Titanic or Mayflower - Which Ship Would You Take?

RMS Titanic and Mayflower

Think fast!  If you were given the choice of crossing the Atlantic on the RMS Titanic or on the Mayflower, which would you choose?  People whom I have asked give me that ‘Duh’ look, and say, “Mayflower, of course!”  However, I am not so sure.

Let’s compare the two ships.  My photo montage may not be entirely to scale, but given the perspective, it is not far off.  Titanic measured 882’ at the waterline, with a weight of 46,328 tons.  A plan of Mayflower does not exist, but contemporary ships of her size (a mere 180 tons) measured only 90-100’ in length (and less at the waterline).  Mayflower was a merchant ship, so she was armed with 12 cannons to fight off pirates, and she was powered by a half-dozen sails carried on three masts and the bowsprit.  Titanic was unarmed, and was powered with three coal-burning engines which produced 76,000 horsepower.

Titanic 1st class lounge

Titanic is rightly famed for its luxurious accommodations.  There were separate dining rooms and cabins for first-class, second-class, and third-class, or steerage.  First class passengers could also enjoy lounges, smoking rooms, gymnasiums, and a Turkish bath.

Titanic 3rd class quarters

Even Titanic’s third-class quarters shared with strangers were luxurious compared with the accommodations on Mayflower.  That ship had been built to carry wine between Bordeaux and England.  It had quarters on the upper deck for the captain and crew.  A lower, entirely enclosed deck could carry cargo, and in 1620 it carried 102 passengers from England to the New World.  The lowest deck held the Separatists’ belongings and food.

Mayflower Compact

This painting depicts the Separatists (better known as Pilgrims) signing their compact, and it depicts Mayflower’s quarters as more spacious than they actually were.  While Titanic’s passengers could stroll on the open deck or in enclosed promenades, Mayflower’s passengers mostly stayed below decks.  There were no windows; only hatches which would have been covered during foul weather.  The deck was only 5’ 5” tall, so most of the men would have had to stoop.  There were no private cabins – if a family wanted privacy, they had to hang blankets from the beams.

Titanic 1st class menu

Who ate better?  Titanic’s passengers, hands down.  Even steerage had better food than Mayflower’s hardtack, salt pork, dried beef, Holland cheese, wheat, peas, oil, and butter.  Their water and beer were stored in wooden casks for months, and soon became foul.  Children on the ship tapped bits of hardtack on the table and guessed which piece might start moving first, impelled by alarmed weevils.

Titanic's lifeboats

Titanic is infamous for its inadequate lifeboats.  There was space for 1178 passengers – half of the persons on board.  However, Mayflower had but two auxiliary boats.  It had a long boat, to assist the ship with anchoring, and also a shallop.  That single-masted boat, which could be rowed, was meant to help the colonists in explorations, and might have carried one-two dozen people.  However, if the Mayflower had sunk, so would the shallop, because it was dismantled and stowed below deck.

If you get seasick, you would have preferred Titanic’s schedule.  It left England on April 10^th, and if all had gone well, it would have arrived at New York on the 15^th.  Mayflower departed on September 6^th, and did not arrive at Cape Cod until November 11^th (both dates Old Calendar).

Neither trip was trouble-free from the start.  Titanic set out from Southampton with a fire smoldering in one of its coal bunkers.  Such fires were not uncommon, but it has been theorized that its heat contributed to the damage caused by striking the iceberg by making the ship’s iron more brittle.

Mayflower was supposed to cross with a smaller ship, the Speedwell.  They set out from England on August 5^th, but had to turn back when Speedwell began leaking dangerously.  Mayflower was also leaky, but one of the main crossbeams caused the most alarm when it cracked during a storm.  The Separatists had a large iron screw in their belongings, used it to jack the beam back into place, then propped it with a post.

Titanic enjoyed a smooth crossing until it met the icepack.  Storms were much more of a problem for Mayflower, and the small ship was forced to secure its hatches, furl its sails, and drift before the furious winds.  One of her passengers fell overboard.  John Tilley managed to catch hold of a halyard and was dragged along by the ship, sometimes “sundry fathoms under water” before he was saved in a rescue even more dramatic than Rose Bukater’s attempted suicide in James Cameron’s film, “Titanic.”   An unnamed Mayflower seaman, who had mocked seasick passengers and was noted for his profanity, died of disease.  William Bradford said “his curses light on his own head” by the “just hand of God.”  A passenger also died just before landing.

Times-Dispatch headline

I imagine that by now you are thinking, ‘But Titanic sank – you would have to be crazy to sail on that ship!’  You are right – 2223 people set sail on Titanic, but only 705 of them made it safely to shore.  That makes for a mortality rate of 68.3%

Mayflower memorial

Mayflower set out with 102 passengers, and its crew is estimated at 25-30.  It arrived in Plymouth with only 2 persons having died, which gives that crossing a very favorable death rate of 1.5%.  However, half of the crew died before sailing back to England in the spring, and 50 of the passengers died of disease and starvation.  49.2% of Mayflower’s passengers and crew did not survive the crossing for long.

Pilgrims landing at Plymouth

Very little was written by Bradford about  how Mayflower’s passengers lived during the crossing.  He did note that when they arrived, there were no inns “to refresh their weather-beaten bodies” so the Separatists were forced to remain on board the tiny ship until March.  The whole country, whichever way they turned their eyes (save upward to the heavens) “represented a wild and savage hue.”  Disease and hunger were already stalking the Separatists, and desperation is palpable in Bradford’s writing.

So, if I was offered a luxurious 5-day cruise, ending with 50% chance of finding a seat on a lifeboat or a quick death, I just might take it.  After all, Mayflower’s passengers endured two months in a wet and dark cargo hold.  When they arrived in Plymouth Bay, they passed another four months in that same cold, cramped hold, stalked by disease.  They ate food stored in wooden casks for months, whatever their hunters could catch, and corn scavenged from Indian graves.  Dorothy Bradford, wife of the governor, fell overboard in Plymouth harbor and drowned.  It is possible that, like Rose of “Titanic” fame, Dorothy could not bear the hardships which lay ahead, and succeeded in killing herself.

However, though the Separatists suffered for 6 months, relief ships arrived in 1621, and with the Wampanoags’ aid, they learned how to thrive in their new home.  And today some 35,000,000 people are estimated to have a Pilgrim in their ancestry.  Though it was difficult from beginning to end, Mayflower’s trip was a resounding success.

Which ship would I take?  As a woman, I would have had a decent chance of surviving Titanic, especially if I had the means to go first class.  97% of them, and 86% of second class survived.  Even steerage women had a decent chance, with a 49% survival rate.  Men did not do so well, with 34%, 8%, and 13% surviving respectively.  Nearly all first and second class children survived, but only 1/3 children in steerage made it onto the lifeboats.

As a woman, I also had a fairly good chance of surviving Mayflower’s slow-motion disaster.  Out of 75 men, 50 died in the first 6 months.  There were 29 women, and 16 died.  At a nearly 50% death rate for Mayflower's women, I’d have a slightly better chance of surviving aboard Titanic.  On the way, I'd have some fine meals on that lovely ship.  Should I lose the dash for the lifeboats, they say that hypothermia is a pleasant way to go.  I'll count the stars until I fall asleep.

And now, which ship would you take?

For information on Titanic’s demographics:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/titanic.html

Photo credits:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/slideshow/titanic-rescue-photos-13724147 - Titanic

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=1957+press+photo+Ship+Mayflower– Mayflower

http://mredfootballatfault.blogspot.com/ - Titanic parlor, 3^rd class quarters, ship's boats

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_compact - Mayflower Compact

http://www.squidoo.com/Harland-and-Wolffs-Titanic - Titanic Menu

http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/titanic/739.htm - Titanic headline

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15882517 – Mayflower gravestone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony - Pilgrims landing, Thanksgiving

Why Puritans Scare Me

As readers of this blog may have figured by now, last year I published a historical novel based partially in 17^th-century Massachusetts.  You might even have noticed that I am sometimes critical of the Puritans who controlled that colony in that time.  Why is that, and what do we know about Puritans?

They hated sex, right?  Hardly.  There was a proper time for sex; after marriage.  But premarital sex was not unknown, and up to 20% of some towns’ births came within 9 months of marriage.  You might be fined, or possibly jailed for extramarital sex, but that was about it.

They hated alcohol?  Not at all – weak beer or cider was what most people preferred.  Milk was for children.  Water was sometimes contaminated, so it was considered unhealthy.  However, drinking alcohol to excess was frowned upon, and drunkenness was a good way to get hauled off to jail.

Then … what do we remember the Puritans for, and why do they scare me?  This is why:

Salem Witch trial

Puritans ran the horror show we remember as the Salem Witch Trials, when scores of New Englanders lost their lives, liberty, and estates as witches.  Often, the evidence was nothing more concrete than a pre-teen crying out that an accused person’s “specter” had attacked her.  In the Puritans’ defense, the judges, magistrates, and ministers were all convinced that they were saving Massachusetts from Satan, pursued “witches” throughout the colony until the royal governor ended the witch hunt (after his wife was accused).

The witch hunts began in 1692, but the real-life heroine in my book, Herodias (Long) Hicks, was witness to a much earlier abuse of power by the Puritans.  In 1637, less than a decade after Boston was established, citizens who supported a fiery, controversial sermon critical of the Puritans had their weapons seized, and were then given a choice.  Recant or depart.  Many apologized and were allowed to stay.

Anne Hutchinson's trial

However, many of Herod Hicks’ friends chose to leave Massachusetts, and several were banished to ensure that they could never return.  Anne Hutchinson was also excommunicated for heresy.  These tough New Englanders went south to begin their own new colony at Rhode Island.  Herod’s family joined them not long after.

Why did the Puritans do this?  Because they so dearly wanted their own colony that they left their homes in England, sailed across the Atlantic, and built new homes in the Massachusetts wilderness.  The Puritans now had their “City upon a hill,” as John Winthrop put it; a Godly community which would provide an example to the rest of the world.  Far from easy interference by King Charles, Church of England moderates, or Parliament.  Free to choose – or eject – what sort of people were allowed to dwell among them.  When Anne Hutchinson’s supporters became numerous enough to vote Winthrop out as governor, they had to go.

They were also free to make their own laws, based directly on English law, but also upon the Bible, particularly from Deuteronomy.  The proscriptions and punishments spelled out there are often harsh, yet our Puritan ancestors tried out many of them.  They were hardly the first; people have been mutilated and slain for their beliefs for millenia.  But the Puritans brought Old Testament law to New England, justifying their actions by saying that God would punish New England's residents far more harshly than they did.

Gays and adulterers were hanged.  Thieves and heretics – those who held “dangerous” (non-Puritan) beliefs – were branded or whipped so their scars would prove them suspect in the future.  Quakers had their ears cut off.  Witches were burned – 

witch burning image from PhotoBucket

OH NO, THEY WEREN’T!  Not a single “witch” was burned in New England.  A few dozen were hanged over the years, but burning witches was a European thing.

The Puritans were also creative in their methods of persuasion.  A disobedient child might have his heels tied to his neck, and left in that excruciating position until the blood “started” from his nose.  Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child is a good old-fashioned Puritan concept.  Headstrong kids quickly learned to obey, and it’s just as well, because they could be executed.  Even an adult could be hanged for disobeying his or her parents.

image by Dave Doody from http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/spring03/branks.cfm

Wayward adults could be punished in many ways.  Fasten a drunkard’s feet into the stocks, or lock his head and hands in the pillory, and let him stand in public for an hour or two.  Does a woman argue with her husband too much?  Pinch her tongue in a split stick and display her for public ridicule.  Women really did wear the Scarlet Letter for adultery.  And when one old man refused to enter a guilty or not-guilty plea during the Salem witchcraft outbreak, the Puritan magistrates piled rocks on his chest, trying to press the words out of him.  The man died before he gave them the satisfaction.

Those acts were based on biblical law, as interpreted by Massachusetts’ Puritan ministers.  Now, some people might say that we need more biblical law in our lives. However, there really can be too much of a good thing.

For Massachusetts’ first decades, the same handful of men oversaw everything: enacting and enforcing laws, deciding who was permitted to own land, and who could preach – Puritans only, thank you.  Once found acceptable, those clergymen interpreted the Bible for the magistrates when new laws were being written.  Puritan ministers also decided if a man’s beliefs were conventional enough to let him join the church.  Take note: if that man were not a church member, he could not vote.  Thus the church upheld the colony’s laws by barring the non-orthodox.  In turn, the colony supported the church and its ministers through taxes.

Single party rule from courthouse to meetinghouse can – and did – lead to spectacular abuse of power.  Convinced that God was on their side, and that achieving a “pure” New England justified whatever it took to keep outsiders from their midst, Puritan intolerance led to repeated purges of those found not acceptable – Catholics, Jews, Baptists.  Five Quakers, including Mary Dyer, were hanged when they refused to accept banishment from Massachusetts.

Such overwhelming abuse is less likely in this country these days … thanks to liberal courts, conservative judges, and progressive laws, moderates and hawks of all sorts.  Even Occupy Wall Street protestors and Tea Partiers have a part to play when they point out wrongs.  But the McCarthy hearings are not far in our past, when people suspected of “Communist” leanings saw their careers ruined. Internment camps in WWII …

When you come to it, it’s extremists of all sorts that scare me, not just Puritans, or Taliban, or the Spanish Inquisition.  While I wish that our representatives could get their heads together and solve our country’s problems, hopefully no single group can get enough advantage to do the Puritans’ sort of damage – not without being checked by the rest of us.  There really is strength in diversity.

Christmas - a Sacrilege?

1660 Puritan anti-Christmas notice.jpg

It is fairly well known that the Puritans of England and of New England were not in favor of celebrating Christmas.  The notice to the right clearly states just what the Puritans thought of exchanging gifts and greetings, dressing in fine clothing, and feasting: It was a Sacrilege, and Satanic to boot!

I had intended to compose a timely summary of how the Puritans and their non-Puritan contemporaries in Rhode Island observed Christmas - or not - but Christy Robinson beat me to it!  I highly recommend that you check out her excellent post:  http://marybarrettdyer.blogspot.com/2011/12/mary-dyer-and-christmas.html

Jon Stewart.jpg

Instead, I researched the above notice.  It's been around on the Internet for a while, and Jon Stewart featured it on the Daily Show last week.  I wondered just when and where the document came from, or if it was authentic.

Some clicks and Googles later, I find the document ascribed to both Pilgrims and Puritans, somewhere in New England in the 1700s.  The most specific citation, and the one which is the most believable said that it was printed in Massachusetts in 1660.

The reason that I believe that citation was because I found the Massachusetts law forbidding Christmas celebrations on pain of a five-shilling fine.  It was enacted in October 1658.  So while a quick search didn't turn up exactly when and where the above document was printed, I did find the law that it cited, enacted two years earlier.  Below is a printout, which also demonstrates the Puritans' dislike of gaming with cards and dice, which were apparently popular activities during Christmas "feastivals."

1658 Puritan anti-Christmas law.jpg

The Massachusetts Puritans' law indeed ordered a five-shilling fine for observing Christmas.  So, be grateful that times have changed.  We can now legally take Christmas day off, feast and exchange gifts, and wear fancy clothes without being considered Satanic.  In that case, let me wish a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to all of you!