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Overall Summary

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War is a historic nonfiction narrative by New York Times bestseller Nathaniel Philbrick. It outlines the reasons for the Mayflower’s voyage, as well as the Pilgrims’ experience in America during their first fifty-five years. The book also delves into other topics such as the relationship between Native Americans and white settlers. Overall it shows that there were two sides to every story in this particular episode of American history.

The Mayflower highlights how the Pilgrims and their neighbors, the Pokanokets, came to establish a relationship based on mutual need. The Pilgrims needed to survive in a harsh new environment. They also needed allies if they were to develop their settlement. At the same time, the Pokanokets had lost their place as most powerful people in the region because of disease and death. The Pilgrims could be key allies for them if they wanted to restore that status. Initially distrustful of each other, both sides realized that it would be mutually beneficial for them to work together since neither side was strong enough on its own anymore due to loss of population from disease and war with other tribes.

Philbrick examines the origins of the Pilgrims. They were in Leiden, Holland for a while before they decided to go somewhere new where they could worship freely. Thomas Weston promised the group that he’d help them establish themselves in America but didn’t deliver on his promises. The group faced many problems including Native American attacks and harsh territory, but their faith sustained them throughout these ordeals.

Philbrick’s narrative highlights the uneasy meeting between the Pilgrims and Massasoit, as well as how they came to rely on one another. Both groups faced attack by several other groups of Native Americans, including the Massachusetts and the Narragansetts. Massasoit made a calculated decision to ally with the Pilgrims because he was advised by Squanto, who had been taken from that region years earlier. Squanto saw firsthand how disease had decimated his people, but also saw opportunity for himself if he played his cards right.

With Squanto acting as an interpreter, the Pilgrims and Pokanokets became close allies. However, this relationship was weakening because of how power-hungry Squanto was. He plotted with the Narragansetts to destroy Plymouth and Massasoit so that he could become a leader himself. Even though his plot failed, Massasoit’s bond with the Pilgrims grew stronger in spite of what Squanto did.

When the second generation of Pilgrims came of age, they were more interested in owning land than maintaining good relationships with Native Americans. As a result, Plymouth leaders left to start other settlements where the land was better. The settlement began to decline as Puritan settlers from England established new communities nearby. William Bradford believed that this materialistic way of thinking would anger God and bring destruction upon them all.

With a new leader like Philip (Massasoit’s son), New England seemed to be heading towards war. However, Josiah Winslow was able to keep the peace by being diplomatic and respectful of both sides. Both sides wanted to exist separate and independent from each other, but they were unwilling to give in. This resulted in King Philip’s War, which was one of the bloodiest wars on American soil and led to the systematic destruction of Native life in that region.

This book is about the Mayflower and its journey to America. It explains how the Native Americans and Pilgrims interacted with each other, as well as their eventual decline into slavery and death. The author also talks about the legacies that are still evident in modern-day America.