by Marla Houghton and Erica Cianchette
Shortly after the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags signed their peace treaty, John Carver became sick. He had survived the terrible winter, but his wife and his adopted son, Jasper More, had died in the winter. The summer was rough on him too because of all the work he had to do to try to get the village going well.
"I-I'm g-going t-t-to d-d-die," John Carver stuttered. His face was pale white, around his eyes it was red. He lay there on his bed, as still as a frozen stick.
"If he dies, we will have to pick a different governor," Peter Browne said.
"What will we do?" said Stephen Hopkins. "Who will be our new governor? I know ... let's ask John Carver." John still lay there without moving for a long time, thinking about what to do.
"I ... know... I r-remember the M-Mayflower C-C-Compact" John stuttered again. "It s-said we should v-v-vote to s-see who w-would be the new l-leader. Let's d-do that again."
"That's a great idea!" Elizabeth Hopkins said. At that moment, there was a long silence, and suddenly John Carver passed to another place.
After John passed away, everybody went to the church and voted. They decided the new leader of Plymouth Colony would be William Bradford!