Pilgrims

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The Pilgrims were English Separatists who founded (1620) Plymouth Colony in New England. In the first years of the 17th century, small numbers of English Puritans broke away from the Church of England because they felt that it had not completed the work of the Reformation. They committed themselves to a life based on the Bible. Most of these Separatists were farmers, poorly educated and without social or political standing. One of the Separatist congregations was led by William Brewster and the Rev. Richard Clifton in the village of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire. The Scrooby group emigrated to Amsterdam in 1608 to escape harassment and religious persecution. The next year they moved to Leiden, where, enjoying full religious freedom, they remained for almost 12 years.

In 1617, discouraged by economic difficulties, the pervasive Dutch influence on their children, and their inability to secure civil autonomy, the congregation voted to emigrate to America. Through the Brewster family's friendship with Sir Edwin Sandys, treasurer of the London Company, the congregation secured two patents authorizing them to settle in the northern part of the company's jurisdiction. Unable to finance the costs of the emigration with their own meager resources, they negotiated a financial agreement with Thomas Weston, a prominent London iron merchant. Fewer than half of the group's members elected to leave Leiden. A small ship, the Speedwell, carried them to Southampton, England, where they were to join another group of Separatists and pick up a second ship. After some delays and disputes, the voyagers regrouped at Plymouth aboard the 180-tonMayflower. It began its historic voyage on Sept. 16, 1620, with about 102 passengers — fewer than half of them from Leiden.

After a 65-day journey, the Pilgrims sighted Cape Cod on November 19. Unable to reach the land they had contracted for, they anchored (November 21) at the site of Provincetown. Because they had no legal right to settle in the region, they drew up the Mayflower Compact, creating their own government. The settlers soon discovered Plymouth Harbor, on the western side of Cape Cod Bay and made their historic landing on December 21; the main body of settlers followed on December 26.

The term Pilgrim was first used by William Bradford to describe the Leiden Separatists who were leaving Holland. The Mayflower's passengers were first described as the Pilgrim Fathers in 1799.

Oscar Zeichner

Bibliography: Abrams, Ann Uhry, The Pilgrims and Pocahontas: Rival Myths of American Origin (1999); Bradford, William, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–1647, ed. by S. E. Morison (1952); Harris, John, Saga of the Pilgrims (1990); Notson, A. W. and R. C., eds., Stepping Stones: The Pilgrim's Own Story (1987); Plooij, Daniel, Pilgrim Fathers from a Dutch Point of View (1932; repr. 1970); Smith, Bradford, Bradford of Plymouth (1951); Usher, Roland G., Pilgrims and Their History (1918; repr. 1975); Willison, George F., Saints and Strangers: The Story of the "Mayflower" and the Plymouth Colony (1966).

White, Peregrine
Offers a biographical profile of Peregrine White who was the first to be born in New England of English parents who had traveled there on the Mayflower.

Bradford, William
Research Willliam Bradford and his pivotal role in establishing the Plymouth Colony and serving as its governor.

Winslow, Edward
Shares information about the political career of Edward Winslow, one a founder, leader, and diplomat of Plymouth Colony.

LESSON PLAN	Web of Interdependence Students learn a lesson about colonial interdependence using a ball of string to illustrate how different jobs and positions in a community are...
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Grade 2 - Welcome to a Pilgrim Village! Ever wonder what it would have been like to live in a Pilgrim village? Find out what games they played, how they lived, and how they cooked their...