Misconceptions about the Pilgrims

Americans are taught many things about the ?Pilgrims? in school, but how many of those alleged historical facts are accurate? Much of what we think we know about the original settlers of Plymouth Plantation is a mixture of folklore, myth, and urban legend. This presentation and discussion will draw upon the writings of the Puritan settlers themselves to dispel some of the myths about them and how and why those myths arose. What did the Pilgrims think about sex, alcohol, witches, the Native Americans, and other matters? The answers may surprise you, and you may never look at Thanksgiving the same way again. Readings will consist of modest excerpts from the following: William Bradford?s Of Plymouth Plantation, Thomas Morton?s New English Canaan, John Winthrop?s Journal, Nathaniel Hawthorne?s The Scarlet Letter, and Roger Thompson?s Sex in Middlesex.