More than 30 million people can trace their ancestry to the 102 passengers and 30 crew aboard the Mayflower when it landed in Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts in the harsh winter of 1620. On board were men, women and children from different walks of life across England and the city of Leiden in Holland. But why did the Pilgrims leave their old lives behind in the first place, chancing it all to cross the treacherous Atlantic and settle a strange alien land?In today's episode Don is joined by Dr Anna Scott, heritage consultant and public historian at the University of Lincoln in the UK, to learn more about this 400-year-old tale of religious persecution, financial opportunity and a Puritanical fight for freedom that helped sow the seeds of a fledgling nation.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.You can take part in our listener survey at https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK.All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
Full Episode
It's mid-September, 1620, in Plymouth, England. The wheels of a cart rattle along the narrow cobblestone street leading down to the harbor below. Overhead, in the bay window of a weathered Elizabethan house, a woman beats a dusty blanket as screeching gulls circle the sky. It is an unremarkable autumn day here in this seaside village.
Life as usual, except for the recent arrival of a weary group of travelers, religious separatists in search of refuge. One of their two ships, the Speedwell, is in dire need of repair. But on this day, they've made the fateful decision to abandon her and crowd 102 passengers and 30 crew onto the other ship, the Mayflower.
And so, the treacherous late-season passage will commence, crossing the wide Atlantic Ocean in cramped, unsanitary conditions, searching for freedom on the shores of a strange new world. So, who are these people? These separatists? These pilgrims? What have they separated from? And what do they possibly hope to find? Music Greetings, listeners. Nice to be with you.
I'm Don Wildman, your host here at American History Hit. And hey, it's another helping of the holidays. The season is upon us. Now that the temperatures finally dipped below 75 in November here in the Northeast, that was weird. We are back on track. The leaves off the trees, a fresh chill in the air, and everyone's made their plans for the day of dining.
Past the gravy and the cranberry sauce, it's time to plumb some delicious pilgrim history. This year, we've approached this subject before, see past episodes, we're breaking the story down to the savory side dishes that really make the meal. The Pilgrim story, of course, was never the simple fable we were taught in grade school.
The odyssey of these religious sojourners had different phases lasting years, hard struggles, insecurity, and terrible tragedy. At any time, they could have pitched the whole idea and given up on their mission to find safe haven. Alas, they did not. They finally made it to the promised land.
And we celebrate that achievement every year with a meal in their honor that's evolved into a day of gathering for friends and families to mark the beginning of the holidays. This episode will tell part one of the story and track the Pilgrims' progress from the shores of England to the harbors of the Netherlands and back again, finally to embark into a great unknown.
But I know who's here to help, and it is Anna Scott, researcher at the University of Lincoln in England, who has written extensively on the Pilgrims, featuring prominently in the history hit TV documentary we produced for Mayflower 400, the 400th anniversary of the voyage.
Hello, Anna. Nice to have you. Thank you. It's great to be here and be invited back again.
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