The first Americans followed trails to hunt for their food and used the animal hides to make their clothing and shelter. Their way of life was very different from ours, but they were able to live off the land because they knew how.

See a cross section.
Read about the voyage.

      One day, in November, a small ship, called the “Mayflower”, arrived, carrying 102 English people, called “Pilgrims”. They spent 66 days on the little ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean, even though they knew there were no houses to live in, and no town to buy food or clothes. What if you had to build a house and a town when you went camping? It was a very hard thing to do, especially in November. The Native Americans were very helpful to the Pilgrims. They taught the Pilgrims which crops to plant and other things they needed to know about their land. The Pilgrims built houses and called their settlement “Plymouth”.

Read about the village.
Read fun facts about the children.
See the Pilgrim's clothes.
Read about the girls.

   
Twelve year old Samuel Fuller lived in this house
with his aunt and uncle. The houses were small
and so was the settlement of Plymouth.

      That first winter, even with the help of the natives, many of the Pilgrims got sick and by springtime, only half of them were left. They spent the next summer working very hard and growing food for the following winter. Their crops did fairly well, so by Fall, they decided to have a fall harvest celebration. It was the year 1621 and the Pilgrims were thankful they had survived a whole year in their new colony. For their “first thanksgiving” the Pilgrims asked 90 of their native friends to share their feast. They served deer meat, duck and goose, clams, corn bread and wild plums.

Read more about the "First Thanksgiving".
Lots of things about The Mayflower & the Pilgrims.

 
 
      Wouldn't it be fun to see a picture of all the guests at that First Thanksgiving? It's too bad there were no cameras back in 1621. That was 380 years ago! Well, we can't see their faces, but we do know one of the guests. He was a boy about 12 years old, a Mayflower pilgrim named Samuel Fuller. He was Danielle's 11th great grandfather!