Jim Axtell, the College of William and Mary's William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Humanities, discusses possible reasons why many people mistakenly believe that Plymouth was founded before Jamestown; and looks at what might be required for Jamestown to assume prominence in popular memory.
Only two sources contain eyewitness accounts of what has become known as the "First Thanksgiving." Neither account mentions whether corn was roasted, popped, or served at all. Yet it seems plausible that what Edward Winslow, a founder of the Plymouth Colony who was to become its governor in 1633, described as Indian-Corn indeed was included in the feast and in fact may have been boiled.
In a letter dated December 11, 1621, one year to the day after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Winslow wrote that the previous spring the settlers had planted some twenty acres of Indian corn, in addition to some six acres of barley and peas, and that while the harvest of barley was only "indifferent good" and the peas "not worth the gathering" he related that "we had a good increase of Indian-Corne." Governor William Bradford, in his account of Plymouth Plantation written years later, stated that during the first summer, “there was no want," with waterfowl, turkey, and venison in abundance, in addition to "about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion."
If these accounts are to be believed, Indian corn, seemingly a staple of the settlers' diet, likely would have been eaten during the three-day harvest feast with the Wampanoags that Winslow also described. A 1674 account of Indian life by Daniel Gookin, superintendent of the Indians in Massachusetts, related, "Their food is generally boiled maize of Indian corn, mixed with kidney beans, or sometimes without."
Timothy J. Shannon, Indians and Colonists at the Crossroads of Empire: The Albany Congress of 1754. Ithaca: Cornell University Press; Cooperstown: New York State Historical Association, 2000.
The Myles Standish Monument is located on the top of Captain's Hill and commemorates Captain Myles Standish, the military leader of Plymouth Colony. The monument was completed in 1898, and today is open to visitors during the summer months. The monument features a small viewing area at the top with a spectacular view of the Massachusetts coastline.
The monument offers guided tours during the summer months and interpretive programs. The website offers a brief history of the monument as well as visitor information.
The Pilgrim Memorial State Park commemorates the 1620 landing of European settlers in New England. Plymouth Rock, a boulder on the shore of Plymouth Harbor, has become a world-famous symbol of the courage and faith of the men and women who founded the first New England colony. A landscaped waterfront park provides views of Plymouth Harbor, in which the Mayflower II is anchored. There are no precise records of the Mayflower's construction, but the Mayflower II is a replica of the class of vessel most likely to have brought the first pilgrims to Massachusetts. Also in the park, the National Monument to the Forefathers honors the pilgrims of the Mayflower.
The park offers exhibits and living history interpreters aboard the Mayflower II.
This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how the Wampanoag Indians helped the English Puritans survive at their new colony at Plymouth, MA. Chief Massasoit and Plymouth Governor William Bradford signed a treaty of peace that lasts more than 50 years and resulted in the first Thanksgiving.
This feature is no longer available.
A wealth of documents and analytical essays emphasize the social history of Plymouth Colony from 1620 to 1691. This website also offers a tribute to the scholarly work of the late James Deetz, professor of historical archaeology. Documents include 135 probates, 24 wills, and 14 texts containing laws and court cases on land division, master-servant relations, sexual misconduct, and disputes involving Native Americans.
The site also provides more than 90 biographical studies, research papers, and topical articles that analyze "life ways" of 395 individuals who lived in the colony and offer theoretical views on the colony's legal structure, gender roles, vernacular house forms, and domestic violence. There are 25 maps or plans, approximately 50 photographs, and excerpts from Deetz's books on the history and myths of Plymouth Colony and on Anglo-American gravestone styles.