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Back to Podcast EpisodesWilliam Bradford and the Voyage of the Mayflower (Part One)
The remarkable story of the courage and suffering of the passengers aboard the Mayflower and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony.
On November 11, 1620, a 100 foot long cargo ship called the Mayflower entered what is today known as Provincetown Harbor, virtually on the tip of present day Cape Cod. This was the culmination of over two months at sea for 102 immigrants, originally from England, some of this contingent intent on establishing their own religious settlement in the New World, free from persecution from the British crown. Their Atlantic crossing was difficult, their time spent mostly below deck, lashed by gale driven waves that left them and their clothes and quarters in a miserably damp and chilly condition, their diet of hardtack, dried meat and watered down beer little comfort.
William Bradford was born in March of 1590, in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England. The exact date is unknown although he was baptized on March 19 of that same year. Many members of his family died when he was a child, and Bradford was orphaned by the age of seven. Sent to live with two uncles, he spent most of his time as a farm laborer and his leisure activity consisted of reading and studying the Bible and other classic philosophical tracts. Intellectually curious, he was exposed to various sermons of area preachers who radically suggested that the Church of England was still inappropriately influenced by Catholicism.
Figuring he couldn’t just abandon the Billington boy, Bradford ordered ten armed men, including Edward Winslow, to load up the sma
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