I Read a Lot of Books

We all have eras of history that we find more fascinating than others. While I find US history interesting, it doesn’t usually captivate me in the same way that Latin American history does, but Nathaniel Philbrick is changing that. I read In the Heart of the Sea and quite enjoyed it. I didn’t know what to expect when I started the Mayflower. I learned the story in school, and never gave it much thought other than when I look at genealogy websites and see who is descended. What I really enjoyed about Mayflower is that this is not your sanitized high school US history but a gritty true account of people who didn’t always live their religion and how they interacted with the neighboring settlements and native americans. I also learned an incredible amount which I appreciate in a non fiction book.

Philbrick begins by giving us a brief history of the people we know as pilgrims. They’d left England under religious persecution and settled in Leiden, Holland. As Puritans, they ran afoul of laws that supported the Church of England and felt that a congregant and his relationship with God was between the congregant, and God, not the government. In Holland, they settled, but soon found their children were turning Dutch, and not English at all. However much they disliked England’s laws about their church, they were Englishmen at heart and tried to find a way to separate themselves culturally from their neighbors. Settlements in the new world appealed to these individualists and they began making their preparations. Here it gets interesting. In school, you learn a lot of this, but what I had never realized (and it can’t be because I had a bad history teacher because Ms. Carter was awesome! Shout out to Karen Carter author of ​Creating Catholics: Catechism and Primary Education in Early Modern France, a book I read but did NOT review because I don’t review books when I know the author) is that based on the deals made with the Virginia Company meant that they were bringing random people along who didn’t share their religious faith. They were just random people who were looking to resettle. Also, the details of the financial settlement between the joint stock company created by Thomas Weston  and the pilgrims was just terrible. From the beginning, the ships were not secured to depart on time, the agents sent to purchase supplies were struggling to cooperate, families had to leave their children and dear friends behind. It was an emotionally charged time, and the sea journey and first days of their settlement were not any easier. Thousands of miles away from home and hundreds of miles away from any other settlements, the Englishmen have not enough foods or goods to survive and are forced to rely on the assistance of their native neighbors. That first winter forty-five of the one hundred and two passengers died. Almost half.

Here is where the book gets quite interesting and I would say differs from superficial accounts. Philbrick addresses the native populations in great detail. Specifically speaking of different groups, how their hierarchy worked, and the key historical figures, also highlighting different motivations. For example, Squanto was pretty much not a kind hearted generous forward thinker that elementary school had led me to believe. In reality, he was making a play for power and playing all sides against the middle. Pretty genius, and not something I learned in history class. Part of the volatility that existed pre Pilgrim settlement was the tenuous peace between different native groups. The settlement at Plymouth was a powder keg and forced each of these groups to take very specific sides and make very specific promises to help one another. As more English settlements arrive, more problems come with them. The ecological balance of resources shifts and European settlers go further and further into lands they have promised the natives that they will not disturb. Another complication are the various agreements each group comes up with each group of natives. Often times everyone is battling everyone else for ever scarce resources. Eventually, this situation erupts into King Philip’s War. Philip was the son of Massasoit, without whom the first settlement would have failed. Philbrick details entangling alliances and groups that were caught up in the violence without actually wanting to be a part of it. Also, the reader is shown atrocities on both sides. I LOVE that Philbrick didn’t drop into the farce of modern history which oversimplifies these relationships. In a true clash of cultures we see both Europeans and Native Americans on all sides of the spectrum and motivated to survive. The story is well researched and compelling. Philbrick is quickly becoming one of my favorite non fiction writers.