Summary
Highlights
In September 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, carrying 102 people, half of whom were religious rebels known as Pilgrims. They sought to establish a colony in America where they could freely practice their religion, as they belonged to a group called Separatists who wished to separate from the Church of England.
Ten years after the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony, another religious group, the Puritans, joined them in America. Unlike the Separatists, Puritans aimed to 'purify' the Church of England rather than separate from it. Both groups, however, shared strict religious beliefs shaped by the Protestant Reformation and the teachings of John Calvin, which emphasized plain and simple worship.
After King James I came to power in 1603, he outlawed private religious services and enforced membership in the Church of England. This persecution forced many Separatists to meet in secret. After being caught, many decided to move to Holland in 1607, seeking religious freedom. However, they never felt at home there.
After nine years in Holland, the Pilgrims decided to move to Virginia for more religious and economic freedom. They secured funding from London merchants and, after issues with their ship the Speedwell, departed on the Mayflower in September 1620. Blown off course, they landed in Cape Cod, not Virginia. Realizing they were outside English law, 41 men signed the Mayflower Compact, establishing a democratic self-government and agreeing to create and obey just laws for the Plymouth Colony.
The first winter in Plymouth was harsh, with half the colonists dying due to poor conditions. In the spring, Native Americans taught them how to grow corn and fertilize crops. In the autumn of 1621, the colonists celebrated a successful harvest with a three-day festival, including games and a feast of turkey, ducks, geese, seafood, deer meat, and cornbread. This event is considered the origin of Thanksgiving.
The Plymouth colonists built houses similar to those in England, using local timber and thatched roofs. Their community was well-defended, with houses behind sharpened log walls and a fort-meeting house equipped with cannons. They held strict religious services that could last up to eight hours, and activities, including cooking, ceased on Sundays. By 1627, Plymouth had grown to 180 inhabitants. In 1629, King Charles I allowed Puritans to establish a new colony north of Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay, leading to a great migration of Puritans seeking religious freedom and to build a 'model community'.
By 1639, 20,000 people lived in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, significantly more than in Plymouth. New colonies like Connecticut, New Haven, and Rhode Island also emerged, where strict ministers closely monitored people's lives. The Puritans' strong work ethic, fueled by their belief in God's grace, contributed to the strength of their colonies, leading to innovations like the Saugus Iron Works. Although Puritanism eventually waned, its strict laws led to tragedies like the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Over centuries, these groups evolved, with their religion, now called Congregationalism, becoming less strict, and many New England churches tracing their roots back to these early meeting houses.