Monday, November 16, 2009

Was Captain Christopher Jones of the Mayflower bribed?

In 1620, the gossip around London was that Capt. Jones was bribed by the passengers to take a more northerly route than was planned so the ship would land outside the land held by the Virginia Company's charter. Is there any truth in this?

Was Captain Christopher Jones of the Mayflower bribed?
The Mayflower did end up off course, as the ship's original destination was further south. However, this seems to be accounted for by bad weather along the voyage. As there was only one English settlement in the Americas, the Mayflower Compact stated that their mission was " voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia." They signed that once they arrived, and it seems likely they were unaware of just how far off course they had gotten and thought they had landed within the lands of the London Company.


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