Mayflower Questions 1 and 3

Question 1. I think that the pilgrims strong religious beliefs were the main factor in their survival as a group. Through their religious beliefs the pilgrims believed that they were there for a purpose and that God's will would be done. So, I think that in hard times they were able to fall back on that to help them push on. However, I think that at times their religious beliefs hindered them in survival. Because the pilgrims were so unwilling to look or listen to anything that wasn't strictly biblical they missed a lot of opportunities to learn from other people. I'm sure that the Indians could have taught them many lessons on survival in the Americas, but because the Indians weren't as biblical as they were they overlooked some things that they did.



Question 3. I think that America made pilgrims and their situation more of a fantasy because that's what they wanted to hear. Nobody really wants to believe that the Pilgrims had it rough when they came over, or that Thanksgiving wasn't a party. People want to believe that the Pilgrims came over and life fell into place for them. I also think that Pilgrim fantasy that we know today is somewhat encouraging. I mean as little kids in the 1st grade we are told this fantasy story of the Pilgrims, and they became the coolest people ever. We didn't want to know the struggles and hardships that they actually went through, and for the most part people still don't.