It is a pleasure to thank all those who have assisted me with this study. For careful reading of the manuscript and helpful suggestions, I am particularly grateful to: Professor Bernard Bailyn, Harvard University; Mr. Henry Hornblower II, President, Mr. David B. Freeman, Director, and Mr. Arthur G. Pyle, Education Director, Plimoth Plantation; Miss Juliette Tomlinson, Director, Connecticut Valley Historical Museum; Dr. A. M. Millard, London, England. I wish to give special thanks to Mrs. Millard for aid in research in the Public Record Office, London, and to Professor Norma Adams, Mount Holyoke College. The following persons were especially kind in permitting use of the records in their custody: Miss Rose T. Briggs, Director, and Mr. Warren Sampson in the Library, Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Massachusetts; Mr. W. Wallace Austin, Curator, Old Colony Historical Society, Taunton, Massachusetts; Miss Susan M. Hare, Librarian, Goldsmiths’ Hall, London; Mr. John Bromley, Deputy Librarian, Guildhall Library, London. For permission to reproduce the engraving of the Royal Exchange of London, I am indebted to Harper and Row, Inc., New York. R. A. M. Foreword The story of Plymouth’s founding has been told many times, its simple details transformed into a national legend. To reinterpret it and see it in a new light is difficult, if not impossible. Yet the business side of the Pilgrims’ undertaking is a relatively neglected aspect, though Governor Bradford himself devoted many chapters to it. The story has several familiar episodes--the support of Thomas Weston and the company of merchant adventurers, the break-up of the company, and the efforts of the leaders in Plymouth to pay its debts. The London adventurers have often been described as hard-hearted profiteers, whose innocent victims, the Pilgrims, were governed by religious enthusiasm and without any business sense. We can understand better the real financial problems in planting Plymouth by examining each one in turn. We must begin with events in Holland and England and conclude with the payment of all debts at the end of several decades. The commercial affairs of this small colony have their own importance, even if they are less acclaimed than the religious and political experiment of the Pilgrims. They, too, reflect a constancy of purpose and eventual success in mastering the practical requirements of the first permanent settlement in New England. Regardless of hardships, Plymouth held firm and survived, whereas earlier efforts to colonize the rugged coasts to the north of Virginia had failed. As a business venture, the colony provides an early example of business integrity and responsibility.