Coming to America

The opportunity to change a person or a families ' destiny came ringing into the ears of thousands of men and women living in England in the 1630 's . The Puritans , from various regions in England , had grown tired even fearful , of King Charles I and his unbearable means of ruling the country . They wanted out . As the thought of migration gathered steam and became a reality , many people saw North America as the spot to plot a new lifestyle . The only mode of transportation came by ship - for the Wright Brothers were centuries

away from making their mark in the history books . There were many ships to choose from with varying destinations . Getting there , however , wasn 't going to be easy . Some envisioned the Chesapeake Bay Area , others the tropics of the West Indies , and many landed in New England , which will be my main thrust of discussion . I will discuss the benefits of choosing to sail in the Arbella , which initially docked in Salem , Massachusetts in June , 1630

Regardless of which ship people chose to travel the ocean-blue in there was death , disease , and discomfort . Not to mention , the occasional saint-less thieves sharing occupancy on the rolling , tidal journey to the Americas . The Arbella , although it had its share of disease and tight quarters , made the best of the situation at hand

For one , Captain Peter Milbourne , master of the sailing vessel , manned the ship with 52 able-bodied seamen that had some knowledge of the navigational methods of sea-travel . Four ships , in all , agreed to team up for the passage to America . The Admiral of this foursome was , in fact , the Arbella

The Lady Arbella and her entourage of royal staff dined in what was known as the great cabin . The great cabin was also the area that Lady Arbella and her royalty slept . Due to passenger size , they had to make accommodations so that there was room for all passengers . Albeit some were more cramped than others , but , due to the times , that was the way it was done For , there was such tremendous interest in making the great migration that they fit as many aboard as they thought possible Overcrowding , of course , led to disease - scurvy and others - that killed many . However , the people aboard did everything humanly possible to save as much human life as possible

Various other `statesmen ' and `stateswomen ' boarded this vessel including Sir Tichard Saltonstall and his two daughters . Men by the name of Philips , Coddington , Dudley , Bradstreet and Nowell - along with their wives - were also aboard . Some of the upper crust of England also included servants and maids to board the vessel

Many children fell sick in the lower quarters but instead of leaving them to their own destined fate , people aboard the ship , according to historical records , warmed them , offered a better spot on the ship , or anything else they could do to aid in helping them to heal . Even though the passengers lacked many of the common conveniences , the captain...