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Before the Pilgrims arrived, a
Native American Wampanoag village by the name of Patuxet was located in
the area that is now Plymouth, MA. However, in 1617, a great plague
likely transmitted from European fisherman to Native Americans on the
shore killed most of the local residents. This enabled the Pilgrims to
occupy the land with no resistance.
The Pilgrims were a group of
English separatists that came to America to practice their religion
with freedom after breaking off from the Church of England. Before
landing, they drew up the Mayflower Compact, thereby creating their own
government. They made their historic landing in the Plymouth area on
December 21, 1620.
Tradition says that the Pilgrims
landed at the site of Plymouth Rock, but there is no historical
evidence to prove this. They named their settlement “Plimoth” after the
port city by the same name in England. The Mayflower had sailed from
this port as their last stop on the way to America.
Residents of Plymouth had a
difficult time during the winter of 1620 to 1621. Many that had sailed
on the Mayflower died due to disease and lack of food and shelter.
Wampanoag Tribe Chief Massasoit,
who resided in a village in what is now Rhode Island, visited the
Pilgrims in 1621 and negotiated a peace treaty with them. He also sent
Tisquantum, better known as Squanto, as an ambassador and technical
adviser. Squanto was originally a resident of Patuxet. He had been
kidnapped and then enslaved in Europe before returning to America to
find that the inhabitants of his village Patuxet had died. He taught
the Pilgrims much about such things as farming and catching fish,
enabling their survival for the first couple of years. He also helped
Plymouth to set up trading posts. Massasoit negotiated a peace treaty
with the Pilgrims. After a bountiful harvest in 1621, the Pilgrims
gathered with Squanto, Massasoit and other Native Americans in a
celebration of feasting. This celebration is known as the First
Thanksgiving, which today is commemorated annually in downtown Plymouth
with a parade and reenactment.
Plymouth served as the capital
of Plymouth Colony from 1620 until 1691, when the colony was annexed by
the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In the 1800s, Plymouth was a
relatively isolated seacoast town depending on fishing and shipping for
its living. Before too long, it became a regional remained a relatively
isolated seacoast town whose livelihood depended on fishing and
shipping.[24] The town eventually became a regional shipbuilding and
fishing hub. The Plymouth Cordage Company, founded in 1824, became the
world's largest manufacturer of rope and cordage products. This company
closed down in 1970.
During modern times, Plymouth
has developed into a major economic and tourist center of the South
Shore.
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