by Mr. Williams
You might think the Pilgrims were always peaceful people who never had any arguments. But that's not true ... they were people who had problems sometimes, just like anyone else!
Sometimes the Pilgrims who had come from Holland formed a group, and argued with the other group of Pilgrims who had come from England. The Pilgrims were especially grumpy in November, 1620. They had just made the long, hard trip across the ocean. They were anchored off the coast of Cape Cod. Winter was coming fast and they hadn't even decided where to make their village. Some people wanted to go north, and some wanted to go south.
"I think we should sail north, and make our village in some safe place near here," said John Carver. He was a tall, quiet man who was respected by all the other Pilgrims.
"That's ridiculous!" said Stephen Hopkins, who was part of the England group. "We should go south, so we can be closer to Jamestown and the other Englishmen down there!"
"That's telling him, Stephen!" snorted John Billington. "Let me punch him in the nose!"
"Please!" announced William Bradford. "Would everyone please calm down!" They all turned to look at William Bradford. He was a fair, reasonable person who loved to read books.
"We should not fight with each other," William continued. "We need to come up with fair rules so we're not all yelling at each other. And we need to choose a leader."
"True, true, very true," agreed Edward Winslow.
So, right then and there, the men decided on some rules. They decided to take a vote any time there was an argument. They decided to always try to make fair laws. They decided they would choose a leader by voting. William Bradford wrote it all down on a paper called the "Mayflower Compact." Afterwards, everyone signed it, even John Billington. Then they voted on who would be the leader of the colony. John Carver won.
"I still want to punch him in the nose," John Billington grumbled.