The Voyage of the Mayflower Trivia Questions

No printing press was aboard. The first North American newspaper didn’t appear until 1690 (Publick Occurrences). Pilgrims had no need for one; they focused on survival.

That look is a 19th-century invention. Pilgrims actually wore colorful wool, linen, and leather. Buckled hats didn’t appear until later; they favored simple caps and broad-brimmed hats.

The Compact was signed by 41 men—both Pilgrims and “Strangers” (non-Pilgrims). Indentured servants were included, but not women or children. It was a rare early democratic agreement.

Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth to a son, Oceanus, around mid-Atlantic. Another passenger, Mary Allerton, gave birth to a stillborn child. Both babies were born at sea in 1620.

Of the 102 passengers and roughly 30 crew, only 53 survived to spring 1621. Disease and harsh weather killed the rest. The living were too weak to bury the dead.

Before its famous 1620 voyage, the Mayflower spent years hauling wine and other goods between England and France. Its cargo hold smelled like a vineyard.

The Mayflower returned to England in April 1621. It did sail again to America in 1629—but only as a general trading ship, not for the Pilgrims. Its 1620 trip was its sole colonist voyage.

The Plymouth Rock landing story comes from a 1741 account by a 95-year-old man. Bradford’s journal never mentions any rock. The myth emerged over a century later.