• The Start of a Pure Society

    I am a Puritan who boarded the Mayflower with William Bradford to start a pure society. Since I attended the same church as Mr. Bradford, the idea to leave and start a pure society caught my interest, and that is how I got on the Mayflower. After a long, rough voyage, the ship finally landed at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620. The land on Cape Cod looked like it was deserted for years. There were neither houses nor any people other than wild beasts and possibly some Indians.
    When we got on the land, the ground was covered with ice and snow, the trees did not have any leaves, and there were not any signs of wildlife. We explored the woods and found two Indian houses, but no one was there. We took some of their beans and corn to plant later. We intended to pay back the Indians when we met them.
    On December 6, ten of us took the shallop to see if there were any other new discoveries. We made shelter and a fire and went to sleep. Around midnight we heard noises but saw nothing. We woke up around 5 A.M. As we were continuing to explore, we heard a blood curdling scream. We were under an Indian attack!
    By the grace of God we were able to reach our guns and wipe out the Indians. We were grateful that God had protected us. Around March, an Indian named Samoset came to us and was able to speak to us in broken English. After that, the Indians helped us with planting, hunting, and fishing. Samoset introduced us to Squanto, who had been to England and speaks English very well.
    All through that summer we built houses, gathered food, and stored it. When winter came, this time we were prepared.