This edition of Failure Friday isn’t a story of a complete failure. More a tale of potential failure. One I call “Plymouth Rocks (um…not so much)”.
The pilgrims landed in the New World, trying to escape religious persecution in England. Their timing and preparation were pretty bad. From Wikipedia:
On December 21, 1620, the first landing party arrived at the site of what would become the settlement of Plymouth. Plans to immediately begin building houses, however, were delayed by inclement weather until December 23. As the building progressed, twenty men always remained ashore for security purposes, while the rest of the work crews returned each night to the Mayflower. Women, children, and the infirm remained on board the Mayflower; many had not left the ship for six months. The first structure, a “common house” of wattle and daub, took two weeks to complete in the harsh New England winter. In the following weeks, the rest of the settlement slowly took shape. The living and working structures were built on the relatively flat top of Cole’s Hill, and a wooden platform was constructed to support the cannon that would defend the settlement from nearby Fort Hill. Many of the able-bodied men were too infirm to work, and some died of their illnesses. Thus, only seven residences (of a planned nineteen) and four common houses were constructed during the first winter.
Think that was bad…it gets worse.
Nearly half of the original 102 passengers died during the first winter. As William Bradford wrote, “of these one hundred persons who came over in this first ship together, the greatest half died in the general mortality, and most of them in two or three months’ time”.
I don’t know about you, but I would consider this a failure. But thankfully (get it? Thanksgiving, thankfully, what a sly wordsmith!) they got some important help. Enter…Squanto.
Squanto remained in Plymouth to teach the Pilgrims how to survive in New England, for example using dead fish to fertilize the soil. Numerous Native Americans arrived at Plymouth throughout the middle of 1621 with pledges of peace. On July 2, a party of Pilgrims, led by Edward Winslow (who would himself become the chief diplomat of the colony), set out to continue negotiations with the chief. The delegation also included Squanto, who acted as a translator. After traveling for several days, they arrived at Massasoit’s capital, the village of Sowams near Narragansett Bay. After meals and an exchange of gifts, Massasoit agreed to an exclusive trading pact with the English, and thus the French, who were also frequent traders in the area, were no longer welcome. Squanto remained behind and traveled the area to establish trading relations with several tribes in the area.
The point of this little story is that when we fail, it’s okay to ask for help. We can’t know, do or be everything all the time. We have strengths and we certainly have weaknesses. Don’t be afraid or too prideful to ask for help. You’ll be quite thankful if you do!
