The Pilgrims were Puritans or Separatists who withdrew from the Church of England, because they believed the Church needed to be totally cleansed from all the abuses within it. They possessed strong character traits of determination, strong will and being ready and completely prepared for whatever lay hidden in their path. Some of the Pilgrims traits or beliefs definitely confined them from what more they possibly could have done. Mostly it has to do with their beliefs. The Puritan faith was very black and white, and kind of driven with fear, much like what Calvinism is based on. The idea that you need to be fearing and scared and worried about if you have been chosen by God (predestination). They seemed to always be a very close and tight-knit community, who kept to themselves, but this perhaps limited their views or outlook on certain affairs.
3. Philbrick shows us that many of the classic images that shape our current view of the Pilgrims--from Plymouth Rock to the usual iconography of the first Thanksgiving--have been highly fictionalized. Why has America forsaken the truth about these times in exchange for a misleading and often somewhat hokey mythology?
The truth about what really happened between the Native Americans, the Pilgrims, etc. has been forsaken for numerous reasons. One of the main reasons being that many people refuse to accept the fact that the Pilgrims our "founding fathers" were real people, with real histories and truths to uncover. No one wants to ever believe that such things as greed, or any other ill-natured trait could have been
possessed by the Pilgrims. Another good reason why the American people cast off the truth about the Pilgrims is because its all they know and have been told so it has to be true. In the book it even says that after the U.S. Civil War broke out there was a need amongst the people for a myth to restore their faith in their nation and what better way to do that than to celebrate its humble beginnings? (p.354) So when the corrupted truth which turns out to be nothing more than a concocted myth to arouse nationalistic feelings, is discovered all pride will be lost in that nation.4. The Pilgrims established a tradition of more or less peaceful coexistence with the Native Americans that lasted over fifty years. Why did that tradition collapse in the 1670s and what might have been done to preserve it?
The relationship formed between the Pilgrims and the Indians over the nearly five decades was more of struggle and comprise and give and take (p. xvi). The "peaceful coexistence" of the Pilgrims and Native Americans collapsed when the second generation of the Pilgrims become more worldly or secular and were more eager than ever to gain land. They felt that the natives were just an obstruction on the path to a prosperous future. The main thing that might have been able to save or preserve this peace among these groups would have been tolerance and respect the Natives who made their existence in America possible during the very, harsh first year.
5. Discuss the character of Squanto. How did the strengths and weaknesses of his personality end up influencing history, and why did this one man make such a difference?
Squanto was trusted very little by Massasiot although he was the only means of translation between the two languages. His strength was being able to fluently speak English and the native language and his weakness was his questionable and untrustworthy character. One of his major influences in history would be when he made it possible for a treaty to be reached between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. Squanto made a great difference in the life of the Pilgrims he taught them how to grow crops and food on the New World soil and he showed them how to survive in this land. He also was able to convince the natives not to attack the Pilgrims and to even befriend. He was instrumental in influencing agreements for both the Pilgrims and Native Americans. To his native people his was a traitor and to the Pilgrims he was a hero.
6. The children of the Pilgrims were regarded in their own time as "the degenerate plant of a strange vine," unworthy of the legacy and sacrifices of their mothers and fathers (p. 198). Why did they acquire (and largely accept) this reputation? Was it deserved? Were the denunciations of the second generation a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy?
The Pilgrims' children acquired this reputation because they had not all gone through the same struggles and hardships that their parents had to face. So they could not even be compared to their "Saint" parents. This reputation was also due to the style of their Puritan beliefs. They were to be repeatedly reminded of what they weren't. I do believe that their reputation was rightfully deserved. It was rightfully deserved because the children of the Pilgrims proved that they did deserve it. They started to drift away from thinking about the afterlife and look forward to reaping all the rewards they could from this life. Yes, this was a sort of "self-fulfilling prophecy."
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