This iconic picture, taken on December 20, 1920, recreated the attempt to move Plymouth Rock from the waterfront on December 22, 1774. Both events were strategically done close to Forefathers Day, the day the Pilgrims stepped on Plymouth Rock in 1620.
But why did they want to move the Rock in memory of the Pilgrims at a time when tensions were high with the tyrannical acts of Great Britain that were leading us to our War for Independence? Why remember the Pilgrims of 1620, 154 years and 300 years later? Are these two events related, and if so, how?
First, it is important to remember that December 11 is the day when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. It was initially called Old Colony or Forefathers Day. Because of the change in our calendar, it is now celebrated 10 days later – December 21st.
It’s also important to note that the Pilgrims didn’t just physically land on this unique boulder jutting out off the coast; their ideas landed there as well. The Pilgrims were never numerous, wealthy, or spectacular in any outward sense. However, the most precious cargo brought by them on the Mayflower were the ideas carried in their hearts and minds and drawn from the Bible. These ideas of self-government, jurisdictional separation of church and state, covenant keeping, and economic freedom, to name a few, have made our nation both unique and great. The United States of America is great only to the degree that the ideas that founded her are great.
After 150 years, these ideas had been cultivated, refined, and preached from pulpits in all 13 colonies, and fueled by the Great Awakening. But they were now in conflict with the British practices of control by the mother country, a state church, crown prerogative, and mercantilism (economic monopoly). These ideas were subsequently debated by colonial civil leaders for more than 10 years prior to any shots being fired in 1775. Due to the same ideas being preached in churches (which the vast majority of all elected officials attended), by 1774 they were more aflame in the citizens’ hearts than they had ever been before.
Thus, James Thacher, in his History of the Town of Plymouth, wrote in 1835:
“The inhabitants of the town, animated by the glorious spirit of liberty which pervaded the Province, and mindful of the precious relic of our forefathers, resolved to consecrate the rock on which they landed to the shrine of liberty. Col. Theophilus Cotton, and a large number of the inhabitants assembled, with about 20 yoke of oxen, for the purpose of its removal.”
Thacher continues… “the rock was elevated from its bed by means of large screws, and in attempting to mount it on the carriage, it split asunder, without any violence. As no one had observed a flaw, the circumstance occasioned some surprise… the separation of the rock was construed to be ominous of a division of the British Empire… the bottom part was dropped again into its original bed… The upper portion, weighing many tons, was conveyed to the liberty pole square, front of the meetinghouse, where, we believe, waved over it a flag with the far-famed motto, ‘Liberty or Death.’”
As Erin Blakemore has written, liberty poles were “cousins” of liberty trees. They became sacred spots where people remembered heroic deeds to resist tyranny in addition to the original trees that marked such places. So Plymouth’s “Sons of Liberty,” under the oversight of militia Colonel Theophilus Cotton, were inseparably linking Plymouth Rock to the principles of liberty brought in seed form by the Pilgrims.
Jim Baker, in his Guide to Historic Plymouth, writes about this picture in this way: “Town Square – 1828 print by Benjamin Parris Bartlett. A man is seating his young son on the upper half of Plymouth Rock, brought up there by Colonel Theophilus Cotton in 1774. The elms were planted in 1784.”
Baker also writes: “Plymouth Rock became one of the earliest shrines and places of ‘pilgrimage’ for Americans. It served as the symbol of the landing – the birth of Plymouth Colony and, by extension, of New England and the entire nation. The power of the symbol, coupled with the influence of the New England literary establishment, led to the widespread dispersal of the image throughout the United States.”
The top half of the Rock, its size now diminished by tourists chipping off pieces, was moved again on July 4, 1834. Note the significance of the date – linking its symbolic nature to the liberty and independence of America. It was enclosed by an iron fence in front of the newly established Pilgrim Hall Museum, the first such artifact museum in the nation.
In 1880, the top half of the Rock was reunited with its base on the waterfront with the engraved “1620” now on its surface. In 1920, it had to be moved again (as this picture demonstrates,) replacing the original Hammatt Billings portico constructed in 1867. The story of “moving the rock” began in 1774, but concluded in 1880 with its present engraving, welcoming millions of visitors from around the world!
Though the Rock that symbolizes their beliefs has been moved several times for the purpose of accommodating future generations, the ideas brought by these Pilgrims have remained unchanged. In the recent America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration, we recreated the image of moving the Rock for thousands along the parade route.
William Bradford wrote that his history was written “that their children may see with what difficulties their fathers wrestled in going through these things in their first beginnings, and how God brought them along.” May we continue such a legacy of remembrance in clearly distinguishing to the next generation what is “movable” and what is not!
