A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

Khalid Elhassan - December 13, 2019

A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts
Pilgrims leaving the Netherlands. Scholastic

34. Take Me to Old Virginny

The Pilgrims famously crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the Mayflower, and ended up landing and settling in Plymouth, about forty miles south of modern Boston, at roughly 42° latitude N. However, their intended destination when they left England was hundreds of miles from Plymouth down the eastern seaboard in the Virginia Colony, roughly 40° latitude N.

The Pilgrims’ journey was beset by many delays. They had planned to sail from England in July of 1620. However, most of the people making the voyage where then living in Leiden, in the Netherlands. So the plan was for a sister ship, the Speedwell, to sail from England to the Netherlands, pick up the passengers, return to Southampton, join the Mayflower, and then the two ships would sail together in convoy to Virginia.

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