Pilgrim Myths and Misconceptions

The people whom we call the "Pilgrims" today were not known as that in 1620. By the general populance of England, they were called extremists and misguided, many other remarks were not so kind. Essentially the colonists who settled in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts were English people of two sorts, those who felt that they needed to seperate from the Church of England, and those who didn't. Through a slide show presentation we will explore who the Pilgrims were, how they lived, what they ate, what they believed and what they have come to mean to us today. We will examine the complexities of the Pilgrim story and why it still, after almost 400 years, appeals to our sense of who we are as Americans.

Common myths associated with the Pilgrims that will be discussed include:

• they had buckles on the hats and shoes
• they only wore black
• they were very short and lived only until 30 or so
• they landed on Plymouth Rock
• they almost starved the first winter
• they had a friendly Native living with them named Squanto
• the children only had dirt and twigs to play with, no toys
• they had the First Thankgiving with the Natives