Introduction

What you have found is the slow, but fun, development of a nonfiction book of history. Here I share several of the gems I've uncovered so you may enjoy some of the fascinating stories without having to wait until the entire book is completed. 

A Pilgrim Almanac: 

One Year with the Plymouth Colonists and Their World.

When the book is finished, you can spend a few moments every day becoming acquainted with the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and their world, learning both the mundane and momentous events that shaped their lives, and you’ll come closer to the imperfect, yet important people who risked everything in their historic journey to a new world. 

Please note that while all the dates in this book have been verified in various authoritative sources, there may be conflicting historical records. This is due to the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in the late 1500s, the change in the beginning of the year from late March to January in the 1700s, and the imprecise record-keeping of past centuries. Nonetheless, here you will find obscure and interesting stories of long-forgotten people that will help you gain a greater appreciation of their challenges, beliefs, and everyday lives in the rugged and toilsome colonial New England. 

And you can do that all in daily, bite-sized readings that anyone will enjoy. Each day’s entry will allow you to catch a glimpse into the world of the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the people of early colonial America. 

Despite their godly aspirations, the Plymouth Pilgrims were just as human as anyone, and social tensions increased all the more as they were forced to make room in their community for others who did not share their religious values. The same was true for their pious Puritan neighbors of Boston, as countless passengers on countless ships crossed the Atlantic, bringing moral, spiritual, and legal complications they did not anticipate.

And while they struggled to make room for outsiders to their community, they assumed Native Americans would make room for them and their values on the vast continent, creating tensions that exploded in 1675 with the “First Indian War,” beginning a bloody story of domination and depopulation. But this book focuses on the life and events of the original Plymouth settlers, and the historic episodes that led to their story. 

Of particular importance in writing this book are William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, Edward Winslow’s Mourt’s Relation, the collected letters of Bradford and John Winthrop, and the earliest records of both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, their court proceedings, and church records. The records of the Virginia Company of London, as well as the British National Archives were also invaluable, as well as early colonial accounts made available online by the Google Books initiative. 

Please note that I have paraphrased the four-hundred-year-old accounts into today's English for the sake of clarity and reading enjoyment.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy these historical vignettes even half as much as I do finding and writing them for you. 

Historically yours,

Don White

*********

If you would like a simple introduction in the world of the Pilgrims from their point of view, you can find my first book by clicking the title below:

A Plymouth Pilgrim: 

William Bradford's Eyewitness Account of the Mayflower Passengers