Comparing Bradford's Plimoth with today's Plymouth.

"Of Plymouth Plantation" penned by William Bradford describes the hardships that the pilgrims faced when they first landed in the Cape Cod area. He recounts in detail their sacrifices (such as the seven who cared for the sick during a particularly harrowing winter), defeats (their inability to make homes for themselves their first season), and triumphs (learning to plant corn) .

Having lived in Boston when I was younger and visited the "real live" Plymouth Plantation, I'm always struck by the stereotypical views modern day Americans have painted about the pilgrims. I frequently rely on the texts from Bradford to remind myself that everything is not as it is really painted.

Some of the events or ideas that have aided the misconceptions of the Pilgrims include: 

• The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: 

          Please don't give me wrong, I LOVE watching the Rockettes kick it, but, really, it offers the idea of a whole bunch of really happy people learning to live together in harmony. When, in fact, there was probably a whole lot of "he said, she said," illness, feuding, and hormones flying around.

• Children's Coloring Books:

          Starting at the tender age of 3, children begin coloring

pictures of Native Americans and pilgrims holding hands and sitting at the first Thanksgiving meal together. 

•    Elementary School Text Books:

          These books cite passages from Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation," but they focus more on the relationship of Samoset and Squanto uniting with the Pilgrims to give and teach them of their craft. Although it has been proven that two Indians named Samoset and Squanto did indeed help the Pilgrims, I find it extremely doubtful that their presence was greeted with such Christian grace, warmth and charm. In addition, many textbooks create the impression that all of the Pilgrims who came from England were Puritans. As evident through Bradford's account, people like, Morton of Merrymount, were not of a religious faith at all.

And, finally,

• The Thanksgiving Holiday

          Children and adults alike are led to believe that Thanksgiving has been seen as a national holiday since, well, the 1600s. In actuality, it wasn't until Abraham Lincoln signed the 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation that the day became a national holiday. Upon further reflection, Abe was probably aiming to unite two vastly different sectors of the U.S to promote unity as seen firsthand by the Native American tribe and Pilgrims.

Some of America is attempting to change these perceptions of the first settlers of Plymouth. The best example, and one that I can say I personally experienced, is Plymouth Plantation. Actors live out daily activities, describe personal experiences, and wear the clothing just like the Pilgrims did. Visitors to Plymouth Plantation can walk to the Wampanoag village and learn to carve out canoes and, similarly, speak to the them. Visitors can see Plymouth Rock and begin to grasp, maybe just a little bit, what a typical day in the life for these people was like. I would highly recommend checking out this link http://www.plimoth.org/ to take a virtual tour of the site and see what this "living museum" has to offer.