#Pilgrims thanksgiving free

“They left behind everything they knew and had to find their way in a new place.”Īfter 12 years, in 1620, they decided to sail to the New World, where they could worship freely and develop an English culture.ģ. “One of my students said this part of the story helped her understand what it’s like to be an immigrant,” says Beiler. They also became concerned that their children were not growing up English - they were being integrated into Dutch society. Many of them labored as textile workers when they had been farmers at home. There, they had to learn a new language and new customs.

#Pilgrims thanksgiving free

The Puritans and the Pilgrims (a cross-section of Puritans) first traveled to the Netherlands to establish a Christian church that would be free of government influence. The Pilgrims tried living in the Netherlands before coming to America.

We know what we know because he wrote it down.Ģ. “We have bits of information from other diaries,” says Beiler, “but for the most part, a lot of what we know has been filtered through Bradford’s accounts.” Bradford kept a journal documenting before, during and after the Mayflower’s Atlantic crossing. William Bradford was among the Puritans who wanted to break from England’s rule over the way Christians could worship and raise their children. The story we’re most familiar with comes from one dominant source. “We’ve learned,” says Beiler, “that it wasn’t so easy.”ġ. Some students said they’d only learned one thing about the events in grade school: The Pilgrims sailed to the New World, made friends and enjoyed the first Thanksgiving feast. This fall, Beiler is teaching the history of New England, including the landing of the Mayflower, which happened on Nov. “As we discover more information, it can change our perspective.” “What we learn about history depends on who was able to write down firsthand accounts and preserve them,” says UCF Associate Professor of History Rosalind Beiler. The closing song toward the end of the musical Hamilton is a profound statement about where history comes from: “Who lives, who dies and who tells your story?” Think about that for a moment.