In fact, the Pilgrims stopped in Cape Cod. It was during this layover that the native population would receive its first hint about the Puritan views of entitlement and superiority. The Pilgrims discovered large hordes of grain, which had been stored by the Native Americans for the winter. The Pilgrims took all of the food, claiming that God's providence was shining upon them.2 In this way, the Pilgrims began abusing the Native Americans even before they actually met. .

             The Pilgrim belief that God's providence was shining upon them did not continue; after landing at Plymouth Rock the Pilgrims experienced a harsh winter, which killed nearly half of them. The number of Pilgrim deaths was limited due to the assistance that the Pilgrims received from the Pokanokets. Although the Pilgrims had been the recipients of charity from the Pokanokets, the Pilgrims still believed that they were superior. In fact, when the Pokanokets signed a treaty with the Pilgrims, the Pilgrims believed that signaled the Pokanokets' willingness to acknowledge the superiority of the English and their culture.3.

             One of the most interesting things about the Pilgrim claims of English superiority is that those claims were largely based on misunderstandings about the Native American way of life. The Pilgrims believed that farming was a more appropriate way of life than hunting or fishing. Furthermore, the Pilgrims considered themselves farmers. However, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that the Native Americans of New England were also farmers, the Pilgrims continued to dismiss them as hunters and fishermen. As a result, the Pilgrims alleged that the Native Americans were "sinfully squandering America's resources."4 Claiming that they could make better use of the land, the Pilgrims claimed that they were entitled to the Native American's land and took it by whatever means necessary.

             The issue of whether the Native Americans were farmers or hunters was far from the only dispute that the Pilgrims had with the Native American lifestyle.