document_title: Courage the Cowardly Dog

question_text: who does the voice of courage the cowardly dog

root

text: Courage the Cowardly Dog

text: Premise[edit]

text: Courage the Cowardly Dog follows Courage (Marty Grabstein), a pink and easily frightened dog. He was abandoned while a puppy after his parents were forcibly sent into outer space by a crazed veterinarian.[2] He lives in a house with a connected garage near the fictional town of Nowhere, Kansas with Muriel Bagge (Thea White), a friendly, sweet-natured Scottish woman, and her husband Eustace Bagge (Lionel G. Wilson episodes 1–33, Arthur Anderson episodes 34–52), a grumpy, greedy farmer who regularly mistreats Courage and refers to him as "stupid dog." Muriel found Courage in an alleyway and took him in as her own.

tag: p

text: Courage, Muriel, and Eustace frequently encounter monsters, aliens, demons, mad scientists, zombies and other such perils from myths and legends. The plot generally uses conventions common to horror films. Although most of the creatures that the three face are hostile, some turn out to be friendly and are simply suffering from distress and acting in desperation.

text: The task of protecting the three main characters from such dangers falls on Courage, who endeavors to thwart or reconcile with the monster of the week and remedy or repair any damages done. Although Courage is occasionally aided with that task, the full extent of his efforts is usually performed unbeknownst to Muriel and Eustace. Ironically, given his name, Courage is a genuine coward, but still goes to great lengths to protect his owners.

text: Although episodic in nature, there are a handful of recurring characters in the show's cast, including Courage's sarcastic, sentient computer (Simon Prebble); the family physician Dr. Vindaloo (Paul Schoeffler); a fortune-telling chihuahua named Shirley the Medium (Mary Testa); Eustace's mother "Ma" (Billie Lou Watt); and villains Katz and Le Quack (both voiced by Schoeffler).

text: Production[edit]

text: Influences[edit]

text: Dilworth's influences for Courage were Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and Salvador Dalí.[citation needed] Among the more contemporary influences is Ghost in the Shell,[citation needed] though not as a narrative influence but rather in the dynamics of action and technology.[clarification needed] Dilworth also took inspiration from Porco Rosso and My Neighbor Totoro.[citation needed]

text: Creation[edit]

text: Originally, Courage the Cowardly Dog was created as a seven-minute animated short, "The Chicken from Outer Space". Dilworth started the animated short with Hanna-Barbera, sponsored by Cartoon Network and introduced Courage.[3] Dilworth graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1985. He became an art director and founded his own animation studio, Stretch Films in 1991, and incorporated in 1994.[3]

text: The animated short was shown as one of the episodes of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons in 1996, a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons innovation by then-president Fred Seibert. The short served as a de facto pilot for the future series.[4] The original animated short had no dialogue except for one line spoken by Courage, who had a more authoritative voice than in the series. It was uttered by voice actor Howard Hoffman who also provided all the other vocal sounds and effects for the short.[3] An alien chicken was the villain in this short, who later reappears in the series to seek revenge. His sons also attempt to seek revenge too in a later episode.[5] The short was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 68th Academy Awards.[6]

text: Sound design[edit]

text: When deciding on sound effects, Dilworth tried to avoid pre-made stock sounds.[3] He contributed a substantial amount of new material to sound designer Michael Geisler and only looked for sounds that made him laugh. The composition of the series' music relied on what was being portrayed: suspense, comedy, or action. The production crew worked together to come up with new music for the series that had not previously been used. There were a few sections on one particular piece that Dilworth exceptionally liked.[3] The production crew was able to isolate these sections and expand them into a usable theme.[3] Dilworth further complicated the crew's job by suggesting layering the theme with a variety of funny sounds, a strange tempo and a voice over of a crazed laugh or person singing to give the music and sound effects their own personality beyond anything else out there.[3]

text: Original music featured in Courage the Cowardly Dog was composed by Jody Gray[7] and Andy Ezrin.[8][9] Classical music can be heard at times, which pays homage to classic Warner Bros. animation and the scores of Carl Stalling.[10] In several episodes, Gray arranged various famous classical pieces, such as Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", and wrote up to 15 songs.[9]

text: In 1999, Cartoon Network gave Dilworth permission to turn the short into an animated series. Hanna-Barbera was responsible for the What a Cartoon! anthology and intended on developing the series. However, Dilworth insisted on taking the production to his Stretch Films Studios. The stories' plots were written by the show's head writer, David Steven Cohen, in addition to Irv Bauer, Craig Shemin, Lory Lazarus, Bill Marsilii, Allan Neuwirth, Bill Aronson and Michelle Dilworth.

text: Broadcast history[edit]

text: Courage the Cowardly Dog originally was premiered as a short on February 18, 1996. The show premiered on November 12, 1999 and became the highest-rated premiere in Cartoon Network history at the time.[11] It last aired on November 22, 2002, with 52 episodes produced in four seasons. The series is available for streaming on Boomerang's website. Reruns have aired on Boomerang.

text: Episodes[edit]

text: In total, there were 52 episodes in four seasons produced, plus a pilot episode and a special episode. The series ran from November 12, 1999, to November 22, 2002.

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

Pilot
February 18, 1996 (1996-02-18)[1]

1
13
November 12, 1999 (1999-11-12)[12]
March 30, 2000 (2000-03-30)[12]

2
13
October 31, 2000 (2000-10-31)[13]
November 16, 2001 (2001-11-16)[13]

3
13
January 12, 2002 (2002-01-12)[14]
August 9, 2002 (2002-08-09)[14]

4
13
September 6, 2002 (2002-09-06)[15]
November 22, 2002 (2002-11-22)[15]

Special
October 31, 2014 (2014-10-31)

tag: table

text: Reception[edit]

text: John G. Nettles of PopMatters reviewed the show and called it, "a fascinating and textured mixture of cartoon and horror-movie conventions, and a joy to watch."[16]

text: Alex Mastas of Lights Out Films reviewed the show gave it a grade "A−" and described it: "The backgrounds are rich and imaginative—they composite a lot of the show over real photos and occasionally integrate CGI into the cartoon. The look is weird and ethereal, just like the show itself."[17]

text: KJ Dell Antonia of Common Sense Media gave three stars out of five with the summary, "Cult fave 'toon plays over-the-top violence for laughs."[18] Antonia warned parents that the series contains graphic animated violence, including "exploding organs, growing extra limbs, turning inside out, you name it".[18] Antonia said shows aimed at younger audiences "usually don't go for thrills and chills, so it's good to see a genuinely surreal and slanted series develop a decent following."[19]

text: Jeff Swindoll of Monsters and Critics reviewed the first season DVD and felt a bit disappointed about its lack of the original Hanna-Barbera short "The Chicken from Outer Space."[20] Swindoll felt that the lack of special features still should not deter fans from buying the season since the other episodes have appeared on other releases of the series.[20]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Nominee/work
Award
Result

Academy Awards

1995
John R. Dilworth
For short film "The Chicken From Outer Space"
Best Animated Short Film
Nominated

Annie Awards

2000
John R. Dilworth
For episode "A Night at the Katz Motel"
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production[21][22]
Won

Golden Reel Awards

2000
For episode "The Duck Brothers"
Best Sound Editing — Television Animated Series — Sound[22]
Nominated

2001
For episode "Courage in the Big Stinkin' City"
Best Sound Editing — Television Animated Series — Sound[22]
Won

2003
For episode "The Tower of Dr. Zalost"
Best Sound Editing — Television Animated Series — Sound[22]
Nominated

text: Merchandise[edit]

text: Home media releases[edit]

text: VHS editions of Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost and Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders each include an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog as a bonus.

text: Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One, a two-disc DVD set featuring all 13 episodes from the show's first season, was released in Australia (Region 4) on September 12, 2007, by Madman Entertainment.[23][24] On January 13, 2010, the complete second season was also released.[23][25]

text: A Region 1 release of the first season was done by Warner Home Video (via Warner Archive) on July 20, 2010. The release is the second in an official release of several Cartoon Cartoons on DVD, under the "Cartoon Network Hall of Fame" name.[26] The second season was released on October 14, 2014 as the fourth in the "Hall of Fame" series.[27] The third season was originally supposed to be released on DVD in Region 1 on February 2, 2016,[28] but it was delayed to (and was released on) March 22, 2016.[29] It is the fifth title in the Cartoon Network Hall of Fame series. The fourth and final season was released on September 27, 2016.

text: In addition, all four seasons of the series are available for download on iTunes.[30][31][32][33] The PlayStation 2 version of the video game Cartoon Network Racing contains the episodes "Robot Randy" and "The Magic Tree of Nowhere" as unlockable extras.

text:
Title
Release date
Episodes
Region
Description

Season 1
September 12, 2007[23][24]
List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes
4
This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the first season.

Season 2
January 13, 2010[23][25]
List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes
4
This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the second season including the pilot episode "The Chicken from Outer Space".

Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season One
July 20, 2010[26]
List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes
1
This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the first season.

Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season Two
October 14, 2014[27]
List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes
1
This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the second season.

Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season Three
March 22, 2016[34]
List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes
1
This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the third season.

Courage the Cowardly Dog: Season Four
September 27, 2016[35]
List of Courage the Cowardly Dog episodes
1
This two-disc release includes all 13 episodes from the fourth season.

text: Select episodes from the series were also featured on several Cartoon Network compilation DVDs:

text:
The Powerpuff Girls: Down 'n' Dirty - "Journey to the Center of Nowhere" - November 7, 2000
Scooby-Doo and the Toon Tour of Mysteries - "The Mask" (Disc 3), And "The Tower of Dr. Zalost" (Disc 5) - June 2004
Cartoon Network Halloween Volume 2: Grossest Halloween Ever - "Courage Meets the Mummy / Night of the Weremole" - August 9, 2004
Cartoon Network Christmas Volume 2: Christmas Rocks - "The Snowman Cometh" - October 4, 2005
Toon Foolery: Laugh Your 'Ed Off! - "The McPhearson Phantom"

text: Video games[edit]

text: Though the series has no official video games, characters from Courage the Cowardly Dog appear in the Cartoon Network games Cartoon Network: Block Party, Cartoon Network Racing, Cartoon Network Speedway, and Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall.

text: Planned CGI revival[edit]

text: In February 2012, BuzzFeed reported that a CGI special of Courage the Cowardly Dog was in development.[36] The special, entitled "The Fog of Courage", was finally aired in 2014. However, BuzzFeed also stated that there are strong chances of bringing back Courage the Cowardly Dog in a CGI format.[36] A Facebook campaign was launched in July 2016 to convince Cartoon Network to greenlight a fifth season of Courage.[37] Also, it was said that voice actor Brian Doyle-Murray was assigned to voice Eustace Bagge in a potential CGI reboot of the series due to the death of Arthur Anderson in April 2016.[38] However, no other information has been said since.


document_title: Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)

question_text: where did the pilgrims come from in england

question_tokens: where did the pilgrims come from in england

text: Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)

text: History[edit]

text: Separatists in Scrooby[edit]

text: The core of the group that came to be known as the Pilgrims were brought together between 1586 and 1605 by shared theological beliefs, as expressed by Richard Clyfton, a Brownist parson at All Saints' Parish Church in Babworth, near East Retford, Nottinghamshire. This congregation held Puritan beliefs comparable to other non-conforming movements (i.e., groups not in communion with the Church of England) led by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, and Henry Barrowe. As Separatists, they also held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be independent of the trappings, traditions, and organization of a central church—unlike those Puritans who maintained their membership in and allegiance to the Church of England.[2] William Brewster, a former diplomatic assistant to the Netherlands, was living in the Scrooby manor house, serving as postmaster for the village and bailiff to the Archbishop of York. He had been impressed by Clyfton's services and had begun participating in services led by John Smyth in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.[3]

text: The Puritan Separatists had long been controversial. Under the 1559 Act of Uniformity, it was illegal not to attend official Church of England services unless the church had signed the allegiance to the Church of England, with a fine of one shilling (£0.05; about £17 today[4]) for each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties for conducting unofficial services included imprisonment and larger fines. Under the policy of this time, Barrowe and Greenwood were executed for sedition in 1593.

text: During much of Brewster's tenure (1595–1606), the Archbishop was Matthew Hutton. He displayed some sympathy to the Puritan cause, writing to Robert Cecil, Secretary of State to James I in 1604:

text: The Puritans though they differ in Ceremonies and accidentes, yet they agree with us in substance of religion, and I thinke all or the moste parte of them love his Majestie, and the presente state, and I hope will yield to conformitie. But the Papistes are opposite and contrarie in very many substantiall pointes of religion, and cannot but wishe the Popes authoritie and popish religion to be established.[5]

text: Many Puritans had hoped that a reconciliation would be possible when James came to power which allowed them independence, but the Hampton Court Conference of 1604 denied substantially all the concessions which they had requested—except for an English translation of the Bible. Following the Conference in 1605, Clyfton was declared a non-conformist and stripped of his position at Babworth. Brewster invited him to live at his home.

text: Archbishop Hutton died in 1606 and Tobias Matthew was appointed as his replacement. He was one of James' chief supporters at the 1604 conference,[6] and he promptly began a campaign to purge the archdiocese of non-conforming influences, both Puritans and those wishing to return to the Catholic faith. Disobedient clergy were replaced, and prominent Separatists were confronted, fined, and imprisoned. He is credited with driving recusants out of the country, those who refused to attend Anglican services.[7][8]

text: At about the same time, Brewster arranged for a congregation to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house. Services were held beginning in 1606, with Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, and Brewster as the presiding elder. Shortly thereafter, Smyth and members of the Gainsborough group moved on to Amsterdam.[9] Brewster is known to have been fined £20 (about £3.96 thousand today[4]) in absentia for his non-compliance with the church.[10] This followed his September 1607 resignation from the postmaster position,[11] about the time that the congregation had decided to follow the Smyth party to Amsterdam.[2][12]

text: Scrooby member William Bradford of Austerfield kept a journal of the congregation's events that later was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. Of this time, he wrote:

text: But after these things they could not long continue in any peaceable condition, but were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day, & hardly escaped their hands; and ye most were faine to flie & leave their howses & habitations, and the means of their livelehood.[2]

text: Leiden[edit]

text: They lived in Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants,[13] residing in small houses behind the "Kloksteeg" opposite the Pieterskerk. The success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed. Leiden was a thriving industrial center,[14] and many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing, and brewing trades. Others were less able to bring in sufficient income, hampered by their rural backgrounds and the language barrier; for those, accommodations were made on an estate bought by Robinson and three partners.[15]

text: Bradford wrote of their years in Leiden:

text: For these & other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by ye universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many learned man. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amerstdam injoyes, it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats. But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads & imployments as they best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other riches whatsoever. And at length they came to raise a competente & comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor.[16]

text: Brewster had been teaching English at the university, and Robinson enrolled in 1615 to pursue his doctorate. There he participated in a series of debates, particularly regarding the contentious issue of Calvinism versus Arminianism (siding with the Calvinists against the Remonstrants).[17] Brewster acquired typesetting equipment about 1616 in a venture financed by Thomas Brewer, and began publishing the debates through a local press.[18]

text: The Netherlands, however, was a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine, and their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained there.[19]

text: Decision to leave Holland[edit]

text: By 1617, the congregation was stable and relatively secure, but there were ongoing issues that needed to be resolved. Bradford noted that many members of the congregation were showing signs of early aging, compounding the difficulties which some had in supporting themselves. A few had spent their savings and so gave up and returned to England. It was feared that more would follow and that the congregation would become unsustainable. The employment issues made it unattractive for others to come to Leiden, and younger members had begun leaving to find employment and adventure elsewhere. Also compelling was the possibility of missionary work, an opportunity that rarely arose in a Protestant stronghold.[20]

text: Reasons for departure are suggested by Bradford when he notes the "discouragements" of the hard life which they had in the Netherlands, and the hope of attracting others by finding "a better, and easier place of living"; the children of the group being "drawn away by evil examples into extravagance and dangerous courses"; the "great hope, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world."[20]

text: Edward Winslow's list was similar. In addition to the economic worries and missionary possibilities, he stressed that it was important for the people to retain their English identity, culture, and language. They also believed that the English Church in Leiden could do little to benefit the larger community there.[21]

text: At the same time, there were many uncertainties about moving to such a place as America. Stories had come back from there about failed colonies. There were fears that the native people would be violent, that there would be no source of food or water, that exposure to unknown diseases was possible, and that travel by sea was always hazardous. Balancing all this was a local political situation that was in danger of becoming unstable. The truce was faltering in what came to be known as the Eighty Years' War, and there was fear over what the attitudes of Spain might be toward them.[20]

text: Candidate destinations included Guiana, where the Dutch had already established Essequibo, or somewhere near the existing Virginia settlements. Virginia was an attractive destination because the presence of the older colony might offer better security and trade opportunities. It was thought, however, that they should not settle too near, since that might too closely duplicate the political environment back in England. The London Company administered a territory of considerable size in the region. The intended settlement location was at the mouth of the Hudson River. This made it possible to settle at a distance which allayed concerns of social, political, and religious conflicts, but still provided the military and economic benefits of relative closeness to an established colony.[22]

text: Negotiations[edit]

text: Robert Cushman and John Carver were sent to England to solicit a land patent. Their negotiations were delayed because of conflicts internal to the London Company, but ultimately a patent was secured in the name of John Wincob on June 9 (Old Style)/June 19 (New Style), 1619.[23] The charter was granted with the king's condition that the Leiden group's religion would not receive official recognition.[24]

text: Preparations stalled because of the continued problems within the London Company. Competing Dutch companies approached the congregation and discussed with them the possibility of settling in the Hudson River area.[24]

text: David Baeckelandt suggests that the Leiden group was approached by Englishman Matthew Slade, son-in-law of Petrus Placius, a cartographer for the Dutch East India Company. Slade was also a spy for the English Ambassador. The Puritans' plans were therefore known both at court and among influential investors in the Virginia Company's colony at Jamestown.[25] Negotiations were broken off with the Dutch at the encouragement of English merchant Thomas Weston, who assured them that he could resolve the London Company delays.[26] The London Company intended to claim the area explored by Hudson[25] before the Dutch could become fully established. The first Dutch settlers did not arrive in the area until 1624.

text: Weston did come with a substantial change, telling the Leiden group that parties in England had obtained a land grant north of the existing Virginia territory to be called New England. This was only partially true; the new grant did come to pass, but not until late in 1620 when the Plymouth Council for New England received its charter. It was expected that this area could be fished profitably, and it was not under the control of the existing Virginia government.[26][27]

text: A second change was known only to parties in England who chose not to inform the larger group. New investors had been brought into the venture who wanted the terms altered so that, at the end of the seven-year contract, half of the settled land and property would revert to the investors. Also, there had been a provision which allowed each settler to have two days per week to work on personal business, but this provision had been dropped from the agreement without the knowledge of the Puritans.[26]

text: Brewster's diversion[edit]

text: Amid these negotiations, William Brewster found himself involved with religious unrest emerging in Scotland. In 1618, King James had promulgated the Five Articles of Perth which were seen in Scotland as an attempt to encroach on their Presbyterian tradition. Pamphlets critical of this law were published by Brewster and smuggled into Scotland by April 1619. These pamphlets were traced back to Leiden, and a failed attempt to apprehend Brewster was made in July when his presence in England became known.

text: Also in July in Leiden, English ambassador Dudley Carleton became aware of the situation and began leaning on the Dutch government to extradite Brewster. An arrest was made in September, but only Thomas Brewer the financier was in custody. Brewster's whereabouts remain unknown between then and the colonists' departure. Brewster's type was seized. After several months of delay, Brewer was sent to England for questioning, where he stonewalled government officials until well into 1620. One resulting concession that England did obtain from the Netherlands was a restriction on the press, making such publications illegal to produce.

text: Thomas Brewer was ultimately convicted in England for his continued religious publication activities and sentenced in 1626 to a fourteen-year prison term.[28]

text: Preparations[edit]

text: Not all of the congregation were able to depart on the first trip. Many members were not able to settle their affairs within the time constraints, and the budget was limited for travel and supplies. It was decided that the initial settlement should be undertaken primarily by younger and stronger members. The remainder agreed to follow if and when they could.

text: Robinson would remain in Leiden with the larger portion of the congregation, and Brewster was to lead the American congregation. The church in America would be run independently, but it was agreed that membership would automatically be granted in either congregation to members who moved between the continents.

text: With personal and business matters agreed upon, supplies and a small ship were procured. Speedwell was to bring some passengers from the Netherlands to England, then on to America where it would be kept for the fishing business, with a crew hired for support services during the first year. The larger ship Mayflower was leased for transport and exploration services.[26][29]

text: Voyage[edit]

text: The Speedwell was originally named Swiftsure. It was built in 1577 at sixty tons, and was part of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. It departed Delfshaven in July 1620 with the Leiden colonists, after a canal ride from Leyden of about seven hours.[30] It reached Southampton, Hampshire and met with the Mayflower and the additional colonists hired by the investors. With final arrangements made, the two vessels set out on August 5 (Old Style)/August 15 (New Style).[29]

text: Soon thereafter, the Speedwell crew reported that their ship was taking in water, so both were diverted to Dartmouth, Devon. There it was inspected for leaks and sealed, but a second attempt to depart also failed, bringing them only as far as Plymouth, Devon. It was decided that Speedwell was untrustworthy, and it was sold; the ship's master and some of the crew transferred to the Mayflower for the trip. William Bradford observed that the Speedwell seemed "overmasted", thus putting a strain on the hull; and he attributed her leaking to crew members who had deliberately caused it, allowing them to abandon their year-long commitments. Passenger Robert Cushman wrote that the leaking was caused by a loose board.[31]

text: Atlantic crossing[edit]

text: Of the 120 combined passengers, 102 were chosen to travel on the Mayflower with the supplies consolidated. Of these, about half had come by way of Leiden, and about 28 of the adults were members of the congregation.[32] The reduced party finally sailed successfully on September 6 (Old Style)/September 16 (New Style), 1620.

text: Initially the trip went smoothly, but under way they were met with strong winds and storms. One of these caused a main beam to crack, and the possibility was considered of turning back, even though they were more than halfway to their destination. However, they repaired the ship sufficiently to continue using a "great iron screw" brought along by the colonists (probably either a jack to be used for house construction or a cider press).[33] Passenger John Howland was washed overboard in the storm but caught a top-sail halyard trailing in the water and was pulled back on board.

text: One crew member and one passenger died before they reached land. A child was born at sea and named Oceanus.[34][35]

text: Arrival in America[edit]

text: Land was sighted on November 9, 1620. The passengers had endured miserable conditions for about sixty-five days, and they were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving. It was confirmed that the area was Cape Cod, within the New England territory recommended by Weston. An attempt was made to sail the ship around the cape towards the Hudson River, also within the New England grant area, but they encountered shoals and difficult currents around Cape Malabar (the old French name for present-day Monomoy). It was decided to turn around, and by November 11/November 12 the ship was anchored in what is today known as Provincetown Harbor.[34][36]

text: Mayflower Compact[edit]

text: The charter was incomplete for the Plymouth Council for New England when the colonists departed England (it was granted while they were in transit on November 3/November 13).[27] They arrived without a patent; the older Wincob patent was from their abandoned dealings with the London Company. Some of the passengers, aware of the situation, suggested that they were free to do as they chose upon landing, without a patent in place, and to ignore the contract with the investors.[37][38]

text: A brief contract was drafted to address this issue, later known as the Mayflower Compact, promising cooperation among the settlers "for the general good of the Colony unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." It organized them into what was called a "civill body politick," in which issues would be decided by voting, the key ingredient of democracy. It was ratified by majority rule, with 41 adult male Pilgrims signing[39] for the 102 passengers (seventy-three males and twenty-nine females). Included in the company were nineteen male servants and three female servants, along with some sailors and craftsmen hired for short-term service to the colony.[40] At this time, John Carver was chosen as the colony's first governor. It was Carver who had chartered the Mayflower and his is the first signature on the Mayflower Compact, being the most respected and affluent member of the group. The Mayflower Compact was the seed of American democracy and has been called the world's first written constitution.[41][42]

text: First landings[edit]

text: Thorough exploration of the area was delayed for over two weeks because the shallop or pinnace (a smaller sailing vessel) which they brought had been partially dismantled to fit aboard the Mayflower and was further damaged in transit. Small parties, however, waded to the beach to fetch firewood and attend to long-deferred personal hygiene.

text: Exploratory parties were undertaken while awaiting the shallop, led by Myles Standish (an English soldier whom the colonists had met while in Leiden) and Christopher Jones. They encountered an old European-built house and iron kettle, left behind by some ship's crew, and a few recently cultivated fields, showing corn stubble.[43]

text: An artificial mound was found near the dunes which they partially uncovered and found to be a Native grave. Further along, a similar mound was found, more recently made, and they stole provisions which had been placed in the graves, as the colonists feared that they might otherwise starve. Baskets of maize were found inside, some of which the colonists pilfered and placed into an iron kettle that they also found nearby, while they reburied the rest, intending to use the corn as seed for planting.

text: William Bradford later recorded in his book Of Plymouth Plantation that, after the shallop had been repaired,

text: They also found two of the Indian's houses covered with mats, and some of their implements in them; but the people had run away and could not be seen. Without permission they took more corn, and beans of various colours. These they brought away, intending to give them full satisfaction (payment) when they should meet with any of them, – as about six months afterwards they did.

text: And it is to be noted as a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that they thus got seed to plant corn the next year, or they might have starved; for they had none, nor any likelihood of getting any, till too late for the planting season.

text: By December, most of the passengers and crew had become ill, coughing violently. Many were also suffering from the effects of scurvy. There had already been ice and snowfall, hampering exploration efforts. During the first winter, half of them died.[44]

text: First contact[edit]

text: Explorations resumed on December 6/December 16. The shallop party headed south along the cape, seven colonists from Leiden, three from London, and seven crew, and chose to land at the area inhabited by the Nauset people (roughly present-day Brewster, Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, and Orleans), where they saw some native people on the shore who fled when the colonists approached. Inland they found more mounds, one containing acorns, which they exhumed and left, and more graves, which they decided not to dig.

text: Remaining ashore overnight, they heard cries near the encampment. The following morning, they were met by native people who proceeded to shoot at them with arrows. The colonists retrieved their firearms and shot back, then chased them into the woods but did not find them. There was no more contact with native people for several months.[45]

text: The local people were already familiar with the English, who had intermittently visited the area for fishing and trade before Mayflower arrived. In the Cape Cod area, relations were poor following a visit several years earlier by Thomas Hunt. Hunt kidnapped twenty people from Patuxet (the place that became New Plymouth) and another seven from Nausett, and he attempted to sell them as slaves in Europe. One of the Patuxet abductees was Squanto, who became an ally of the Plymouth colony.

text: The Pokanoket also lived nearby and had developed a particular dislike for the English after one group came in, captured numerous people, and shot them aboard their ship. By this time, there had already been reciprocal killings at Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. But during one of the captures by the English, Squanto escaped to England and there became a Christian. When he came back, he found that most of his tribe had died from plague.[38][46]

text: Settlement[edit]

text: Continuing westward, the shallop's mast and rudder were broken by storms, and their sail was lost. They rowed for safety, encountering the harbor formed by the current Duxbury and Plymouth barrier beaches and stumbling on land in the darkness. They remained at this spot for two days to recuperate and repair equipment. It was named Clark's Island for a Mayflower mate who first set foot on that island.[47]

text: Resuming exploration on Monday, December 11/December 21, 1620, the party crossed over to the mainland and surveyed the area that ultimately became the settlement. The anniversary of this survey is observed in Massachusetts as Forefathers' Day and is traditionally associated with the Plymouth Rock landing tradition. This land was especially suited to winter building because it had already been cleared, and the tall hills provided a good defensive position.

text: The cleared village was known as Patuxet to the Wampanoag people, and was abandoned about three years earlier following a plague that killed all of its residents. The "Indian fever" involved hemorrhaging[48] and is assumed to have been fulminating smallpox introduced by European traders. The outbreak had been severe enough that the colonists discovered unburied skeletons in abandoned dwellings.[49] With the local population in such a weakened state, the colonists faced no resistance to settling there.

text: The exploratory party returned to the Mayflower, anchored twenty-five miles (40 km) away,[50] having been brought to the harbor on December 16/December 26. Only nearby sites were evaluated, with a hill in Plymouth (so named on earlier charts)[51] chosen on December 19/December 29.

text: Construction commenced immediately, with the first common house nearly completed by January 9/January 19, twenty feet square built for general use.[52] At this point, single men were ordered to join with one of the nineteen families, in order to eliminate the need to build any more houses than absolutely necessary.[52] Each extended family was assigned a plot one-half rod wide and three rods long for each household member,[52] then each family built their own dwelling. Supplies were brought ashore, and the settlement was mostly complete by early February.[45][53]

text: When the first house was finished, it immediately became a hospital for the ill Pilgrims. Thirty-one of the company were dead by the end of February, with deaths still rising. Coles Hill, a prominence above the beach, became the first cemetery, with the graves allowed to overgrow with grass for fear that the Indians would discover how weakened the settlement had actually become.[54]

text: Between the landing and March, only 47 colonists had survived the diseases that they contracted on the ship.[54] During the worst of the sickness, only six or seven of the group were able to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the Mayflower crew also died.[38]

text: William Bradford became governor in 1621 upon the death of John Carver. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to the freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. Bradford served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657.

text: The colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts.

text: The Massachusetts Bay Colony was reorganized and issued a new charter as the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691, and Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony.

text: Etymology[edit]

text: Bradford's history[edit]

text: The first use of the word "pilgrims" for the Mayflower passengers appeared in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. As he finished recounting his group's July 1620 departure from Leiden, he used the imagery of Hebrews 11:13–16 about Old Testament "strangers and pilgrims" who had the opportunity to return to their old country but instead longed for a better, heavenly country.

text: So they lefte [that] goodly & pleasante citie, which had been ther resting place, nere 12 years; but they knew they were pilgrimes, & looked not much on these things; but lift up their eyes to ye heavens, their dearest cuntrie, and quieted their spirits.[29]

text: There is no record of the term Pilgrims being used to describe Plymouth's founders for 150 years after Bradford wrote this passage, except when quoting him. The Mayflower's story was retold by historians Nathaniel Morton (in 1669) and Cotton Mather (in 1702), and both paraphrased Bradford's passage and used his word pilgrims. At Plymouth's Forefathers' Day observance in 1793, Rev. Chandler Robbins recited this passage.[55]

text: Popular use[edit]

text: The name Pilgrims was probably not in popular use before about 1798, even though Plymouth celebrated Forefathers' Day several times between 1769 and 1798 and used a variety of terms to honor Plymouth's founders. Pilgrims was not mentioned, other than in Robbins' 1793 recitation.[56] The first documented use that was not simply quoting Bradford was at a December 22, 1798 celebration of Forefathers' Day in Boston. A song composed for the occasion used the word Pilgrims, and the participants drank a toast to "The Pilgrims of Leyden".[57][58] The term was used prominently during Plymouth's next Forefather's Day celebration in 1800, and was used in Forefathers' Day observances thereafter.[59]

text: By the 1820s, the term Pilgrims was becoming more common. Daniel Webster repeatedly referred to "the Pilgrims" in his December 22, 1820 address for Plymouth's bicentennial, which was widely read.[60] Harriet Vaughan Cheney used it in her 1824 novel A Peep at the Pilgrims in Sixteen Thirty-Six, and the term also gained popularity with the 1825 publication of Felicia Hemans's classic poem "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers".[61]