Original subtitles

[instrumental music]

["Confess Jehovah Thankfully"]

♪ Confess Jehovah thankfully ♪

♪ For He is good, for His mercie continueth forever ♪

♪ To God of gods Confesse do ye ♪

♪ Because His bountiful mercie ♪

♪ Continueth forever ♪

♪ Unto the Lord of lords confesse ♪

♪ Because His merciful kindnesse ♪

♪ Continueth forever ♪

♪ To Him that doth Himself only ♪

♪ Things wondrous great for His mercie ♪

♪ Continueth forever ♪

♪ Continueth forever ♪

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

Here you, come here. You with the Mayflower?

Master's mate, Coppin's my name.

These passengers for the Mayflower?

Aye.

- Any on board? - None aboard.

Hmm.

[speaking in foreign language]

They want to pray this way instead of this way.

And they don't kneel. They pray standing up.

They calls it religious freedom.

For that they're sailing into the black sea of darkness.

Have you searched that cargo?

Or been spending time watching the ways of the dissenters.

- We have searched the cargo. - Ah.

Here you. What's your name?

Samuel Fuller. William Button.

John Carver. My wife.

Stephen Hopkins. My wife. My children.

My bondsmen.

William Bradford. My wife.

And you?

- Mary Brewster. - Love Brewster

Rafa Brewster.

- Wife of William Brewster? - Yes.

Where's your husband?

I came from Holland with the others on the Speedwell there.

- And we've had no word. - Speak up!

Did your husband come with you on the Speedwell?

I've not seen him these many months.

Brewster's not been among us. He fled from Holland months ago.

He's believed to be dead.

A voyage into the New World alone?

By the goodness of my neighbor, Mr. Bradford, my sons and I--

Why're we being questioned? We're all cleared for departure.

Except William Brewster. We want your leader.

The rest of you may go and good riddance to you.

Passenger for the Mayflower?

Gilbert Winslow. I'm just down from London.

May I give you a word of advice?

This Brewster, this leader of the dissenters

if you're wise, you'll force him to go with us.

It'll be easier to let him sink there than keep him locked up

in prison until he starves to death.

This man won't starve to death, he'll hang.

And there's five crowns reward for the fellow who turns him in.

- Five crown, eh? - Hmm.

What's he look like?

Old man, white hair.

Well, I must do something about this.

These are the years of wonder on earth

when a man may go beyond the world's rim

and live to see marvels

if he can keep his feet dry and the ship from sinking.

Why are you going?

I'm going because I've nothing better to do.

I wanna see for myself whether it's a new world

or only the backside of the old one.

- Does it take money to go? - If it did, I wouldn't be here.

I'm an impoverished tutor.

Not quite a gentleman, but no worse than the others.

Uh, there's not a drop of blue blood among us all.

Scarcely a shilling.

Who pays for the ship and the provisions?

The investors.

A Mr. Weston representing the Virginia Company.

It passes me how Mr. Weston and his investors

expect to get their money back.

They do and a profit.

We're drawing up a Compact.

In exchange for the money we'll give our labor

for five days of every week for seven years in the New World.

We'll harvest crops, trap furs, dry fish

and the profits will be theirs.

And for the other two days of each week

we shall be permitted to work for ourselves.

- 'Mayflower passengers.' - It's a rich country.

Two days a week is enough

if you expect to find gold in your dooryard.

Seems to be going aboard.

We sail tomorrow.

They're waiting only to hire two more sailors and a, uh..

...a carpenter.

- Good day to you... carpenter. - Good luck.

Back water.

In oars.

Cargo loading is smooth, Mr. Coppin?

Aye, Captain. But we'd be loaded deep.

Fools taking their wives and children with them.

Keep them out of my way. Get aboard!

[indistinct chattering]

[chattering continues]

[soft music]

[music continues]

There's a gentleman from London been asking for you.

- Where? - Yonder.

The one in the brown velvet.

Sailing in the morning?

- You came to say me goodbye? - Later.

Mr. Weston.

Captain Jones.

Won't you sit down?

So, we meet at last, Captain Jones.

Our correspondence has been most satisfactory

but as I wrote to you I have a small matter

I wish to discuss with you in person.

Not too small to bring you from London to Southampton.

[laughing]

In confidence, Captain.

What is your opinion of your passengers?

You're paying me to transport them, Mr. Weston.

They're a rabble.

A rabble of poppers

running to some notions of wealth and adventure

because they believe the tall tales

they've heard of the New World.

And others running from the Church of England.

Because they've got new notions as to how to say their prayers.

But there's one thing to be said for them.

They'll make good settlers

because they've nothing to come back to.

They've sold their homes, spent their last shilling

on equipage for the New World.

As for the religious dissenters

they're very earnest and determined to see it through.

Now when you have even a small group like that, Captain

they're likely to infect the rest with their zeal.

So, they can say their prayers standing on their heads

if they have a mind to.

[Weston] 'If they but build me a settlement here.'

[Jones] 'I don't understand, you must be mistaken.'

'The Virginia Company owns a tract in this region.'

That's... south of the 41st parallel.

That's where the sackers are to be landed.

Uh, do you know this other tract? The Cape Cod region?

That's owned by another company. The New England Company.

Captain Jones, you are to take your passengers to New England.

But that's hundreds of miles

north of the region agreed upon by all parties.

A 100 pounds.

And another 100 when you return.

The passengers are not to know

their destination has been changed.

Naturally, there'll be nothing in writing between us.

And if ever in the future you speak of it

I'll call you a liar to your face.

Let us by all means have a gentlemen's agreement.

What troubles you, Captain?

Do you care where these people land?

I don't care if they land in hell. No, that isn't it.

But there's another man who'll have to know about this.

My mate, Coppin. He's a good navigator.

If we sail above the 41st parallel, he's bound to know it.

Coppin, will have to be told.

I see. Yes, he'll have to be paid.

- I'll see he's-- - 'Is Captain Jones here?'

You're Captain Jones of the Mayflower, sir?

I'm a carpenter.

I'm a good carpenter, sir.

I've worked on the building of ships and I have built houses.

And I'm a Barallete too. A trained cooper.

I can read and write a letter

and I'm an orphan and not married.

Oh, how interesting.

I've never been to sea, sir, but I-I am a carpenter.

You're a carpenter. You've also had a drink too many.

Oh, not today, sir.

Then what in the name of blathering bills

are you talking about?

I'm told you're hiring a carpenter.

Not I. I have a full crew.

I've had the same ship's carpenter for five years.

- Oh. - It's not a ship's carpenter.

It's the passengers. They're still short three men.

They're putting 'em on today.

They'll pay someone to tend to their barrels on the voyage

and help them build houses in the New World.

Sign on for one year, then return or stay as you will.

See Mr. Martin at the Old Inn. He'll give you papers to sign.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir, Captain.

- Get on with you. - Yes, sir.

I'll put in a word for you with Martin.

- What's your name? - John, sir. John Alden.

We're lucky we shipping on the Mayflower.

This Speedwell is a tub of bones and she's rigged all wrong.

But she's our consort vessel. She's sailing with us.

Aye, and she's oversparred.

Her ballast won't take it, she'll be giving trouble.

But the settlers are keeping her for a year in the New World.

- How many person she carrying? - About 30 I think.

Captain of the Mayflower never carried no passengers before.

Ha ha. He hates 'em.

- He's a blister, that man. - Aye, he's a hard master.

But a good sailor. You'll ride easy on this ship.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

You there.

You.

Passengers were told to stay in the waist deck.

I'm not a passenger. I'm not a sailor.

I'm a carpenter and I was hired by--

You were hired by that company of ragpickers not by the ship.

Now, lift yourself off the Captain's deck or I'll lift you.

What?

[clattering]

[thud]

[thud]

Belay!

Next time I'll heave it over the side.

Get below.

Where am I supposed to put my gear?

Passengers see me as crew and the crew thinks I'm a passenger.

Poor laddy. That makes thee wee orphan child now, don't it?

Get below!

You were hired to look after the supplies.

See the rats and passengers keep outta them.

- Now get below. - Yes, sir.

It's human cargo this trip.

Most of them come from homes where they slept in soft beds.

In their own clean rooms.

What is that drives such men to adventures of this sort.

The police.

No.

Not a lone bat.

Not that alone.

Here.

Here's mine, captain.

It's not very luxurious, but you're welcome to half of it.

I'll see what comfort there is below.

John, this is my elegant brother, Edward Winslow.

This is John Al..

John.

We're off to a meeting on the deck.

Store your gear with mine, till you find a corner.

- Who is she? - William Mullins' daughter.

Priscilla Mullins.

The only female aboard unmarried, over the age of ten

fit to look at.

[slow-paced music]

[music continues]

[tapping]

[music continues]

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

Ah.

Oh... creeping crows, I thought it was rats.

I've been sleeping, I believe. Good day to you, young man.

Your pardon, sir. I thought to make me my bed here.

- But if you're-- - Take no notice of me, lad.

I shan't stay here long.

I've been having a nap

away from noisy children and the like.

Children are a blessing, but they run and yammer so.

Who're you, young man?

I'm the settlers carpenter.

I came down here for a quite hour with the Good Book.

Great comfort in Scripture.

Well, that's not Scripture.

"The People's Plea For A Free Church."

How now? A carpenter and can read.

It's a forbidden book, isn't it?

You're a well-informed carpenter.

I never saw the book before this minute.

- But I'm better informed now. - I see.

I'm a loyal subject of the King and a God-fearing member

of the Church of England, Mr. Brewster.

I'm going above now, for the rest of my gear.

How'd you know, I'm not gonna turn you in for the five crowns?

Because we're on the same pilgrimage.

'I'm on no pilgrimage.'

Every man on this ship is on a pilgrimage.

To a spacious land, where a man can set up a trade

without pulling down two of his neighbors

and need not pluck his means from another's throat.

Such a man cannot be tempted by five crowns

'to betray a fellow pilgrim.'

The settlers are all above at a meeting.

I'm not a settler. I'm a hired man.

So am I.

Hired as a soldier to teach them the use of firearms.

- John Alden. - Miles Standish.

That don't last, it'll do.

- My wife, Rose. - How do you do?

Her last work seems to be tacking me

dosing me, mending me.

- Let's look at the meeting. - Aye.

[Weston] '...during which time'

'all profits and benefits that are got for the trade, traffic'

'trucking, working, fishing or any other means'

'of any personal pursuant shall remain'

'still in the common stocks until a division.'

Furthermore, in agreement, we do by these presence solemnly

and mutually affix our seals and so forth and so forth.

'Each man must sign.'

These are not the terms we agreed upon in our discussions.

Agreed or not agreed. This is what you're to sign.

I, for one, won't sign.

And before you sign, friends

reflect carefully on what you're signing.

Mr. Weston has waited until the eleventh hour

to present this agreement in writing.

Now, it does not contain the terms that he promised us.

He promised us that the homes we built and the vegetables plots

were to be ours from the beginning.

Only the profits from our labor would be divided by his company.

But this paper says, we're to work not five

but seven days a week.

Everything produced, bartered, grown or made in the New World

our homes and the tables and chairs we make for them

are to belong to the company.

This means that after seven years, Mr. Weston's company

can lawfully seize every stick and stone

we've labored to produce.

You'll sign it, or I wash my hands off the whole affair.

We can't sign our lives away. You're making bondslaves of us.

Do as you please. You'll get no more from me.

This is my last word.

'You'll stand on your own feet now. Without me!'

[indistinct chattering]

And now, you may sail, Captain Jones.

[chattering continues]

Close the door.

[door closes]

He's left them in our hands.

I think I begin to see what he's doing.

He's going clean outta his head. That's what.

The money's already been spent for charter and supplies.

His company's money. Now he tosses it all away.

Mr. Weston suddenly makes the terms too difficult

for the settlers to accept.

In the name of the company, he forces a quarrel on them

and he tears up the tie between 'em.

There is no contract and no obligation on either side.

But why?

So it'll be easier for me to land them in the wrong place.

These are honest fools.

With a contract, they might insist upon..

...being taken where they agreed to land.

But now, they have no contract.

But he works for the Virginia Company. They pay his wages.

Yes. It's a neat gamble.

And it's likely to make him rich.

I don't understand it.

They're..

Another cup, Mr. Coppin.

The New England Company.

The New England Company has never been able to gather

enough settlers together to make a permanent colony on Cape Cod.

Therefore, The New England Company is bankrupt.

Now... without notifying his employers

as to his activities

Mr. Weston will privately and secretly

buy up the bankrupt New England Company

for a small penny just before the word gets back to London

that, uh, either through accident or error

the settlers have landed on their land.

Now, with good settlers, the New England Company..

[liquid sloshing]

...will prosper.

And Mr. Weston will become rich.

All at the expense..

...of his former employers, the Virginia Company.

[liquid dripping]

Well, dip me in bilge. Ha ha ha.

Hey, he hasn't paid us enough.

Now... we'll see to that when we return.

[ship creaking]

- Mr. Coppin! - Aye aye, sir.

I beg you. Gentlemen, gentlemen.

We have no further time to argue back and forth.

I move, we sail

without Mr. Weston's blessings.

But is the Captain willing to sail?

I have no orders to the contrary.

I sail on the morning tide.

[crowd cheering]

Fools, dimwits.

Make ready to sail in the morning. I'm going ashore.

Aye, sir.

[bell ringing]

[sighs]

[distant laughing]

[singing]

[singing continues]

[man laughing]

[singing continues]

That's it, Meggie. That's it, Meggie.

'That's it.'

[Meggie singing]

[man laughing]

[singing continues]

[laughing]

[laughing continues]

Be careful, sailor.

Here we go, Meggie.

Uh!

[laughing]

Hey, you.

[laughing continues]

Give me a hand there, lad.

[slurring]

Fare thee well, Meggie.

Good luck, sailor.

Oh, Meggie.

I'm a might unsteady?

I'm full to the scuppers.

[laughing]

[slurring]

[stomping]

[slurring continues]

Well now, there's a pretty girl.

[squeals]

Well, it's the very same.

The very same.

The one with the sad beautiful eyes.

[whispering] Let me go.

Why, there's nothing to fear, lass.

Let me go. I beg you, let me go.

Why, she's all aflutter. All aquiver.

Flushed and kindled.

Hey, help me to my cabin

and we'll have a nice cup of brandy

you and I, and we'll quench a few fires.

Oh, a skittish mare, huh?

As pretty a bit as ever strolled the lane.

Married to that dull-faced psalm singer who doesn't know

the right kind of hymns to sing--

Hey, Captain Jones, let me go.

Oh, you have to pretend you don't like it.

I know that. I know.

Hymns and prayers, that's all you've ever known.

- That's all-- - I beg you, sir, let me go.

Let me go.

'I beg you, sir, let me go.'

[clattering]

- Mr. Clarke! - Aye!

- Mr. Coppin! - Aye!

- Mr. Duff! - Aye!

Make ready to sail.

Starboard one, sail off.

'Starboard one..'

Passengers below.

Clear the decks, get below, you fiddle blocks, we're sailing.

[indistinct shouting]

[indistinct shouting]

[indistinct shouting]

[Coppin] 'Loose everything.'

[fast-paced music]

Lively aloft!

[music continues]

[indistinct shouting]

[male #1] 'Anchors away.'

Take topsails!

Take forward bay.

Heave it!

[Coppin] 'Overhaul that..'

[Coppin] 'Man that rein!'

- Up the starboard. - Up the starboard, sir.

That's good..

- Ease your helm. - Easing the helm, sir.

[instrumental "Confess Jehovah Thankfully"]

[music continues]

Steady as she goes.

Steady it is, sir.

[music continues]

[water sloshing]

[bell ringing]

[Gilbert Winslow] August the sixth.

This is our first night at sea.

I'm growing acquainted with my fellow passengers.

It is possible to distinguish the religious dissenters

from the ones who are going for trade or adventure.

Perhaps it is the cleanliness and neatness of the dissenters

which they have made part of their religion.

They have invented a saying

"Cleanliness is next to godliness"

and they're somewhat tiresome about it.

The others are a varied lot.

Farmers, weavers, tailors, cobblers.

Some are tradesmen with the wisdom to see ahead

the opportunities of a new world.

In addition to the children of the settlers

there are the street waifs, homeless orphans

cast aboard by the Lord Mayor of over-populated London.

The master of the Mayflower, Captain Jones

has shown in many small matters

an attitude of unfriendliness toward the passengers.

He sees insults in every glance

and accusations in every innocent word.

Well, Master William Button

you should be below... asleep.

I'm going to be the first to see land.

Keep me eye peeled I will. Then I'll be the first.

It'll be like the Garden of Eden.

'And I am going to be the first to see it.'

As for me, from the way the wind's blowing

'I shall probably be the first to be bitten by the snake'

that lurks in every Eden.

[instrumental "Confess Jehovah Thankfully"]

[instrumental music]

Are you well?

Had to see daylight.

Mary has been warned.

'Your name is John Williamson of Surrey.'

- She's been told to-- - Good morning!

- Good morning, Mr. Williamson. - Good morning.

Fine weather, eh? I hope it holds.

Mistress Brewster..

...this is John Williamson of whom you may have heard.

Mr. Williamson?

- How much did he hear? - I don't know.

He's no fool, that Captain.

August the fifteenth.

We have been at sea for ten days.

Our consort, the Speedwell, has caused several delays

putting back, trimming and mending.

She is now once more beginning to lag behind.

[blast]

- She's signaling, sir. - Answer and heave too.

[indistinct chattering]

Confounded slop bucket.

She's given us nothing but trouble since we started.

Ahoy, Speedwell!

[man on Speedwell] 'Ahoy!'

Captain Reynolds, report!

[man on Speedwell] 'We're leaking fore and aft!'

Can you be mended?

[man on Speedwell] 'Not at sea!'

Can you stay afloat with pumping?

[man on Speedwell] 'Aye, but I don't know how long!'

- Mr. Coppin. - Aye, sir.

'Break out the longboat.'

Between the horns they don't know fore from aft.

I am going over.

Will you tell me the nature of the trouble, Captain Jones?

I'll report it to the passengers so that they may decide.

I tell you the nature of the trouble

you report it to the passengers and they decide?

In the first place, I don't know the nature of the trouble.

And in the second place, when I do know it

I'll tell the passengers and I'll decide!

I've inspected the damage and she's leaking like a sieve.

There's only one thing for her to do

and that's turn back once more for England.

[indistinct chattering]

Hold!

We're a hundred leagues from Land's End.

The Speedwell should flounder on the way home

all her passengers will have to go down with her.

There happens to be room only for her crew in her longboat.

Now I care no more what happens to those passengers

than I care about what happens to you.

But if she sinks, I'll never be able to show my face

in an English port. There you have it.

We're going back with her.

That's the nature of the trouble, Mr. Bradford

and that is my decision.

[indistinct chattering]

[instrumental music]

We are once more in England. Anchored off Plymouth.

Having lost many weeks since the Mayflower left London.

If we ever sail again, and there is now some doubt of that

this delay will bring us into the season of storms.

[slow-paced music]

You asked to see us, Captain Jones?

I asked to see the leaders.

I take it you heard the news.

We've heard that the Speedwell can't sail again

not for several weeks.

We don't understand these nautical matters.

Nautical?

[scoffs]

Captain Reynolds received

the best part of his money in advance.

He was to remain with the Speedwell

and stay with you in the New World for a year.

I never made such a bargain.

Perhaps if I had, I would've done the same thing he did.

And what did he do?

'He broke the Speedwell's hull, Mr. Bradford.'

The Speedwell was oversparred. He knew that.

And yet he sailed it with too much canvas

and with a rigging too slack. And now her..

[creaking]

It's a matter of stresses on the hull, Mr. Bradford.

'Her bilges are warped, her seams are open'

- 'You've lost the Speedwell.' - That much we'd heard.

We've discussed it, all of us.

And we made our decision.

Oh, you've considered it and you've made the decision?

This is our rightful area of authority.

Area of authority! On my ship, I am the authority!

- But, Captain Jones, we have-- - Mr. Bradford..

Captain Jones, I think you'll agree we have no choice

but to sail again, and at once.

Will you permit us to transfer the passengers

from the Speedwell to this ship?

Eighteen passengers have chosen to remain in England

out of discouragement and illness.

The rest are willing to share their food and their space.

You want the Mayflower to sail on alone without a consort?

You understand the dangers of this?

Afraid, Captain Jones?

Now let us have one or two matters understood

before we sail.

Sit down.

I can give you no more space aboard this ship

than you're already provided with.

As far as food is concerned, if you choose to starve

there's nothing I can do.

Starving at sea is no worse than starving in England.

You'll have no ship of your own.

You'll have no Speedwell standing by

during those long months, housing your women and children

while you build shelters for them.

And no Speedwell to carry you back

when you grow discouraged and give up this adventure.

I intend to land you and leave you there.

[knocking]

And as for you, the masquerade is over.

I know who you are, Mr. Brewster.

You know, that as Captain of this ship I have the right

to turn him over to the constables of the King.

'But I'm not going to turn him over.'

- Thank you, Captain. - Thank you, Captain Jones.

Keep your thanks to yourselves.

There's so much mealy-mouthed kindness aboard this ship

it sickens me to hear it.

I'll guard my words in future.

You've nevertheless, done me a kindness.

I've done myself a kindness.

I'm taking you along as a hostage.

Hostage?

- Against what? - Against trouble.

So be forewarned gentleman.

If there is ever the slightest question

raised about any decision I might make

I'll put this old gentleman of yours

in irons, take him back to England and watch him hang.

That is all.

Why do you hate us, Captain Jones?

'Why are you so full of contempt for us?'

Because you are hypocrites.

You talk fine of a new clean world.

What you're really dreaming of is getting rich

from the gold you'll steal from the savages.

I grant you we may be commonplace men

and no better than any others

but heaven has chosen to create around us

a situation to which we must rise.

Or die in our souls.

That's when men perform miracles, Captain Jones.

Be a miracle if any of them is alive after this.

Good evening, Captain Jones.

I gather we're sailing on the morning tide.

We are if this fog lifts.

The people from the Speedwell will board now.

I don't know where we'll stow them

but we've put together a new list of passengers.

- How many in all? - A hundred and two.

Fifty men, 20 women and 32 children.

More women and children than men.

Sailing across an ocean into a winter wilderness

with their women and children.

I am carrying a cargo of madmen.

You can't make a world only with men.

We're settlers, Captain Jones, not explorers or conquerors.

You're fools, that's what you are.

And liars.

I can see through this clean New World talk.

It's possible, Captain Jones, that you see no further

than the end of your nose. These are honest men.

There are no honest men.

There are those who try to be.

I've lived long enough in the world to know

what men are made of.

There's the good of the world, Mr. Winslow.

The good clean sea.

And my ship. My good ship.

I put faith in my ship and she's never failed me.

Don't put your faith in men

and you'll never know disappointment.

Perhaps.

But then I could never know friendship or love either.

Friendship!

Love!

[scoffs]

[instrumental "Confess Jehovah Thankfully"]

Heave-ho, Dick!

She's a tuned vessel, Dick. She'll handle easy.

Fishing, ma'am?

Lord loving! She's caught a whale.

- Let me give you a hand there. - Leave. I'm helping the lady.

- Will you please go away! - Belay there.

You belay. She told you to go away.

- I was helping the lady. - I'll help you over the side.

- I'm sorry, ma'am. - Leave me alone both of you!

I saw her first!

[both grunting]

[Jones] 'Belay!'

Belay there!

- Your father's seasick again? - It's to wash me.

[laughing] Oh, Mistress Mullins, you can't wash with sea water!

- Superstition. - Sea water won't take soap.

It'll crack your skin open and the winds will do the rest.

Can't be helped. We're not given enough water to wash our hands.

You wait till it rains again. I'll catch you nice soft water.

Never going to rain again.

We been eight days without it and you all smell like pigs.

Oh, I must remember to stand downwind from you then.

You're not too bad. Not like the sailors.

Now would you fill that bucket again?

No.

But if you must wash, I'll catch you some water.

Come along.

Until we land, I must see to every tub and barrel.

They mustn't leak or go bad.

- That's beer. - It's important work.

Trading goods for the savages. Knives and bracelets.

Here's water.

That's oats.

And that's smoked beef over there.

And this is a printing press.

I may not know about your beer and your beef, Mr. Alden

but I do know about this printing press.

It was brought from Holland.

It's the reason in a way for this whole voyage.

It was on this very press that Mr. Brewster and the others

printed those books that made us exiles.

Come. I'll show you where I live.

I found me a snug place.

Go on.

'It's the rope locker'

It's so quiet here.

Aren't you ever afraid so far from the others?

This is nothing to be afraid of.

I've seen the sailors looking at you

and I don't like it.

I don't like it either.

You're no different from the others.

Oh, but I am. I am.

How're you different?

Because you like me.

That's the important difference.

Let me carry it for you.

Oh, oh, no need. No. Stay where you are.

I'd rather go alone.

[fast-paced music]

[liquid sloshing]

[music continues]

[liquid sloshing]

[music continues]

[water sloshing]

Slut.

Hey..

That's not salt water.

Water from the sea don't make lather like that.

You've been washing clothes, huh?

- Take your hands off me. - Too good for a sailor, ah?

But not too good to use up his drinking water.

Now you come with me.

It's the lady which had a bath in our drinking water.

Now I know how some of them have kept their faces--

You forgot to knock when you came in, Mr. Coppin.

Get back to your watch.

Aye, sir.

I could punish you for this.

I did but wash my face, my hands and a little of my neck

and then I washed a cap and a collar.

All this cleaning and scrubbing was learned in Holland, I wager.

A good Englishman doesn't mind a little dirt.

Sit down, Mrs. Bradford.

See, the passengers and crews have separate storage for food

but water is common to the ship

and if it runs dry, we'll all go thirsty.

I promise not to use the drinking water again

Captain Jones.

Of course, there's always a little water to be found

for friends of the Captain.

- May I go now? - No, not yet.

The laws of the sea require I punish you for this.

I haven't quite decided what the price

of the water shall be.

If you're gonna toss me over the side

and feed me to the fishes, do it now

and spare me this cat and mouse game.

When I start feeding the fishes, Mrs. Bradford

there are one or two others who will go first.

What is wrong with you people?

Why can't you be civil and agreeable?

What's wrong with your sailors?

They give the women no peace.

My sailors are not used to seeing women

strolling the deck.

You mustn't be annoyed with them

if they get out of hand at times. Remember, they're men!

Although I'm not too sure that you'd know

a man if you saw one, married as you are to--

I'm not obliged to listen to this.

You're obliged to live on a 90-foot vessel with me.

And there are some things which are inevitable, lady.

Inevitable?

I can see it all, just like a soothsayer.

You've never been on a long voyage.

Weeks and weeks in close quarters

with nothing to do and very little to think about.

All was the liquid sea moving beneath you, setting you astern

telling you that you're alive!

I don't need the beating of my blood to tell me I'm alive.

By the time this voyage ends, this ship will contain

not the 102 passengers and 30 crewmen.

It'll contain 132 cats and dogs

a 132 rotting beasts!

'It's the sea that does it'

'the closeness of all to the others. You'll see it.'

So, uh, you and I may just as well make our choice early

the best choosing the best.

And assure ourselves of a very pleasant voyage.

What a foul man you are!

Tom Tinker's boy is ill, you should visit them.

- Oh, yes, William. - Not now, tomorrow will do.

I understand there was some unpleasantness

in the matter of water. Where's the... ah, yes.

We must try to understand the problems of the ship, Dorothy.

- The rules must be obeyed. - I know, dear, I--

And I should try to keep out of the way of the sailors.

There was probably some justice in whatever occurred

but it may have been an embarrassment to you.

Don't wait for me. I may be late.

I'm meeting with the others on the subject of rations..

[slow-paced music]

[instrumental "Confess Jehovah Thankfully"]

September the 15th.

Today, Captain Miles Standish

is making a most earnest effort to teach us

the use of firearms.

But I suspect that we shall never be soldiers

for we grow clumsier and more baffled with each new command.

Now, again. And this time all of you do as I do.

Shoulder your musket!

Poise your musket!

Mount your musket!

Recover your musket!

Trade your musket!

Draw forth your scouring stick.

[clattering]

Recover your scouring stick.

Return your scouring stick.

[settlers laughing]

Hold! Hold!

Ah, laugh, ya ballarags..

But if you don't attend to me now, you'll wish you had

when savages and wild beasts fall on you in the wilderness.

I shall now load the musket with gunpowder.

Observe me first and do nothing.

This... is gunpowder.

Open your charge.

Charge your musket.

Put in your ball.

[clinks]

Draw forth your scouring stick..

...and ram your ball home.

[clangs]

Return your scouring stick.

Poise your musket, mount your musket.

When you go armed, you will carry your fuse lighter.

It is applied to this cocking piece.

When you pull the trigger

it is released down into the flash pan.

The powder ignites, burns through the touch hole

explodes the powder in the barrel

and the ball flies forth

carrying destruction!

Now attend me carefully.

Prime your pan and touch hole.

Guard..

[puffs]

...blow and open the pan.

Draw forth your wick..

[puffs]

...and blow on the coal.

Cock your match.

Present.

Give... fire!

[misfire]

[gunshot]

[settlers laughing]

...mate when Captain John Davis

God bless him, for a nobleman were lost in straits.

And you've been to the New World too?

Not to Virginia where we're heading

but fishing banks off Cape Cod.

- 'And did you see savages?' - 'That I did.'

[male #2] 'We brought three home with us'

'all smeared with grease they were, naked to make you blush.'

We tried to put decent clothes on them

but they had a leaning toward chicken feathers.

I'm going be a king in the New World

and I'm gonna be the first one to see land.

I swore I'd never make this voyage again, but here I'm.

The last time, weeks on weeks we ploughed south by west

'and was drove back by ugly seas and headwinds.'

'All our spars were carried away, them was dark nights'

'and dying men's dinners without end.'

[William Bradford] 'Spin us a more cheerful yarn, sailor.'

Tell us of the mighty rivers and warm sands, palm trees.

You think you'll be seeing palm trees and warm sands

and living the life of ease, let me disabuse you right now.

It'll be a cold winter world where fine words will be useless

and your saints will be a burden.

'A world in which only men of brawn and blood will survive.'

A world in which men will have to be strong enough to care

for the women they have dragged like cattle into the wilderness.

[wind howling]

At last, the autumn voice of the Atlantic has come

bellowing out of the horizon.

The passengers remained huddled in the crowded tweendeck

and all the hatches are closed.

With the wind and the assault of the black water

the weather has grown suddenly cold.

As for the Eden I dreamed of, it seems it is not to be.

But they have found theirs.

He has appointed himself her watch dog and guardian.

I know of no surer sign of love in a man.

Young William Button, who plans to be a king in the New World

has been taken with lung fever.

[wind howling]

Batten down, Mr. Coppin.

[wind howling]

Watch your helm, hold her steady, you dolt.

Steady, sir. Steady.

[children crying]

- Shorten sail, Mr. Coppin! - Aye, shorten sail!

[Coppin] 'Pull up. Hold her at bay.'

[sailor #1] 'Aye. Pull up. Hold her at bay!'

- Pull up the main topsail. - 'Aye.'

[wind howling]

- Take in the spritsail! - Aye. Take in the spritsail.

[Coppin] 'Lively, aloft.'

[waves crashing]

- Slack away, there. - Slack away.

[people crying]

[wind howling]

Fair below. Hold fast.

- Hold fast! - Holding fast, sir.

[waves crashing]

[thud]

[woman screaming]

Gaspard, here!

Clear away that broken spar.

[wind howling]

You up there, rig a sea anchor.

Charles!

Charles!

Charles! My son!

Charles, Charles!

Charles!

My son, he's gone on deck again.

Alright, I'll get him for you.

Charles! Charles!

Charles!

Mother, mother, here I am.

Bradford! Bradford!

[wind howling]

Charles!

Charles!

[waves crashing]

Get below, you blubberhead! Get below.

[waves lashing]

[wind howling]

[waves lashing]

[wind howling]

Lend a hand.

[sea roaring]

You blubberhead!

Now, get below!

[people screaming]

[woman screaming]

[waves crashing]

[wind howling]

[clattering]

[people screaming]

[screaming continues]

[clattering]

[shrieking]

[wind howling]

Make some way!

[waves lashing]

...to starboard! Hold fast!

[waves crashing]

[waves crashing]

[ship cracking]

[people screaming]

[water gushing]

[screaming continues]

[wind howling]

[female screaming]

[screaming]

[creaking]

[water gushing]

[wind howling]

[screaming]

[indistinct shouting]

[water gushing]

[screaming continues]

- Come on. - Go, go!

- Underneath, right in here! - I can mend it, sir.

There's something down in the cargo hold that'll do it.

- What've you got there? - A printing press.

A printing press?

[wind howling]

[waves crashing]

[thwacking]

[Jones] Heave!

[Jones] Now!

[thwacking]

[creaking]

[Jones] 'Harder on the..'

[screw tightened]

Ease!

Now!

[creaking]

[Jones] 'Go harder!'

[thwacking continues]

[children crying]

[water gushing]

[slow-paced music]

With God's mercy, we have weathered the great storm.

Below deck, our quarters are cold, airless

and moldy with moisture.

Many passengers are bedded with the fever

and the injuries of the storm.

[music continues]

Captain Jones.

There's something I should like to say to you.

Thank you, for saving my husband's life.

You know if I'd had my wits about me I'd have let him drown.

None the wiser and at least one the merrier.

I know that. And so, I must thank you.

Well, you've done it.

[slow-paced music]

October the second.

The days go by each like the other and it grows difficult

to believe we shall ever see land again.

At times, it seems that for weeks we have not moved at all

for there is always the same horizon

the same cold, pitiless circle.

[music continues]

A son was born today to the wife of Stephen Hopkins.

He was named Oceanus Hopkins.

[all exclaiming]

Oceanus! Hello!

October the seventh.

Firewood is growing very short.

We have a fire every third day and cook enough for three days

and eat it cold thereafter.

[coughing]

October the tenth.

The scanty food, the airless quarters

and the endless damped cold are taking their toll.

October the 14th.

We've almost forgotten what it is like to be

without the pangs of hunger.

It is not difficult to understand

why the children remain sturdy

while their mothers grow weak and thin.

[slow-paced music]

[dramatic music]

[Alden] 'Who's there?'

[dramatic music]

Mr. Coppin's stealing food!

[music continues]

[thwacking]

[thwacking continues]

[panting]

[panting continues]

- 'I've been spoilin' for this.' - We'll teach him.

'Dirty scum.'

Hit a poor sailor lad, would you?

[Jones] Coppin!

Get below!

[indistinct grumbling]

Get below!

Back to your quarters.

[dramatic music]

October the 29th.

We sail on and on, South West by West

moving slowly under short sail, for Captain Jones has been

easing his ship cautiously along

since the breaking of the beam.

He does not dare to move faster.

Yet, there is desperate need for haste.

For our drinking water is very low, and there is firewood

enough for only four more days.

The sailors blamed the settlers for the delays that have

brought us into winter and short rations.

[slow-paced music]

November the fourth.

Scurvy has begun to show its hideous symptoms

among passengers and crew alike.

The seeds of death have been planted.

In some, hope is dying.

Our firewood is gone and the water will last

only a few days.

November the sixth.

The lamps in the Captain's cabin burn late.

He sleeps at odd hours and holds himself

more and more apart, a lonely man.

[slow-paced music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

You've come to thank me again, Mrs. Bradford?

[whispers] No, I..

Time for lies is over. I know how it is with you. I know.

You came here half-hoping to meet me only to pass me

on the deck and see the need in my face.

'That's what good women like you feed on.'

But the time for that is over too.

We've missed the time for taking.

I have a feeling we're all doomed, Mrs. Bradford.

Your adventures and your saints

and Bradford with his frenzy of religion and you

with your sense of duty that has you bleeding at the soul.

My scurvy-ridden crew and the empty water casks and..

...last crumbs of food.

And my broken ship.

And my nights alone

with this hunger for you that will not leave me.

Perhaps, it'll end soon in the dark sea.

And good riddance to us all.

You're not alone in this.

What makes you think only you can feel?

Others have known the hunger you speak of

and have lived to tell of it.

Yes, and never to tell of it.

And one thing more. I've guessed your secret.

What secret?

That you have a heart. That there's goodness in you.

And that you'd die rather than admit it.

You say you know how it is with me.

Well, my Captain

I know how it is with you.

What you feel isn't anger and loathing.

It's despair.

Despair because a dream is about to perish

short of fulfillment.

Because this beauty is about to be lost.

[slow-paced music]

Wednesday, November the eighth.

We've been at sea for 64 days since leaving Plymouth

and for 96 since Southampton.

The weather has grown warmer and the sea gentler

during the past two days.

For these two days

the Captain has scarcely left his upper deck.

The fog has been heavy and there has been no wind.

Encouraged by the warmer weather, a few passengers

have ventured above deck.

[upbeat music]

What have you there, Sydney?

Look! Sydney found a bird! A dead bird!

A thrush it is, I think.

A land bird!

[slow-paced music]

King Button.

See what we've brought you.

It's a land bird.

It means we'll soon be seeing the shores of Virginia.

[music continues]

Poor land bird.

It flew... too far from home.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

"We therefore commit the body of our deceased brother

"William Button, to the deep.

"To be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection

of the body when the sea shall give up her dead."

[thud]

Ho! Land ho!

Land!

Land ho!

Sail away.

To port to the weather bow.

[fast-paced music]

[music continues]

Starboard tack, Mr. Coppin.

[Coppin shouting]

[indistinct shouting]

[instrumental music]

[instrumental music]

[passengers singing]

[singing continues]

[singing continues]

It looks most barren.

Miles of sand.

That spit of sand is only Cape Cod.

There's a good snug harbor on the other shore of the bay.

- Is Virginia within the bay? - We're nowhere near Virginia.

'I've been here before with the fishing fleets.'

'This is New England, Cape Cod.'

'The Captain will likely put in here for water and firewood'

'and then sail south to the Virginia shore.'

I've read the works of Captain John Smith.

He wrote much of New England.

If this is it

we're still hundreds of miles north of our destination.

They're coming.

Mr. Clark, have you locked away their muskets?

Aye, sir.

[door opens]

- Good morning, gentlemen. - Good morning, Captain Jones.

Sit down.

Ah, Mr. Clark, pull up a chair for our visitors.

You asked to see me?

We noticed the longboat is being unshipped, Captain Jones.

Does that mean you're sending a party ashore for water and fuel?

Aye, that it does.

Is it possible that we maybe off New England, Captain Jones?

This country's every bit as good as Virginia.

That strip of land conceals a very good harbor.

The sooner you get your shelters built

the better chance you'll have for survival.

Besides, I can't risk another hour

of sailing with my ship in this condition.

[male #3] 'You're suggesting that we settle here?'

No, I'm not suggesting anything.

I'm telling you this is where you're gonna settle.

But what of your contract with the Virginia Company?

This is not the territory of the merchants who paid our way.

Now, that may well be. That may well be.

But you would do well to remember

your leave-taking of Mr. Weston in Southampton.

He swore he was cutting you adrift.

You're under no obligation to him, nor I to you.

I've done my duty.

I have delivered this cargo of psalm singers

and babies and there's an end to it.

Explore the other harbor! I'll stand by while you do it.

In the meantime, I'll provision and mend my ship.

Then I'll go.

And as for you, Mr. Brewster, I haven't quite decided

what to do about you. Remember the constables still want you.

So, if there's any trouble about this matter of where you'll land

I'll leave here with you and maybe one or two others

hanging from the yardarm.

I don't know why you brought us to New England, Captain Jones

when you knew we were bound for Virginia?

Accident?

You're too good a navigator for that.

But here we are.

And here we intend to stay.

We decided that before we entered this cabin.

We're staying not because you're threatening and bullying us here

for some reason of your own, but because we want it that way.

This region is better for us than Virginia.

Because it's not so closely under the domination

of the King and the Church.

Here, we would have even more freedom.

Our good reasons don't concern you, Captain Jones. I know that.

And what your reasons were, we may never learn.

But let me tell you that if we had decided to land elsewhere

not all your guns and cutlasses would have stopped us.

And if you think you can take Mr. Brewster to England with you

you're mistaken.

We are men well-accustomed of fighting for our lives.

This you don't know about us.

But what we know of you... makes us pity you now

for the contemptible weakness that greets us here with guns.

Call off your dogs.

[laughing]

You laugh too much, Mr. Coppin.

The company we were pledged to serve

has no rights in this territory then, none.

Every man can take as much land as he pleases.

'We'll divide the food and the gunpowder--'

[male #4] 'We'll take our chances on that.'

We starved and froze for weeks on end, but we're free now.

I'll trust my own back to get me my share of livin'.

Give each man his right--

Hopkins, Billington, I beg of you, hear me. This will not do.

Some form of government is needed here.

What sort of government? And into whose pocket?

Wait, Billington.

What is the deadliest danger we now face?

Hunger, wild beasts, savages?

No.

The deadliest danger we face is that we may disagree.

That we may each go grubbing in the wilderness

for himself alone. And so face quick destruction.

Gentlemen, this is a new world.

It is possible here to revise old institutions

and to start a new system of a perfection and excellence

hitherto unknown and to fit our infant society.

'But until such government can be devised'

'we must agree to stand together.'

Let us therefore, sign this Mayflower Compact

by which we all agree

irrespective of religion or former condition

to unite in one body politic

and to obey all laws

which would be necessary for all of us to make.

What say you?

It is this or anarchy.

And anarchy means disaster.

We are not alone in this room.

God is in this room.

For whenever a man goes upward, he takes another step

towards the fulfillment of the Godhead that lies within him.

What say, you gentlemen?

[male #5] 'I say, aye.'

[all] Aye. Aye.

Governor John Carver.

William Bradford.

Whether they know it or not

they have laid hold of great principles

hitherto unrevealed to the nations of the earth.

They are about to establish just and equal laws

adopted and administered by the people.

A government based upon the will of the governed.

John Alden, a hired man

grateful for the privilege of signing.

Isaac Allerton.

William Brewster.

Miles Standish.

Samuel Fuller.

Richard Warren.

Stephen Hopkins.

Francis Cooke.

Thomas Rogers.

Edward Fuller.

Francis Eaton.

John Billington.

Christopher Martin.

William Mullins.

William White.

Some are bondslaves, some cannot write.

But they make their mark with earnest pride.

James Chilton.

Degory Priest.

Peter Browne.

[orchestral music]

The Mayflower has been moved

into the harbor of New Plymouth.

Today some of them are setting out

on a long and hazardous exploration

to find a place for a settlement.

They plan to be gone for several days.

They carry bundles of beads and mirrors

against the chance of encountering savages.

In the hearts of those who remain behind

lies the fear that these husbands and fathers

may never be seen again.

- Dorothy. - Yes, William.

Many things have happened on this voyage

but if this exploration succeeds

there'll be a new world and a new beginning.

And what happened aboard ship will be forgotten..

...and forgiven.

I wanted you to know that before I go.

And I wanted you to know that

you have filled my life with sweetness.

[male #6] 'Bradford! William Bradford!'

God keep you, William.

[slow-paced music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Here, at last, is the beginning.

This lonely boat being beached on a cold and empty shore.

I do not know if anyone will ever learn

what was done here today.

But if any of us survives

this day must be remembered for the courage

of these weavers and hatters

these carpenters, tailors and tradesmen

shivering in their city clothes, frightened.

Setting forth into they know not what.

Holding guns, they scarcely know how to shoot.

Ragged, foolish-looking and weak as they are

they have the true splendor of man.

[instrumental music]

They'll be safe. They'll return.

Now go to bed.

I heard Captain Jones is gonna take the Mayflower to England

as soon as the men return in the longboat.

It can't be true, he can't leave us without shelter.

That's what he plans to do.

Is there no way to that man's heart?

I doubt he has one.

You can't take this ship back to England.

Before we sailed, I made it clear, that's what I must do.

If you remain until our shelters are built

some may live out this winter.

If you go, they'll die, every last one of them.

They chose to die. I warned them.

I ask you to stay.

And I ask you to come back to England with me.

This is no place for you.

What do you know of building new worlds?

I had no dream of a new world, make no mistake.

But here or there

my place is beside William Bradford.

No.

This is where you belong.

Here.

[instrumental music]

Dear heaven, forgive me.

- No. - We'll sail away together.

No.

What else is there? To be in love--

- There is more. William. - I'll tell him, I'll tell him.

No.

There's nothing between you two.

There's much between us two.

The years, the understanding.

He feels more than he ever shows.

My feeling for him runs deeper than you know.

This is wrong.

It's just as wrong living beside him thinking of me.

I know.

And yet I could never be happy

in a runaway life with you, remembering him.

You can't go back to him.

You'll never belong to him again.

That I know too.

And so I'm lost

somewhere between you.

Let me go now.

Let me think upon it.

Let me go.

[slow-paced music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[dramatic music]

We found it. A perfect harbor. Sheltered and warm.

The ground is still soft even in December. And a good rich soil.

It's a sheltered harbor with a huge rock rising from the water.

It's the very place that John Smith called New Plymouth.

There's a hill which rises thus and there's a good stream here.

We can build our fort on the hill and our settlement

along the stream. There's a plentiful supply of lumber.

There's signs of wild game, there's e..

William..

[indistinct chattering]

Three nights ago, the night you left.

Not of her own free will.

She would not have broken God's command.

We can only believe she fell overboard when no one was about.

[slow-paced music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[slow-paced music]

Captain Jones

the men wanted me to ask again

how much longer do we stay here?

The ships ready to sail, there's no gold here.

Nothing but beavers, clams and sickness. The crew's had enough.

They've taken the sickness from the settlers.

Lung fever is beginning to spread.

They'll get out of hand, sir. When do we sail?

Let 'em die.

The whole unlawful blasphemin'

look-down-their-nose lot of 'em.

You wasn't worried when you took Weston's money to drop 'em here.

What makes you side with 'em now?

Looking into your face and looking into theirs.

Stay then. Stay behind with your friends.

Look into their melee faces. We're going home.

We've had enough! We're taking the Mayflower out of here.

[grunts]

[thud]

[thud]

Now, who else threatens mutiny?

Clear the decks, get back to your posts.

[dramatic music]

April the fourth.

The winter is over, the land is abloom

and nature's bleak face has begun to smile again.

Of the 102 who landed here, 56 remained.

Six died in December

eight in January, seventeen in February, thirteen in March

all taken by the sickness.

A combination of scurvy and lung fever.

But now this plague is over

and our hopes are high for the future.

The Indians have proved gentle, poor, friendly

and often hungry like us.

If only in this, we're fortunate

in having settled here in New England

for in Virginia, the Indians are murderous

with hate for the white man.

And all these months

Captain Jones has kept his Mayflower standing by

providing us with shelter

and comfort during the long winter

until our homes were built.

Without her, we'd have perished. All of us.

We, who through God's mercy, have survived the sickness

have gathered to say farewell to Captain Christopher Jones

who sails tomorrow for England.

We wish this token could be a thing of greater value.

But there is nothing of much value on this shore

save, perhaps, what we hold in our hearts for this man.

To Christopher Jones, master of the Mayflower

whose fidelities sustained us and kept us alive

during our first winter on the shores of America.

We give our thanks and our friendship

unto eternity.

This scroll is inscribed with the names of all.

Even our latest settler

'Master Peregrine White.'

[Jones clears throat]

I-I have spoken with your leaders

and... and we have an offer to make to you.

Uh, any of you who wishes to return to England

I shall carry you back.

My ship will be travelling on short rations.

The food will be scarce

but probably no scarcer than it will be here

until your crops are harvested.

So... if any who wish to go will appear at dawn

on Plymouth Rock

you will be taken aboard.

I wish you all good fortune.

And I wanna thank you for what you have taught me.

The growth of the human spirit

brings it closer to all living beings.

I was alone.

Now, I am with my fellows.

[hens clucking]

There's something I must tell you. I'll be brief about it.

- I loved her. - I knew that.

There's something you may not know.

She loved you in a way she never loved me.

A way which I didn't understand then.

And she never betrayed you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

[slow-paced music]

[music continues]

Do you realize the wonder of it?

That a handful of sick and dying men have built that settlement

and now not one has appeared

asking for passage back to England.

I'm glad we didn't disappoint you.

'I suspected you too were on a pilgrimage'

'whether you knew it or not.'

'Searching for what?'

'A glimmer of hope... for your discouraged heart.'

[slow-paced music]

I can see the sails.

Two, then five, then fleets of them, come here to join you.

I'll be among them.

I must go.

God be with you.

[instrumental "Confess Jehovah Thankfully"]

[music continues]

Fire a salute... for the living and the dead.

Aye, sir.

[bang]

[music continues]

[music continues]