American Experience S27E11 - The Pilgrims

Arguably one of the most fateful and resonant events of the last half millennium, the Pilgrims journey west across the Atlantic in the early 17th century is a seminal, if often misunderstood episode of American and world history. The Pilgrims explores the forces, circumstances, personalities, and events that converged to exile the English group in Holland and eventually propelled their crossing to the New World - a story universally familiar in broad outline, but almost entirely unfamiliar to a general audience in its rich and compelling historical actuality.

Discover the harrowing and brutal truths behind the Pilgrims' arrival in the New World and the myths of Thanksgiving. Director Ric Burns explores the history of our nation's beginnings in this epic tale of converging forces.