The 'Pilgrims' were a group of English Calvinist religious dissenters, known as Separatists, who fled persecution under Queen Elizabeth I and her successor King James I. Queen Elizabeth I wanted to firmly establish the Church of England as THE CHURCH and she attempted to have all religious groups conform to the Anglican Church. The Puritans, another group in the Anglican Church, wanted to purify the church of all Roman Catholic ceremonies and practices and bring about further reforms. The majority of Englishmen were now Protestant and the Bible was the most read book. With the reign of James I, the House of Stuart came to power. He persecuted both Catholics and the extreme Protestant Puritans and Separatists. It was during the end of Elizabeth's years as Queen and the beginning of James' reign that the Separatists left England, fleeing to Holland where there was more acceptance of different religious beliefs and, from 1620 on to America. Among the 102 passengers who arrived in America, were Separatists, Strangers and Adventurers. The non-Separatists were people who came from various backgrounds but most had been farmers. There was one doctor in the group who got very little sleep because of so much illness. Fortunately he did have some medicines with him. The Adventurers were looking forward to a new and exciting life in an unknown world. It was necessary to include passengers who were not Separatists because of the tremendous cost of the journey, which the Separatists could not have funded by themselves. The Mayflower's intended destination was the northern Virginia territory at the mouth of the Hudson River that we know today as Manhattan. The first month out of England the trip went well. There were good sailing winds and calm seas but, by October, the wind became stronger and storms more frequent. No one really knows for sure why Capt. Christopher Jones went to Cape Cod instead of Virginia and many theories have been suggested. Eugene Stratton writes that one reason was that they wanted to be outside the jurisdiction of the Anglican Church, which was the established church in Virginia. The Mayflower reached the tip of Cape Cod (now Provincetown, Massachusetts) on Saturday 11 November 1620 after 66 days at sea. They remained at Provincetown for 36 days before leaving for Plymouth across Cape Cod Bay. While in Provincetown, the Mayflower Compact was signed by 41 men. It was an agreement concerning their self government in the new land. Plymouth Rock was the only good landing place and to this day everyone believes that was where the Pilgrims landed. Gradually houses were built for the families and a "Common House" for storage of tools and as shelter for those who did not have houses. The weather was so bad it took 26 days to build this "Common House". On Sunday's the Pilgrims worshipped God, sang Psalms and listened to long sermons by William Brewster. There was no Christmas celebration on December 25, 1620. This Christmas Day was devoted to hard labor! The Pilgrims utilized all their holiday energies felling trees in order to avoid any frivolity on the day called Christmas. The Pilgrims interpreted the Bible literally, and nothing in the Scriptures mentioned having a good time at Christmas. Although we think of Pilgrims as ideal Americans, actually they were a cantankerous group of fervent believers who had little or no tolerance for those who had different opinions or ideas. Finally in March an Indian came to make friends. He spoke English and his name was Samoset. Gradually more Indians came to visit. One - Squanto - stayed and helped the Pilgrims learn to catch fish and hunt for game. He also showed them which wild plants were safe to eat and which were not. He even told them when it was time to plant corn. Eventually, Chief Massasoit came to meet with Governor Carver. They made a peace treaty and agreed to live peacefully. This treaty lasted 54 years. It was in 1630 that the great migration of Puritans took place. Puritans and Pilgrims are frequently confused. Puritans were Protestants in England who had one common idea - they wanted to purify the Church of England and do away with Priests, fancy robes, colored windows in churches and religious music. They emulated the religious principles of the French Religious leader and reformer - John Calvin. Both Pilgrims and Puritans came to America for the same reason; they came because they were seeking freedom and liberty that was not available in the England of that time; had they remained in England, they may have been beheaded. ~excerpts from a book written by R. Walton, a Richmond Family researcher.
I like to think of them as "Good Guys" -- Because of them, we can freely have our religious differences without fear of being beheaded. Viva la TOL
