Discussion Questions For The Mayflower By Nathaniel Shilbrick

The Mayflower is the story about 102 religious rebels who travel across the Atlantic ocean on a voyage that would change the course of history as we know it. This book is named after the ship that brought these settlers to America. This review attempts to answer the following questions: Is the author objective or biased about the evidence presented? Does the author contribute anything new about the life of the pilgrims? What are some of the limitations of the Author. This review is necessary to be able to understand what the Author is trying to communicate how this story impacts the creation of what would become the United States of America.

Nathaniel Philbrick opens his book by drawing a direct line from the early Pilgrim’s arrival on Plymouth rock to the building of America. He goes on to say, “Instead of the story we already know, it becomes the story we need to know.” Many of us growing up, myself included romanticize about the pilgrims in the light of the first Thanksgiving and we think about the Indians sitting down with the Pilgrims to take part of the Thanksgiving meal. Next, we believe the myth that everyone lived happily ever after.

But that is not the case. The reality that the author emphasizes in the book is that there was times of peace and times of struggle between the Native Americans and the English Colonists. This will be a consistent them throughout the book.
In the first 3 chapters of the book, the other writes about the situation the Puritan's were experiences and how and why they ended up in the country of Holland.

These Puritans were strongly opposed to the church of England. They felt that the church had become corrupt and defiled because of the idolatrous worship. They began to meet in secret until one day they were discovered. Among these was Wilford Bradford, a young man who joined the Pilgrims religious group. In later chapters we see an older Bradford becomes Governor of the Plymouth colony who is also student of the Hebrew language;for he believed that he would achieve a stronger connection with God. Very early in his life, Bradford read the Bible and sought to please God and he believed that the best way to do this would be to separate from the church of

England.
Another thing to consider about the book is the way that the author goes deep into the way that the Pilgrims lived and worship. He is very explicit and leaves no details. It is important for the reader or student of history to understand how the pilgrims saw themselves. The pilgrims were a eschatology in their theology and believed they were living in the end of days. They saw themselves as a New Israel, God’s chosen people. They were looking for utopia, a heaven on earth. Yet they saw themselves as English men.
While in Holland, the Pilgrims were concerned about the future of their children, for many of them had begun to assimilate into Dutch society. Deciding to preserve their faith in God and English culture, the Pilgrims decided to leave Holland and set out to find what today we call: The American Dream. But leaving Holland proved to be a daunting process, but they soon came in contact with investors who agreed to finance the voyage to the New World.
Although Philbrick’s writing sounds more like a novel than a history book, he proves to be more objective than bias on the account that he doesn’t seems to favor either the Indians or Pilgrims as being the good guys. Rather he writes how both the Indians and Colonists were both in fault when they broke the peace. An important figure mentioned in many of the chapters is,
Massasoit who was a Native American leader of the Pokanokets. They were a tribe that the Pilgrims encountered when they landed in America. Many years before the arrival of the Pilgrims, many of the Indian communities had been inflicted with diseases of which the Native Americans had no immunity. Philbrick colorfully describes the many explorers who came in contact with the Natives. Some were friendly encounters and other s proved deadly.
Many years after the Pilgrims arrived to America, we read about how the Colonist and Indians lost trust in each other and neglected the friendship that they had once shared. The bottom line is that the founding of this country was never an easy one. This book is great book for the reader who is not fond of the typical history books and loves a good novel. Philbrick contributes greatly on amplifying our understanding about Pilgrim life. His great use of details shows that his research is complete and vast. This book in my opinion is a must read to all those who wish to get acquainted with history.