On December 21, 1920, the US Post Office Department issued a set of three stamps honoring the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The Pilgrims never intended to be wanderers. They were devout Christians who felt that only by breaking all ties with the Church of England could they retain their integrity before God. They went to Holland first, but their plight didn’t improve. So they set sail for America on September 16, 1620.
The Pilgrims first arrived in America on November 11, 1620. Before going ashore, 41 of the male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact, agreeing to follow the laws they would eventually set. They spent about a month collecting firewood and scouting for a place to build a settlement. Around December 10 they found a spot they liked and returned to the Mayflower. The Pilgrims then sailed the ship to Plymouth Harbor and came ashore on December 21.
The Pilgrim Tercentenary stamps were issued on this same date in 1920. The first stamp in the set, the green one-cent “Mayflower,” honors the vessel that carried 102 brave travelers to the religious freedom America promised. Although the Pilgrims had a charter for Virginia, they landed in Massachusetts.