Piligrims' Sickness in the New World America

The Pilgrims endured many troubles, trials, and tribulation in their first year in the new and mysterious land that they were beginning to inhabit. Their hardest time was their first winter in the New World, it came quickly and without warning. The Pilgrims, who had no idea of the brutality of the winters in America, struggled to keep themselves sheltered and fed. In the dead of winter they began to realize that their shelter was inadequate to keep them warm, and that they would soon run out of their food supply. Nearly half of the pilgrims, who had travelled to America, died in this first winter.

Sickness was another hardship that the Pilgrims had to face and work through as a community, and as a family. This was a hardship that managed and seemed to pull the community of settlers into an even tighter knit community than they already were. They bound together to take care of and nurture their sick. Without hesitation and out of their willing spirits they would fetch wood and make the sick fires. They dressed their meat, made their beds, washed their clothes, and clothed and unclothed them. It truly was a time of pain, but the Pilgrims banded together in an inspiring way to pull through it, although there were many deaths, much pain, and immense sorrow, they still did not stop and continued to do their absolute best in helping those who were sick.

Another group of pilgrims who were influential to the american history was the crew of the Mayflower. This group went through many of the same struggles and hardships as the pilgrims before them had gone through. Sickness struck and left them weak and bed-ridden, unlike the former pilgrims though the crew of the Mayflower were a much more selfish community. While the people before them used this sickness as an opportunity to grow closer and form stronger bonds, the crew of the Mayflower took more of an “ever man for themselves” sort of approach. They began to desert their sick and worry about their own health more than the others, they stayed away from the sick for fear of infection and completely disassociated themselves from those who needed help most saying things such as “If they died, let them die.” They were utterly unsympathetic, which is a totally different approach from the pilgrims before them, towards the sick.

The Pilgrims endured many troubles, trials, and tribulation in their time exploring America, some handled it with love and graciousness, and others chose to handle it with disgust and selfishness. It was a hard time for everyone that committed to the exploration of the New World, but surviving all came down to how they handled their struggles and how they treated each other.