The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 and the founding of Plymouth Colony are seminal occurrences in American history. The Pilgrims took on one of history's most daring escapes, and once they landed in America, they effectively separated church and state, and made experiments in civil government that continue to shape our nation nearly four hundred years later. The Pilgrims' great journey was one of courageous faith and tenuous survival. There is much about their legacy that is positive -- ideas of political and individual freedom, liberty, hard work, perseverance, dedication, and stewardship. While many of the surviving Mayflower passengers lived an adventure of epic proportions, I have chosen to focus primarily on the lives of John and Priscilla Mullins Alden, not just because they are my forebearers, but because their characters are exemplary. John was a person of national significance, becoming the most prominent and useful of any of the English contingent in the colonial period. And Priscilla was a beautiful young girl who gave of herself to her family and all the Pilgrims during and after their voyage. Both were shining examples for all future generations of Americans.