Read all about it in "The Pilgrim Chronicle: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony" by Rod Gragg (Regnery, 2014). ISBN 978-1-62157-269-5
The Mayflower was sixty-five days at sea in a crossing that was expected to take many weeks less because the journey had been delayed. The other ship, Speedwell, could not make the crossing and some of its passengers accepted the invitation to join the Mayflower party. Thus, the ship was not only overcrowded, but provisions needed to help the emigres survive until Spring were seriously depleted before their Nov. 11, 1620 arrival in New England.
During the crossing, the seas were rough, bedding and clothing were damp or wet and could not dry, and those who were well enough attended to the sick. The weather had already turned cold, a forecast of the unusually brutal winter that lay ahead.
Most passengers did not disembark immediately pending a reconnaissance mission by a landing party to make sure it was safe. They did not find a suitable site to build shelters for the winter until a month later. There was more sickness, and during that first year half the Mayflower passengers died.
This is a great book, with excellent commentary by the author and extended passages from primary documents. Suitable for young and old, for reading aloud, as a textbook, and for gifts to anyone with Mayflower ancestors. You can also check out HBD Direct www.hbdirect.com for music and hymns from 17th Century England and America.
William Bradford's "The Plymouth Plantation" is still in print, and full of details for Mayflower descendants, genealogists, historians and educators.
For children, I recommend "The Mayflower Compact" by Judith Lloyd Yero (National Geographic Society). It is beautifully designed, well-written and divided into short chapters by topic, with gorgeous illustrations and useful references. This could be used as a textbook for children, those who have English as a second language, and as an introductory reference for anyone who wants to know lots of stuff without spending lots of time looking for it.
The Bible brought by the Separatists was the Geneva Bible. Edward and Samuel Fuller were Separatists, as was Samuel's wife Anne Lothrop, who came to Plymouth in 1634. The 1560 and 1599 editions are still in print and available through Christian Book Distributors www.cbd.com --some as reproductions, others as fascimiles.
Edward Fuller and his son were both influenced by the great Protestant reformer John Calvin whose "Institutes" inspired the Separatists and Puritans for many generations. The best edition is the 1559 edition, translated by Henry Beveridge (Eerdmans, 1989). Page 689 ends with Aforism No. 100:
"The obedience enjoined on subjects does not prevent the interference of any popular [elected by the people] Magistrate whose office it is to restrain tyrants and to protect the liberty of the people. Our obedience to Magistrates ought to be such, that the obedience which we owe to the King of kings shall remain entire and unimpaired."
This is why the Separatists left England with a price on their heads, and the Self-Evident Truths are in the Declaration of Independence.
