In September 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers seeking a new life in America. The ship made landfall on Cape Cod at what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts, on November 21, 1620. The passengers, a diverse group of religious separatists and other colonists, endured a harrowing 66-day voyage. They established Plymouth Colony, the first permanent European settlement in New England.

The Mayflower voyage and the Pilgrims' story became a cornerstone of American identity and literary tradition. The event is central to 19th-century poems like Felicia Hemans' 'The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers' and continues to appear in works exploring themes of religious freedom and settlement. The Mayflower Compact, signed aboard ship, represents a foundational moment in American political thought and is frequently referenced in literature.