make their colony and start their new lives. That October, the pilgrims were very grateful and wanted to invite Samoset to celebrate their harvest. He and 90 men brought deer and food. The festival lased for three days. This was known as the First Thanksgiving.

They celebrated with games and prayers like in England. But later that winter, a ship came unpredictably. With 40 new mouths, the pilgrims were once again running out of food. But the Nauset (another tribe of Native Americans) brought food and helped the pilgrims find food. But after 1630 disaster struck for the Native Americans. The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony near Boston disliked the Native Americans and did not like their presence.

The Puritans liked to keep everything "pure". In their view, someone not of their beliefs or color were unfit to lead normal lives. The beliefs the Puritans had were similar to the African slavery in the United States. During the years of 1633-1667, the Native Americans were forced into small societies called "Praying Indians".

They were forced to observe the English traditions and served as servants and maids. They weren't allowed to speak or act of their original customs. Soon the Native American culture crumbled. Before Squanto died in 1661 (contributing 40 years of his life in helping the pilgrims only to his help assist the destruction of his own people) he wanted his sons to be given English names. His oldest son Wamsutta was renamed Alexander and his youngest was called Philip. Alexander became the sachem after his father.

Unfortunately, the beliefs of "pure" souls led to their early death. The English poisoned Alexander to death because they did not like the idea of having sachems, and they did not like Native Americas being independent. Philip took his brother's place as grand sachem and was known as King Philip to the settlers. Philip knew of the English's plans of overtaking the land and he tried to stop them. With only 1,000 people in his tribe, he had battles with the immigrants until his death in 1676. His battles were called King Philip's War or Metacom's Rebellion.

This was the last known battle to try to drive the English out of the New England area. The last few surviving Wampanoag natives transferred to the Sakonnet or with the Nauset in the Praying Indians villages. Only a few hundred were left to live in a safer land and not to be bothered by the English. Today, not many people are found in New England with Native American heredity.

And to this day, only one tribe of Wampanoag descent was given recognition, the Gay Head tribe. But the arrival of the Mayflower did also get in the way of America being great by the land use for trash, many religious disputes, Native Americans to almost extinction, and the slavery of the Africans and Natives. The development of pilgrims to the United States hindered and changed the appearance of America to other nations in small ways. Many people outside of America think America as a place of dirty streets, drug dealers on every corner, and one bullying another.

Although part of that is true, it isn't entirely true and it may cause immigrants to hesitate in coming to America. The way America uses its land is ungraceful to others. I think that America has lousy ways of dealing with trash and how companies and scientists do things to the environment to change it so much that it doesn't look like nature. I'm sure that this world was created to be a natural land. America is also one of the famous places to have religious or other kinds of disputes and rebuttals.

Many of America's events have happened over beliefs and religious beliefs. Also the worst of America is what many people believed in. Many believed in slavery and fully supported it. Slavery almost ruined the Native America culture. Slavery of the Africans lead to a war, although it also had other reasons. Even the September 11th tragedy was the core of a certain group of people believing in something.

The first reason I strongly agree to that the entrance of the Mayflower in US history is important is that the creation of most humans in the US couldn't have happened. I don't think that without the arrival of the Mayflower most of us would be here. America is where many lives began and end. America is also a place were immigrants and citizens can start their lives and find work. Where else would they go? Can you imagine yourself in another country and life?

If it wasn't for the Mayflower and pilgrims, "we the people" wouldn't exist. How many of us originated from England or Great Britain? Or how many of us wouldn't exist if it weren't for your parents meeting in the US? Or how many of us would be in another place and country? Would we still be the person we are today? Secondly, without the pilgrims landing on Cape Cod many of us won't be here, including the great minds.

The point that I cannot suppress enough is that without the Mayflower and its pilgrims many greats minds and inventions wouldn't have happened. Without the people here, many acts of destruction wouldn't happen. So without the people of the United States, the violent and effective doings wouldn't have happened. Therefore, the September 11th tragedy wouldn't have happened, or Pearl Harbor wouldn't have happened at the time it did. Is the United States better off without the actions of hate and violence or was the United States better with feeling the effect it had on the rest of the nation? Think about how the tragic aftermaths have affected us.

The unity, love, and respect brought together by the people because of one big disastrous ruin. Was it worth it? Now think about how the appearance of pilgrims has affected us. Bringing us to where we are today is being thankful enough. Has America appreciated the arrival of the Mayflower? My third reason why the Mayflower and the pilgrims are important is that it is the core of freedom and right of religion.

The United States Constitution, which was based on the Mayflower Compact, holds an amendment that allows citizens freedom of religion. The First Amendment allows citizens to practice their own religion or not to believe in a religion at all. This Constitution helps shape America to what it is now. What other event happened that shaped America to what it is now?

But some think that freedom of religion is not a good idea and caused many problems in history and today. Although this freedom of religion has caused problems over beliefs, what would become of America without freedom? If wars over religions are fought, then what would the world lower itself to? Even though there are events that change us all there are other events that help us. I'm sure that some people, without their talented minds, would change the course of life we are on today in a more positive way. Like the minds of Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, and William Gates.

These three are among the many inventors and originators of the United States history. Without them would our lives be the same today? How much have they changed our life? Is there someone else just like them, with their ideas and thoughts about an invention if it wasn't for the migration of people to the New World?

Do you think without the Mayflower the great minds could be put to work? And think of the more inventions that people can come to when they live in such an advanced environment. Ben Franklin was a man of technology in the 18th century. He discovered electricity and the uses for it. Without it the world, without doubt, would have changed a lot. Who can't live without electricity?

Thomas Edison was among the brightest, brilliant minds of the 19th century. Without his inventions of the electric light and motion pictures and many more, our world won't succeed to what it is today. Without motion pictures, movie theaters wouldn't have a use. Would your favorite celebrities be who they are today? Would we still have role models and idols?

Without an idol, would life have meaning? William Gates is the man of this century. He is the co founder of Microsoft, one of the most used Internet providers. The technology of computer has changed the course of life.

Computers also helped scientists determine theories into facts. Computers are also used for everyday use, like email, research, games, etc. There are many men who have discovered uses for the land and have put it to great use. Think of the great landscapes citizens can visit for a vacation. And who can forget the importance of transportation? Without the automobile, we would not be given our freedom of exploring.

Now without the Mayflower and its passengers, would we still be the people we are today? As my fourth reason the reader should consider is that the business department. The Mayflower was one of the biggest ships in the 1620's to transport goods and needs to different parts of the world. How many of our everyday objects are made in different parts of the world? Many of our clothing and simple items are made from the Asian countries. Admired pots and pottery are from England and Africa.

Without business and trade, how long would we survive using only things from our own country? Trading is a big factor in the world. All, tracing back to before Christ, has used the currency or barter system. Now people trade money for items of the same value also known as currency. What concrete object doesn't have value in money? Nations use the barter system to trade for food, clothing or oil.

It is very common to look out the window to see people trade. Another reason why the arrival of the Mayflower has had an impact on US history is that it has inspirations. Some inspirations led by the arrival of the Mayflower are discovering land, Thanksgiving, and movies. Although the Europeans didn't discover Hawaii, it has lead the scientists to create more technology to find every inch of the earth and put it to map. Every map and globe has every square inch in this world. If you looked at a map or globe, and were able to compare to the actual earth, you will find that scientists have found every part of the earth and documented it.

Thanksgiving, the one of the most celebrated traditions in America, is a symbol of what the United States is known for; multiculturalism. It symbolizes the celebrating of togetherness and unity. It has shown America what bliss it has to be a part of America. The pilgrims have affected us a lot concerning movies because there are movies that explain the gathering of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. Pocahontas was real life person in which movies and producers have found her life story interesting. So with the motivation to create a Disney movie to put behind the Pocahontas story, the producers and creators of Pocahontas has given the audience a chance to experience the Native American days.

In this movie, the viewers are able to see what it was like to be Native American or a Pilgrim back then while learning some history of their country. My last reason to explain why I think that the Mayflower has affected US history is government. The Mayflower Compact is the first constitution known in American history to "establish government of the people, by the people, for the people". It is the root of all-important records in US history.

It helped the Continental Congress create the government the people wanted in 1776, the Articles of Confederation. Although the Articles of Confederation did not work, another constitution was based on the Mayflower Compact. The United States Constitution worked in 1789 and still is working to his day. While John Winthrop was governor, his form of government was very useful and successful. His way of government was to elect a governor and General Court chosen by the men. The people who signed all wanted to start a new life under God's laws.

According to the Compact, the journey to the New World was " a Voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia". They wanted to "combine ourselves together into a civil Body politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation". The Mayflower Compact was made to "enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equ all Laws". This was the ideal government that the people wanted.

So they formed one more of to their liking. And to this day, we still use that style of government. Representatives, who represent the people, elect the president. The president, also a representative of his / her nation, takes the chair to govern their territory. This form of government has worked for over two hundred years and still is operational. In conclusion, the arrival of the Mayflower has great significance to US history.

The roots of almost everyone living in the US, the important events that also define American history, the technology made in the United States, the business affairs or alliances made by the US, trading and currency systems in the world, the inspirations, and the governments formed all lead back to the arrival of the Mayflower. The arrival of the Mayflower has helped historians identify the valuable information concerning the worth of America history. At the beginning of my research I only thought of one point that the arrival of the Mayflower brought freedom and unity out. But it has.

Although the Native Americans and the pilgrims did not unite immediately, they still maintained a friendship. It gave the pilgrims a chance for freedom and a place to unite into a whole. The more I have researched the arrival of the Mayflower, the more I realize that the Mayflower and the arrival of the pilgrims have had a massive amount of change on our everyday lives. I couldn't imagine the world without technology and the surroundings that I am in. I wouldn't have met the people I am friends with or make rivals with. I wouldn't make the mistakes I would make now.

I probably wouldn't be learning English or American history. Now the question is, do you find American history important enough above others?