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Essay on Travelogue of Massachusetts
Plymouth is a town in southeastern Massachusetts, on Plymouth Bay, about 55 km (34 mi) southeast of Boston. The seat of Plymouth County, it was the site of the first permanent European settlement in New England; it is now a fishing and tourist center with ship-related industries and cranberry-packing houses. Plymouth Rock, a tourist attraction, is on the shore under a granite canopy; recreations of Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower are also there. The English ship the Mayflower (a three-masted merchant ship that had originally been constructed for transporting wine) carried the Separatist Puritans Pilgrims, to Plymouth. The 180-ton vessel was about 12 years old and had been in the wine trade. It was chartered by John Carver who had gone to London to make arrangements for the voyage to America.
The ship was made ready at Southampton with a passenger list that included English Separatists, hired help (among them Myles Standish, a professional soldier, John Alden, a cooper, Peter Browne, a carpenter and Stephen Hopkins, perhaps a soldier), and other colonists who were to be taken along at the insistence of the London businessmen who were helping to finance the expedition. In the meantime the Leiden Separatists, who had initiated the venture, sailed for Southampton on July 22, 1620, with 35 members of the congregation and their leaders William Bradford and William Brewster aboard the 60-ton Speedwell. Both the Speedwell and the Mayflower, carrying a total of about 120 passengers, sailed from Southampton on August 15, but they were twice forced back by dangerous leaks on the Speedwell.
At the English port of Plymouth some of the Speedwell's passengers were regrouped on the Mayflower, and on September 16, the historic voyage began. This time the Mayflower carried 102 passengers, only 37 of whom were from the Leiden congregation, in addition to the crew. The voyage took 65 days, during which two persons died.......
