400 years ago, King James I encouraged his fellow Brits to worship in any church they wished, as long as it was the Church of England. Everyone else was persecuted.
One group, the Separatists (whom we usually call Pilgrims) left England for the Netherlands, in search of religious liberty. In the Netherlands, they did have religious freedom, but were treated as second class citizens; they did not have economic freedom. The Separatists decided there was only one final option: travel to edge of the world. Obtaining financing and a charter to establish a colony in the Virginia area, 102 people set off on the tiny ship, the Mayflower.
The voyage was not an easy one. Miraculously, only two people died on the crossing. One of those was a sailor, who swore and cussed frequently. The Separatists warned him that he would bring a curse upon their ocean voyage, but he did not listen. He was washed away during a storm.
A similar incident occurred to John Howland, my ancestor. He was an indentured servant to John Carver. During a major storm, he was on deck trying to take a message from Governor Carver to the ship’s captain. A large wave hit the deck and carried him overboard. By a stroke of Providence, he was able to grab hold of a rope as he was swept overboard, and held on underwater for several minutes until the sailors could haul him back aboard.
Arriving to the Americas, the Pilgrims found the storms had pushed them further north than they planned. It was too late in the year to travel down to Virginia, and so they established a new charter for the group: the Mayflower Compact. This covenant was signed by 41 men. In William Bradford’s handwriting, the charter reads:
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.
John Carver
William Bradford
Edward Winslow
William Brewster
Isaac Allerton
Myles Standish
John Alden
Samuel Fuller
Christopher Martin
William Mullins
William White
Richard Warren
John Howland
Stephen Hopkins
Edward Tilley
John Tilley
Francis Cooke
Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Rigsdale
Edward Fuller
John Turner
Francis Eaton
James Chilton
John Crackstone
John Billington
Moses Fletcher
John Goodman
Degory Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow
Edmund Margesson
Peter Browne
Richard Britteridge
George Soule
Richard Clarke
Richard Gardiner
John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doty
Edward Leister
The Mayflower Compact is perhaps the world’s first written constitution “of the people, for the people, and by the people.” The Pilgrims stepped foot on shore that November and suffered through a very harsh winter of sickness and starvation. By the Spring of 1621, 51 or exactly half of the people, had died. Included among the dead was Edward Tilley and his wife, my ancestors. Their daughter, Elizabeth, would marry John Howland in the New World.
In the Spring of 1621, the Pilgrims were astonished to meet a Native who spoke the King’s English. Tisquantum, better known as Squanto, had been grabbed years before by sailors and taken to England. Returning back to his own land, he found many of his people sick or dying from smallpox. Still, Tisquantum and the Patuxet tribe showed mercy on the Pilgrims. They taught them how to plant corn, squash and other native plants. They helped them build up their little colony. By fall, they were ready for winter, having harvested a plenteous crop. Soon, other ships would begin arriving, helping the small group to grow.
The first Thanksgiving happened the Fall of 1621 and lasted three days. English and Native Americans gathered together for a large feast. Later, President George Washington would proclaim a day of Thanksgiving in 1789.
Because of the first Pilgrims, the world had its first taste of religious freedom, a government established by the people and not by a king, and individual initiative would create the foundation for free enterprise. While America would make a lot of mistakes and bad choices along the way (slavery, Trail of Tears, etc), this little colony would be the spark that ignited the flame of freedom throughout the world. The American Constitution would include a Bill of Rights to ensure the freedoms of speech and assembly, protection from coercions and torture, and most of all, the freedom of religion.
With that freedom of religion, it opened up the nation for individuals to study the scriptures, follow their own consciences, and establish a foundation of righteousness. Moreover, it established a foundation where the gospel could be restored. Imagine, less than 50 years after the founding of the United States, a young boy in New York State went into a grove of trees to pray and ask God which Church he should join. The Restoration of Christ’s Church occurred because a small group of people risked everything for religious freedom.
I thank God for John and Elizabeth Howland, and all the other Pilgrims who gave so much, so that I can have the blessings of the full gospel today.
Happy Thanksgiving