Forefathers' Day
Forefathers' Day is an annual observance celebrated on December 21 in various parts of New England, commemorating the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620. This day honors the courageous quest of the Separatist Congregationalists who sought religious freedom and a place to build a community aligned with their beliefs, distinct from the established Church of England. The Pilgrims' journey began in Scrooby, England, where they faced persecution for their beliefs, leading them to seek refuge in Leiden, Holland, before ultimately embarking on a voyage to the New World.
Upon their arrival in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims faced numerous challenges, including harsh weather and illness, but they remained committed to establishing their settlement based on self-governance, as formalized in the Mayflower Compact. Although Plymouth Colony was eventually absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the ideals of the Pilgrims continue to resonate in American culture. Forefathers' Day serves as a reminder of their dedication to religious freedom and the foundational values of community and perseverance in the face of adversity.
Forefathers' Day
Plymouth Rock has always symbolized America's historic role as a refuge for persecuted peoples, and as such it is a particularly cherished landmark. There, on December 21, 1620, a scouting party sent out from the Mayflower went ashore and explored the area of eastern Massachusetts where the second English colony in North America would be established. The Pilgrims who settled Plymouth were seeking freedom, not fortune. Disenchanted with the established Anglican Church of their homeland, they hoped to find a place in the New World in which they could build a model community in accord with their beliefs. Forefathers' Day, observed annually on December 21 in many parts of New England, commemorates their courageous quest.
Pilgrim aptly describes the band that sailed aboard the Mayflower seeking a new home, but it does not indicate the group's theological principles. Specifically, they were Separatist Congregationalists. Like the Puritans who settled Massachusetts Bay in 1630, the Pilgrims were Protestants who believed that the authority of the church rested with the people gathered in each parish or congregation, and they were similarly disturbed by the rites and the hierarchical government of the Anglican Church. However, the Puritans and Pilgrims disagreed on the means to bring about church reform. The former thought that the Church of England was a basically good institution from which the vestiges of Roman Catholicism might be purged. The latter group considered it an ungodly organization from which they must separate themselves to ensure their continued moral integrity.
The Pilgrim congregation originally came together at Scrooby Manor in Nottinghamshire, England, shortly before 1606. Most of the fifty or sixty Scrooby worshipers were tenant farmers. They had the advantage of outstanding leaders. William Brewster was bailiff of the manor and had attended Cambridge University. John Robinson, the pastor of the congregation, had earned two degrees from the same institution and was a brilliant preacher.
In 1606 neighbors hostile to the religious radicalism of the Scrooby Church reported its doctrinal and procedural irregularities to the Anglican authorities. The royal officials reacted vehemently to this news, and they arrested and fined some members of the congregation in an effort to force them to conform to the practices of the Church of England. However, this harassment did not lead the group at Scrooby to abandon its beliefs. Instead the congregation decided to leave England and go to Amsterdam, which had already received groups of Separatists. The English ecclesiastical authorities at first resisted the plan, but in 1607 their opposition was overcome and Robinson led the members of his flock to their Dutch refuge.
Although Amsterdam offered the Pilgrims work and religious freedom, the English Separatists were displeased by the multiplicity of sects in that tolerant city. Robinson and the other leaders became particularly disturbed when they realized that some of the earlier Separatist immigrants to Holland had begun to accept the tenets of the Dutch Protestant Church. To keep their fellow believers free from the perceived taint of heresy, they decided that the congregation must move again. In 1609 the Pilgrims set out for Leiden, a city with less religious controversy and diversity.
The entire Pilgrim congregation remained in Leiden for eleven years, but some of its members were discontented. One young leader, William Bradford, cited several reasons for their unhappiness in his later History of Plimoth Plantation. They feared becoming involved if war erupted between Holland and Spain, among other reasons. Some members of the congregation were so dissatisfied that by 1617 they were ready to undertake another move. Since America offered the best opportunity for the Separatist band to live according to its beliefs, Deacon John Carver and Robert Cushman returned to England in 1617 to obtain permission and financial support for a settlement in the New World.
In 1620, after three years of negotiations, arrangements for the new colony were completed. However, not all of Robinson's congregation wanted to settle in the New World. The majority decided to remain in Leiden, and the pastor himself agreed to stay with them, while over thirty members were eager to go to America. Under the leadership of Bradford and Brewster they journeyed from Delftshaven to England aboard the vessel Speedwell in July 1620.
In England the Mayflower, bearing roughly sixty-five people, most of whom did not share either Puritan or Separatist beliefs, joined the expedition. The Mayflower and the Speedwell left Southampton for the New World in August 1620, but the Speedwell proved to be unseaworthy. It was decided that the Mayflower would sail alone, bearing all of the people who still wished to make the trip. The Mayflower departed from Plymouth (where the last unsuccessful repairs on the Speedwell had been attempted) on September 16, 1620.
On November 19, after sixty-four days at sea, the Pilgrims reached the coast of Massachusetts. The passengers of the Mayflower had originally intended to settle on land controlled by the Virginia Company (sometimes called the London Company), from which they held a charter. However, storms, faulty navigation, sheer joy at the sight of land, and doubt about the legality of their patent caused a change in their plans. Instead of proceeding south to the territory under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, they decided to remain in Massachusetts. On November 21, they anchored at what is now Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod.
Since Massachusetts lay north of the territorial limits of the Pilgrim's charter, their leaders technically had no powers of government in the area. Furthermore, the Pilgrims knew that they would have no chance to establish their envisioned community without at least recognition of their de facto authority by everyone aboard the Mayflower (including those who did not share their religious convictions). Consequently, before anyone could disembark, they drew up a document for the self-government of the colony they were about to found. By its terms the signatories constituted themselves as a body politic and promised submission to whatever just and equal laws should thenceforth be enacted by common consent for the good of all. The agreement, signed on November 21 by forty-one male passengers, was the famous Mayflower Compact.
The Pilgrim leaders then turned their attention to finding a suitable place for their settlement. For almost a month, parties from the Mayflower explored Cape Cod without success. Then, on December 21, seventeen Pilgrim scouts went ashore at Plymouth. Tradition holds that they first stepped on Plymouth Rock. This may be true, since the size, shape, and probable location of the boulder would have facilitated their landing. In any case, they were impressed with the harbor and the region adjoining it.
After the scouting party returned to the Mayflower and disclosed its favorable findings, three more explorations were undertaken at Plymouth. These expeditions confirmed the original report, and on December 30 the Pilgrims voted to settle there. The Mayflower, carrying most of the colonists, then sailed southwest from Provincetown. On January 5, 1621, it arrived in Plymouth Harbor.
Life in Plymouth was not easy. Disease and exposure to the cold claimed the lives of almost half of the settlers during their first winter in Massachusetts. Nevertheless, those who survived remained steadfast in their hope of establishing a colony where they would be free to worship according to their beliefs. By the spring of 1621, the first buildings were completed and the first crops were planted.
Plymouth was never a particularly prosperous colony, and in 1690 it was absorbed by its more powerful neighbor, the Massachusetts Bay Colony which Puritans under John Winthrop had established to the northwest. Yet, the ideals and the devotion of the Pilgrims to their beliefs have inspired many Americans. To honor the memory of the Plymouth settlers, a number of New England jurisdictions observe Forefathers' Day annually on December 21.
Knox, Robert. "Pilgrim Society Celebrates Forefathers’ Day with Votes and Vibes." Boston Globe, 14 Dec. 2022, www.bostonglobe.com/2022/12/14/metro/pilgrim-society-celebrates-forefathers-day-with-votes-vibes/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
Patrick, Sholeh. "For Forefather's Day, Take a Holidy." Coeur d'Alene Press, 22 Dec. 2022, cdapress.com/news/2022/dec/22/forefathers-day-take-holiday/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
Shribman, David M. "Column: Happy Forefathers' Day!" The Salem News, 19 Dec. 2020, www.salemnews.com/opinion/columns/column-happy-forefathers-day/article‗b0a35cd9-ee81-5339-bbe1-b177b2657d55.html. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.