HARD BEGINNINGS AT PLYMOUTH ROCK

Searching for religious freedom, Pilgrims flee England on the Mayflower and head for the New World. Led by Miles Standish, they settle at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620—now free to worship as they please. But how can they survive in this desolate wilderness? There are no towns, no houses, and nobody to help them—they might starve or be killed by Indians! The first winter is hard and many die. This is the story of how a few survive and go on to launch a new form of government which years later will become known as a democracy.

From the Weekly Reader edition