William+Brewster

William Brewster Interview
I was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England in 1566. My parents were William and Mary Brewster. We had no freedom of religion in England. We’d be thrown in jail if we worshipped God as we pleased. So we fled to Holland, where we had religious freedom. I fled with my dearest wife, Mary. I became the church’s elder years after. My son, Love Brewster, was born in 1611 in Holland. In 1620, we had our voyage to Plymoth in America take place. Mary, Love, Wrestling, and I traveled there.
 * Tell us about your life in England or the Netherlands.**

 I was a Saint, traveling on the Mayflower for religious freedom. We had to follow the rules of the Church of England back in Britain. If I continued to practice religion my way, I would’ve been arrested.
 * Why did you decide to go to the New World on the Mayflower? What was that voyage like?**

The voyage started out pretty well, but towards the end it was terrible. The food got moldy, the water contaminated. All we had to drink was beer, which eventually went bad also. We had to check our food for bugs. Most of our meals were raw, for we could not cook it over a fire for risk of a bigger fire. The absolute worst part would have to be the storm that caused a beam to crack. We thought we were done for. Three days before we saw land, a young child named William Butten got sick with pneumonia and died. Three days later we found the New World on November 21, 1620.  **How did the land and climate of Plimoth compare to what you were used to in England or the Netherlands?** One thing that is different between The New World and England is the trees. Trees were fairly scarce in England. There were many more trees in The New World than we had expected. Another difference is the fact that there were no bridges in The New World. No one had been there to build them. The Native Americans were there, but they didn’t have the supplies to make them. They also didn’t have the idea in their heads. Another difference is that the forests and the land were not owned by anyone. We didn’t really respect the Native American settlements. There were also no houses or towns when we arrived in The New World. We had to build them ourselves. The New World was very different from our home in England.

Life in America was very hard to adjust to. The first year, the cold weather was causing sicknesses, which usually lead to death for most. One sickness was scurvy. This usually did kill. We also had trouble building houses while the weather was cold. There were also threats of the savages coming to kill us or capture us, so we had to be weary of them. There were also many animals that we were not accustomed to. There was also a lack of food, and it was much, much different than the food from England. We did not have anything that we were used to, and it was hard adjusting in the New World. People also died from starvation. Some people say that the whole journey was not worth it and we should go back. I do not agree with them. It was worth it, but the journey was a wreck. It was better than not going to church in England and being thrown in jail. Clearing the area to build houses and other buildings or farms was terrible. It was long, and it took a very long time. We had to clear trees and rocks. We had to chop down the trees, dig up the stumps, etc. We also had to haul rocks away. It was very hard to adjust to the New World, but thankfully, we all got by.**
 * What was the first year like? What was hardest about adjusting to life in a new place?