35 million strong, give or take

Those who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 hold an almost mystical place in the history of this nation. On the one hand seen as heroic and pure of heart and on the other vilified for rigid, cruel morality and the destruction of the indigenious community, the reality remains that the small band was a mix of religious separatists, indentured servants and adventurers, simply people seeking a new life in a vast new land. The Separatists were not the Puritans, but a small community of devout protestants seeking to be left alone by the Anglican Church to worship within their own beliefs. Not far removed from the theology of the state, the Separatists objected however to the glitz and glitter - the 'high church' rituals modeled on those of Rome. No, the Pilgrims were escaping an intolerant climate, seeking a simpler expression of faith.

Who then were the Puritans? They were anti-Royalists, followers of the strict and brutal Oliver Cromwell. Simplistically, they sought to bring these values of intolerance to the New England colony. Emmissaries of the new regime of the homeland, as it were, and intolerance was their controlling factor. Anne Hutchinson, certain folk in Salem, Quakers - all felt the scorge of John Winthrop, Cotton Mather and their followers.

Those in Plymouth seem to have remained separate from those settling around Boston. That trade and socializing between the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies occurred was ineveitable, blurring the lines between two. According to Nathaniel Philbrick's superb Mayflower, however, the first generation of pilgrims strove to fit into their new world. Relations with the Native Americans were largely peaceful and friendly, disintegrating as the years passed by to deceit and treachery and perhaps failure to understand the dynamic of the local native hierarchy.Their society was revealed to be democratic after the first year or so, when citizens realized that a 'communist' - ie, community, system would not be successful. Producing for the whole left citizens dissatisfied and disinclined to produce much of anything.

This small, courageous and committed group of immigrants were the first group I needed to find out about. I wanted to get beyond the myth and see them as people with faults, strengths and a tremenous will to succeed in the unknown. Where did they get this courage and what could I learn from their story about my own identity as an American. Our father identified with his ancestors of the Mayflower, but who were they? One example here, but the stories of all are available.

Stephen Hopkins was not a pilgrim but an adventurer. He had been to the Jamestown colony thirteen years before after being shipwrecked on Bermuda. Accused of mutiny, he pled successfully for his life. The story of the shipwreck has been immortalized in Shakespeare's The Tempest. With the opportunity to return to North America on the Mayflower, Hopkins and his family joined the band. He was an influential member of the colony and the principal liason with Massasoit, Squanto, Quadequina (another ancestor) and the other native leaders.

Richard Warren, Jacob Cooke, Priscilla Mullins, whose entire family died the first winter, John Alden - the list goes on, most familiar to anyone interested in the early history of this country.

In no way does anyone's connection to these intrepid souls make him/her elite. 35 million Americans can trace their lines back to these few. 35 million Americans have within their blood the seeds of freedom, the committment of faith and risk. And many more, lured to this continent for its promise of the dream have the same seeds of freedom within them. This is not a class-based society, but one of opportunity for all. Not an entitled society for the few or for the masses as none has the power to bestow entitlement on anyone. A society based on faith, but not doctrine or dogma. A society of personal responsibility and endeavor for all who choose it as the pilgrims chose three hundred ninety years ago.