All About Mayflower

• In 1620, some affluent Englishmen reserved the Mayflower and the Speedwell to make a voyage to Northern Virginia to start a new colony there. Speedwell had a leakage and could not accompany Mayflower.
• Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower, took the Pilgrims to New England in 1620. They came to Cape Cod (Massachusetts) on November 11, 1620.
• Mayflower was a very common ship name, and other ships with the same name traveled to New England but in America, the name was unique.
• The Mayflower had to struggle with harsh winter and most of the Pilgrims died.
• The Mayflower set back for homeland on April 5, 1621. It made a few more trips to Spain, Ireland, and lastly to France. However, Captain Christopher Jones died and was buried in England.
• The real size of the structure is unknown and there is no detailed record of Mayflower but most people believe it to be 113 feet long from the back rail to the front.
• A duplicate of the Mayflower exists in Plymouth, Mass. It attracts a large number of tourists even today.
• The distance from England to Plymouth Harbor is about 2,750 miles, and the voyage extended for 66 days.
• The Mayflower consisted of 102 passengers, three pregnant women, and other unaccountable passengers. A child was born on sea while the other was born after the ship reached here.
• One passenger named William Butten had an unfortunate death three days before the land was discovered after absorbing all the havoc of the journey.
• One anonymous crewmember died at sea.
• To make their voyage immortal the pilgrims wrote "The Mayflower Compact", a set of laws for the new colony.
• This was the first time that immigrants to the new country had set down rule of the majority. It is still used today.
• The place they stayed was called the Plymouth Colony.
• Some of the myths related to Mayflower are that the ship carried furniture though actually the pilgrims carried only chests and boxes. They constructed the furniture after settling in Plymouth.