The Mayflower groaned against the waves, the scent of rotting food and unwashed bodies thick in the air below deck. Cramped together in darkness, passengers whispered prayers over the howling winds, their hands gripping whatever they could to steady themselves.

Walter Palmer’s ship, the Four Sisters, followed years later, but the journey was no better. The storms were relentless, the food supply thin. Some children did not survive.

For George Soule, life below deck was one of servitude. He ate last, slept in the filth of the livestock pens, and learned quickly that there was no kindness aboard a ship where desperation ruled.

Dolor Davis kept his tools close, hoping that when he finally reached land, he could build a home of his own. John Gallup, a seasoned sailor, spent the voyage above deck, watching the horizon and dreaming of trade routes and fortune.

Then, after weeks of torment, land appeared.

They had survived the journey.

But the real struggle was only beginning.