Mourt's Relation

Summary

Mourt’s Relation, printed in London in 1622, is the earliest published journal of the Plymouth plantation. It is usually so called from the preface signed “G. Mourt,” almost certainly George Morton, who commended the book to English readers. The journal itself is the work of William Bradford and Edward Winslow. It covers the first year: the landing at Cape Cod, the explorations, the Compact, the first winter, the first meetings with Samoset and Tisquantum, the visit to Massasoyt, and the letter of 11 December 1621 in which Winslow describes the harvest gathering later remembered as the first Thanksgiving. That letter must be read in its own words. After the harvest was in, “our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might, after a special manner, rejoice together.” They killed enough fowl to serve the company almost a week. “Many of the Indians coming amongst us,” Winslow writes, “and among the rest their greatest king, Massasoyt, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted,” and who in turn “killed five deer” for the governor, the captain, and others. The next sentence thanks God: “we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.” He adds, “We have found the Indians very faithful in their covenant of peace with us, very loving and ready to pleasure us.” The passage is a primary source for a particular feast in 1621, not a later legend, and it should be set beside Bradford’s account of the same peace and beside Winslow’s later Good Newes. The hosted text follows Alexander Young’s 1841 Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, a complete public-domain reprint whose typography is modernized from the 1622 quarto. It is not the 1963 Heath modernization, which this library does not use. Young’s notes and the Internet Archive’s OCR have left residual debris in some paragraphs; the verified quotations on this page are taken only from spans that have been checked against the harvest letter and the Compact wording. Henry Martyn Dexter’s 1865 edition remains the standard typographic reprint of the original spelling for students who want to see the quarto more closely. The Compact paragraph here may be compared with Bradford’s original-spelling text in Of Plymouth Plantation and with the library’s Mayflower Compact page.

Plot or Argument

• The first year, from Cape Cod to Plymouth

  The journal follows the landing, the explorations, the Compact, and the first winter, as written by men who were present for those events.

• Meetings with Samoset, Tisquantum, and Massasoyt

  It records the first meetings with Native neighbors and the making of a covenant of peace, later recalled in Winslow’s December letter.

• The harvest letter of December 1621

  Winslow’s letter describes a special rejoicing after harvest, Massasoyt’s three-day visit with some ninety men, and five deer brought to the plantation.

Characters

• Edward Winslow, co-author and letter writer

  The writer of the 11 December 1621 letter that describes the harvest gathering, and later the author of Good Newes from New England.

• William Bradford, co-author and governor

  Co-author of the journal and later author of Of Plymouth Plantation, which retells some of the same events in his own spelling.

• Massasoyt, Wampanoag sachem

  Called “their greatest king” in the harvest letter, he comes with some ninety men and, with them, hunts five deer for the plantation.

• George Morton (G. Mourt), preface writer and publisher

  The “G. Mourt” of the preface, almost certainly George Morton, who commended the book to English readers but did not write the journal itself.

Lessons

• Read the harvest letter as a 1621 report

  Winslow describes a particular gathering after the crop was in, with named guests and a stated number of deer. It is a primary source for that event, not a later legend of a national holiday.

  • What exactly does Winslow say they did after the harvest was in?
  • What does the letter say Massasoyt and his men contributed?

• The covenant of peace has a sequel

  The same letter calls the Indians faithful in their covenant of peace. That sentence should be taught, and it should be read next to Winslow’s later Good Newes, which records strain as well as kindness.

  • What does “faithful in their covenant of peace” claim in 1621?
  • Why is it unfair, or incomplete, to stop the story at this letter?

• Know the edition in your hands

  This page uses Young’s 1841 typography, not a 1963 modernization, and not every paragraph of the scan is equally clean. The quotations here are taken only from spans that have been checked.

  • How does Young’s typography differ from Bradford’s original spelling of the compact?
  • Why does the library refuse a later modernization even if it is easier to read?

Context

The book was printed in London in 1622, while the plantation was still new, to tell English readers how the company had landed, survived, made a civil compact, and entered a covenant of peace with their Wampanoag neighbors.

Composition

The journal is by Bradford and Winslow. The preface is signed G. Mourt, almost certainly George Morton. The hosted text follows Alexander Young, Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers (Boston: C. C. Little and J. Brown, 1841), a complete public-domain reprint whose typography is modernized from the 1622 quarto. The harvest paragraph was collated with Dexter’s 1865 wording where the Internet Archive OCR had broken the ending.

Reception

The Relation was the first published narrative of Plymouth and has remained the chief source for the harvest gathering of 1621. Later holiday traditions should be compared with Winslow’s sentences, not substituted for them.

Comparisons

• Of Plymouth Plantation

  Bradford’s later manuscript history covers the same first year in original spelling and then continues the story for many years after 1621.

• Good Newes from New England

  Winslow’s 1624 sequel is the necessary next book: it records later friendship, a false alarm, Massasoit’s illness, and the conflict at Wessagusset.

• The Mayflower Compact

  The compact already appears in this 1622 book; the library’s Mayflower Compact page presents the same agreement as a stand-alone text.

• A Model of Christian Charity

  Winthrop’s 1630 sermon is a Massachusetts Bay companion in early New England Christian community, written a decade after this journal.

• The Pilgrim's Progress

  Bunyan’s later allegory shares the later popular name “pilgrim,” but this Relation is a journal of a particular plantation, not an allegory of the soul.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The harvest letter’s exact sequence: fowling, fowl for a week, Massasoyt with some ninety men, three days, five deer.
• The sentence thanking God for present plenty, and the admission that it is not always so plentiful.
• The claim that the Indians have been faithful in the covenant of peace.
• The compact’s “civil body politic,” here in Young’s typography.

Key terms and names

G. Mourt

The signer of the preface, almost certainly George Morton, who published the journal but did not write it.

Relation

A narrative or report; here, the 1622 published journal of the first year at Plymouth.

Massasoyt

The Wampanoag sachem whom Winslow calls “their greatest king,” a guest at the harvest gathering.

Covenant of peace

The agreement with the Wampanoag which the December letter says they have kept faithfully.

Young 1841

The public-domain edition used here, with typography modernized from the 1622 quarto.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension Who wrote the December 1621 letter, and what did the governor send four men to do?
2. Comprehension How many men does Winslow say came with Massasoyt, and how long were they entertained?
3. Comprehension What does the letter say about want, plenty, and the goodness of God?
4. Interpretation Why is it important to quote the letter’s own details rather than a later Thanksgiving story?
5. Interpretation How should a reader hold the “covenant of peace” sentence together with the later evidence in Good Newes?
6. Big Question What is gained, and what is lost, when a public holiday is made from a 1621 letter that also talks of arms, guests, and a political covenant?

Faith Connections

• Psalm 103:1–5 (Scripture)

  The psalm’s blessing of God for benefits received may frame Winslow’s thanks for plenty, without turning the letter into a liturgy.

• Romans 12:13 (Scripture)

  The call to hospitality may be set beside the three-day entertaining of Massasoyt and his men, as a question, not as a proof text.

• Of Plymouth Plantation and Good Newes from New England (Great Conversation)

  Bradford’s history and Winslow’s 1624 book are the necessary companions to this first-year journal.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because the company had gathered its harvest and was at peace, for the present, with Massasoyt, Winslow can tell English friends of a special rejoicing, of guests and deer, and of thanks to God for plenty, without claiming that every season or every later year would be the same.

Rhetorical device: particulars. Winslow’s numbers—four men, almost a week, some ninety men, three days, five deer—are the letter’s way of making the gathering believable and limited.

Debate: Resolved: that the December 1621 letter should be taught as a primary report of a particular feast, not as a script for a later national holiday.

Memory Work

Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors.

We have found the Indians very faithful in their covenant of peace with us, very loving and ready to pleasure us.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Write an account of the 1621 harvest gathering that a classmate could verify sentence by sentence against Winslow’s letter. Include what you refuse to add from later tradition.

Comparison with Of Plymouth Plantation: Compare Winslow’s harvest letter with Bradford’s later history. What does each writer emphasize about the first year and about the peace with Massasoyt?

Medical Lens

The harvest letter contrasts earlier want with present plenty, but the Relation is not primarily a medical narrative. Bradford’s history gives a fuller account of the first winter’s deaths.

Creative Prompts

• Essay

  Using only Winslow’s December 1621 letter, describe the harvest gathering: who came, how long they stayed, what was eaten, and what is credited to God. Do not add later traditions.

• Classroom

  Set the harvest letter beside Bradford’s six treaty terms. Make a two-column list of what each source tells you about the covenant of peace.

• Dialogue

  Write a short dialogue in which a student who knows only the holiday story is corrected, gently, by Winslow’s own sentences about fowl, deer, and ninety guests.

Further Reading

• Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford

  Bradford’s later history, in original spelling, including the terms of the peace with Massasoyt.

• Good Newes from New England, Edward Winslow

  The 1624 sequel, needed for what followed the first harvest.

• The Mayflower Compact, The Mayflower company

  The library’s stand-alone page for the 1620 compact also printed in this Relation.

• Mourt's Relation or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth, Henry Martyn Dexter, editor

  The 1865 typographic reprint of the 1622 spelling, useful beside Young’s modernized typography.

• Edward Winslow, Great Lives

  A short life of the letter-writer and co-author of the 1622 Relation.

• William Bradford, Great Lives

  A short life of the co-author and later historian of the first year.

• Massasoit (Ousamequin), Great Lives

  A short life of the sachem who came to the 1621 harvest gathering.