THANKSGIVING VIGNETTES

 
Signing the First Constitution on Board the Mayflower, 1620.

On Sept 16th , 1620 a group of 102 men and women set out from Plymouth, England to start a new life in northern Virginia. They came close but actually ended up on the shores of Cape Cod in what would later become, the State of Massachusetts. They were escaping church prosecution and hoped to be able to live by their own beliefs here in this new land. They anchored their ship, the Mayflower, off Provincetown, Massachusetts and made a few day trips to explore the shore to see if it could help sustain them.

While on board and actually before they proceeded another few miles across the bay to the distant shore of Plymouth, they drew up, agreed to live by, and signed a document that became their first constitution which we now know as the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower's main cabin became the study where this compact was drawn up and signed by John Carver, Wm. Bradford, Wm. Brewster, Myles Standish, John Alden and 36 other adult males who were considered to be the true Pilgrims on board.

The title of this article is the opening statement of that Compact. The main vignette of the note shown above is an artist's engraving of that probable scene on board the Mayflower. The caption under the image, above is the actual title of the engraving executed by Toppan, Carpenter and Company, banknote engravers.

 

A group of the Pilgrims has gathered to meet a representative of a native tribe of indigenous people. This vignette is a copy of the 1818 painting, The Landing of the Pilgrims by Henry Sargent. A key is available identifying each of the subjects portrayed including even, Peregrine White, the infant being held by his father ascending the hill behind the group.

 

The ship, Mayflower may be seen in the background and Pilgrims coming ashore to join with others readying a tent and preparing food. Note the Pine Tree to the right with a Native American approaching below and an Osprey above, keeping an eye out for errant bits of food. The date, 1620 appears in the sand to the left of the tree on this plate executed by the New England Banknote Company about 1835.

The scenes depicted on these three banknotes are of the earliest American historical event captured on some issues of our early paper money, before the advent of federally issued paper money. These have become a text of images and a source of knowledge for those interested in learning about their origin.

During this Thanksgiving season it is customary to give thanks for our good fortunes just as the Pilgrims before us and as collectors we could also give thanks for the foresight shown by the early bankers, artists and engravers when executing these historic images.

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