Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the Pilgrims' Voyage on the Mayflower

 

It’s the 400 Year Anniversary of the Pilgrims’ Voyage to America!

As a homeschool mom, I’m always looking for ways to bring history to life and to give my kids something to make school more exciting. So, when I saw that this year marks the 400th year anniversary of the Pilgrims’ voyage to America, I knew I couldn’t let this event slip by without recognition. 

After some thought, I’ve come up with a few different ideas that we’re going to try. None of these will add much time to our school day, and none will cost us much money. But, they should all add some fun, some excitement, and, of course, some learning to our fall semester.

The Mayflower set sail from England on September 6th, 1620 and landed in America on November 11th, 1620. That’s a 66 day trip, and 66 days that we can spend educating our kids about the journey. So, I plan to kick it off big, spend a little time each day learning something new, and then end with a bang. 

First, I want to kick off the event by watching a movie about the Pilgrims and their voyage on the Mayflower. Who doesn’t love a good movie? And if it’s a little educational, that makes it all that much better! So, on September 6th, we’re going to watch The Mouse on the Mayflower. I’m sure there will be some inaccuracies in the movie (probably a lot of them, since the main character is a cartoon mouse, lol), but we can talk about those afterward, and learn even more!

Also on the 6th, we’re going to have a meal to commemorate the Pilgrims’ trip on the Mayflower. They were stuck on that boat for 66 days, and were limited on what food they could eat. Many of their meals consisted of hard tack, dried fish and meat, salt pork, cheese, dried fruits, and pickled foods. And, since their water wasn't good for drinking, they had beer. Obviously, I’m not going to let my young ones drink beer (I don’t even drink the stuff), but for this one meal we’re going to try Ginger Beer (a non-alcoholic drink similar to Root Beer, but more British). We’re also going to eat some homemade jerky, salt pork (which I’ve never tried), hard tack (made together the day before, using this recipe), cheese, dried apples, and pickled okra. The cost of the salt pork and ginger beer set us back about $10, but the other foods we already had on hand. So, this ends up being a pretty inexpensive activity.

After our meal, we’re going to hang up a string of 66 construction paper links, each with a Pilgrim or Mayflower fact written on it. Then, on each following day, we’ll remove one link and read the fact written on it (here are the facts I used). We’ll get to learn something new each day, while also seeing just how long the trip took them from England to America.

We'll also watch some videos about Pilgrim life during the 66 days (probably on Fridays, when we don't do regular seatwork). Here are some I've found:

American Experience: The Pilgrims

Pilgrim Life with Scholastic News

The Story of the Pilgrims for Kids

7 Fun Facts About Pilgrims

The Story of the Mayflower and the First Thanksgiving for Children

Best Backyard Pilgrim and Indian Story Ever

Finally, on the anniversary of the day they arrived in America, November 11th, we’re going to have a big celebration. After we read the last link on the chain, we’ll watch Free Birds. (It's on YouTube for free right now, but I would highly recommend buying it; we own it and watch it every year as part of our Thanksgiving Day celebration). 

 

And, we’ll eat a meal similar to something they might have eaten after they arrived and got settled in: venison stew and fresh homemade bread, with berries and grapes for dessert.

I’m really looking forward to celebrating the 400 year anniversary of the Pilgrim voyage with my kids. It’s going to be a great and adventurous time of learning for us. What types of things are you planning on doing with your kids this year to teach them about the Pilgrims? Let me know in the comments below!

R Lea

66 Facts About the Voyage on the Mayflower

The Mayflower's voyage from England to America took 66 days. It left England on September 6, 1620 and landed in America on November 11, 1620. So, what better way to teach our kids about the trip, than to give them 66 facts about the voyage?

These facts can be used in many different ways. I've written each one on a strip of construction paper, and stapled them together to form a chain. One link for each day of the voyage. I'll let my kids help me hang the chain on September 6th. Then, each day after, we'll take one chain off and read the fact. We should get to read the last fact on November 11th--the day they landed in America.

Hopefully this activity will let the kids see just how long of a trip the Pilgrims had, while also teaching them some lesser known facts about the trip and the Pilgrims.

But, you can use these facts any way you want to. Print them out and cut them apart, then put the strips in a bowl to be drawn out at random each day. Have the kids pick a number each day, and read that fact. Or, just read them all at once if it strikes your fancy. Use these facts as starting points for journal entries, research papers, presentations, or whatever you like. The options are limitless, so this list can be used to fit any teaching style and to reach students of any age and grade level.

I got the facts from a variety of sources. Here are a few of them:

MayflowerHistory.com

Plimoth.org

Scholastic

Softschool

Alright, now let's get down to what you're visiting this page for. Here is a list of 66 facts about the 66 day journey the Pilgrims took on the Mayflower:

1. About half of the Pilgrims wanted to move away from England because they disagreed with the teachings of the church of England, and wanted to be able to worship as they thought was right

2. Some of the Pilgrims were not Separatists, but were sympathetic to the Separatist cause

3. Some of the Pilgrims weren’t motivated by religion at all---they were hired hands, whose skills would be needed for the voyage or for the first few months ashore

4. When they left England, the Pilgrims obtained permission from the King of England to settle in America near the mouth of the Hudson River

5. The Pilgrims set sail on two ships: the Speedwell and the Mayflower

6. The original departure date was August 15th, 1620

7. The Speedwell developed leaks, so the two ships turned back

8. Everyone on the Speedwell crowded onto the Mayflower to start the voyage again

9. The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England on the Mayflower on September 6, 1620

10. The Mayflower (or hawthorn flower) was a popular flower in England, and that’s probably where the name of the ship came from

11. The Mayflower was made by hand; tree trunks were cut into lumber and tar was used to waterproof the ship

12. The ship’s sails were made of a heavy woven cloth, which was made by hand and would have been very expensive

13. The Mayflower had cannons on it (4 medium and 8 small)

14. The Mayflower crossed the Atlantic Ocean to get from England to America

15. 102 passengers and 26 crew members sailed on the Mayflower

16. The Master in charge of sailing the ship was Christopher Jones

17. The ship’s pilot was a man named John Clark

18. The passengers included 51 men, 21 boys, 20 women, and 10 girls

19. 1 person died during the voyage: William Butten

20. 1 baby was born on the voyage: Oceanus Hopkins

21. Some of the children on the Mayflower were orphans and were traveling with other families

22. The Mayflower was a cargo ship--not a passenger ship

23. The crew lived on the upper decks

24. The passengers had to live in a big space called the ‘tween deck (a place between the upper deck and the cargo hold)

25. They didn’t have private rooms on the ship

26. The passengers used curtains to create privacy

27. There were no windows on the deck the passengers stayed on, because the windows might let in water

28. Some water got in anyway, so the ‘tween decks was dark, cold, and wet

29. Living quarters were tight: 5.5 ft high, 80 ft long, and 25 ft wide

30. Some of the passengers slept on wooden pallets attached to the wall

31. Some slept on hammocks made of cloth

32. Other passengers slept on the floor 

33. Some slept in a shallop (a small boat used to take people to land)

34. 2 dogs traveled on the Mayflower: a spaniel and a mastiff

35. There may have also been cats on board to catch mice and rats

36. Mice and rats were often found on ships because they liked to eat the grains the ships carried

37. The Pilgrims took with them everything they thought they needed to start a new life, but that probably wasn’t much

38. The Pilgrims rarely emerged from below deck to go to the top, because they thought too much fresh air was bad for them

39. The water was believed to be contaminated, so everyone drank ale (beer) on the voyage--even the kids

40. Early on in the voyage, when seas were calm and they had fresh food, the Pilgrims probably ate stews with meat and vegetables

41. When it stormed, they couldn’t cook food, because they couldn’t light fires 

42. Often, they ate things like hard tack, cheese, dried meats and fish, salt pork, oatmeal and other grains, dried fruits, and pickled foods

43. When the passengers had to use the bathroom, they used chamber pots 

44. They couldn’t take baths during the trip

45. Many people became sick on the voyage

46. The living quarters on the Mayflower probably smelled pretty bad

47. It was often hard to tell what time of day it was below deck, so people probably slept whenever they could

48. The boat ride was probably noisy with creaking sounds, metal fittings clanging together, and crew members shouting to one another

49. For light, they used lanterns fueled by oil and candles

50. The ship traveled 2 mph or less on average 

51. They used the stars to navigate

52. The Mayflower sailed in fall and early winter, so the water was cold but probably didn’t have icebergs

53. The Mayflower was damaged by a bad storm halfway to America; the storm cracked a wooden beam, which was fixed with a “great iron screw”

54. In another storm, a young passenger (John Howland) was swept off the deck of the ship and into the ocean; he was saved because he grabbed onto a ship’s rope and was pulled back in

55. It took 66 days to complete the trip from England to America

56. The Pilgrims were trying to land at the mouth of the Hudson River, but rough seas and storms pushed them north

57. The Pilgrims landed at Cape Cod, Massachusetts on November 11, 1620

58. The Mayflower couldn’t sail right up to the beach, because the water was too shallow there (so they used small boats to get to land)

59. Since they didn’t land where they intended, they had to get new permission from the King of England to settle where they were

60. While they waited for permission from the King, the Pilgrims signed an agreement called the Mayflower Compact, which was a set of rules for self-governance

61. Food supplies were low when they landed in America

62. They spent their first winter aboard ship, because they didn’t have time to build houses 

63. Some people died of Malnutrition during the winter, while they continued to live on the ship

64. The Mayflower stayed in the harbor for 5 months, while the Pilgrims built their new homes

65. After the Mayflower’s voyage to America, it returned to England and never sailed to North America again

66. The Mayflower passengers never returned to England; America was their new home

Are there some interesting facts I missed? Let me know in the comments below!

R Lea