”mayflower” by nathaniel philbrick essay sample

Over the Summer I decided to read the “ Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick”. The Mayflower focuses on courage community and war. As a matter of fact the Mayflower taught me things I would have never imagined happening. There were quite a few interesting sections that intrigued me. The characters faced good days and bad days. The Mayflower had some dull moments but at times it had a few vibrant moments. My favorite part of the Mayflower was in the very beginning of the book when Philbrick says “ For sixty-five days, the Mayflower had blundered her way through storms and headwinds, her bottom and shaggy pelt of seaweed and barnacles, her leaky decks spewing salt water onto her passengers’ devoted heads.” The reason why I enjoyed this part is because it shows how strong the Mayflower was. She pulled through the storm even though she was a raggedy old ship. In fact The Mayflower was a ship to freedom for the English settlers for freedom of religion. One of my favorite quotes that spoke to me is “ There are two possible responses to a world suddenly gripped by terror and contention.

There is the Moseley way: get mad and get even. But as the course of King Philip’s War proved, unbridled arrogance and fear only feed the flames of violence. Then there is the (Benjamin) Church way. Instead of killing him, try to bring him around to your way of thinking. First and foremost, treat him like a human being. For Church, success in war was about coercion rather that slaughter, and in this he anticipated the welcoming, transformative beast that eventually became, once the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were in place, the United States.” The reason this quote intrigued me was when he says “ There is the Moseley way: get mad and get even.” I like this sentence because it says get mad or get even and in my opinion that means that you have a choice you can either stay mad at the world or you can suck it up, be a man and get even; fight for what you love. This quote is just so real to me as in it speaks the truth about the things that happened. In the end it became part of the Declaration of Independence.

There were plenty of axiomatic parts in the story. One fact that I learned that I didn’t know or even better never would have imagined is that 41 people signed the Mayflower contract. I would have never imagined that there would be a contract for the Mayflower. Some people thought that the Mayflower was a slave ship but it was a ship to freedom. Another intriguing fact is that the Mayflower Compact was based simultaneously upon a majoritarian model (even though the signers were not in the majority) and the settlers’ allegiance to the king. I found this to be a very axiomatic fact because who knew that the settlers’ had to be in allegiance to the king. The majoritarian model was more of a democracy and or constituting a majority. I never knew that the Mayflower Compact was the compact which established the first basis in the new world for written laws. There are so many interesting axioms in this story. I am so fascinated with the facts in the story. Also the Mayflower Compact was drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. In 1637 there was the Pequot war wreck that led to horrible consequences that caused the breakdown to intricate relationships within the people from New England.

The pilgrim settlers had faced multiple hardships such as when they were in Plymouth they faced the challenge of dealing with a harsh winter as soon as they hit land. It took them a while to build adequate shelter so before then, they were forced to find warmth elsewhere. Food was also scarce. Another hardship is that It was not easy for settlers . It was not easy life. For examples Pilgrims suffered from sickness, diseases, hardships, hostilities as well but pilgrims had a great faith in God and that He would support them. In the way they did have the cause to fight for and sacrifice for was their fate. Now, they have a big island indeed. You know America was founded to be a religious country but it changed to have capitalism and consumerism. Of course, there is a value that should be stressed which is (multi ethnicity ) in American society even today. Americans look at themselves as a multi ethnic, multi cultural, multi religious society but this is a general situation so it is the land of freedom and liberty. So just imagine if those are two kinds of hardships that they had to face.

In conclusion the Mayflower Faced it hard times and good times. The Mayflower traveled all around the world to give the settlers’ freedom. I was very intrigued with this story because it just makes you wonder what life was like back in those days. Can you imagine if you had to live in those days the constitutional democracy called for a separation of church from the government. Back in those days people had to go through a lot not only that but this was a raggedy freedom ship but she made her way through the storms. Through thick and thin but she was one strong ship. I really liked this book and would definitely recommend it other people to read.