Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War
By Nathaniel Philbrick
Why this book?
Philbrick’s book provides a great overview of America’s New England beginning. The Pilgrims were a small group of 37 English religious separatists who had escaped to Holland after experiencing oppression by the Church of England. They had to mix with 65 other people they called “strangers,” who boarded the Mayflower at Plymouth, England on September 5, 1620—too late in the season to prepare for North American winters. After landing, about half of them, including my ancestor, Edward Fuller, died of disease, malnutrition, and exposure (his son, Dr. Mathew Fuller, came 20 years later, carrying on my genetic link). Philbrick documents how the original Mayflower Compact signed by these disparate people before landing, was eventually overtaken by growing religious fanaticism, war with Native Americans, and conflict with other settlements.
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