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The History of the Pilgrims
The Protestant Reformation, beginning in 1517, sent shockwaves throughout Europe. Protestant sects popped up across the continent and proved to be formidable opponents of Catholicism. In England, however, King Henry VIII remained loyal to the Catholic Church for over a decade. It was not until he created the Church of England in 1534 that he formally split with the Catholic Church.
King Henry VIII and the Church of England
King Henry VIII had an exciting reason for leaving the Catholic Church, and it had little to do with religious belief or a preference for Protestantism. Henry VIII had married Catherine of Aragon for over 20 years when he decided he wanted an annulment. She had not given him a male heir, and he had a mistress, Anne Boleyn, ready to take her place and give him the heir he desired.
Fig. 1 - King Henry VIII
Knowing divorce was off the table, Henry VIII appealed to the Catholic Church that his marriage with Catherine of Aragon was invalid because she had been previously wed to his brother, who had passed away. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church dismissed his argument and refused to grant the annulment. Henry VIII, not one back down, decided to create an entirely new religion and named himself Supreme Head of the Catholic Church.
The establishment of the Church of England spurred decades of religious turmoil and dissent in England. Of course, Catholics refused to adopt the new religion, but so did many Protestants who believed the Church did not go far enough in separating itself from Catholicism. It did not help that King Henry VIII's successors (his three children) gave the country whiplash with which religion they endorsed and enforced.
The Separatists, coming together in the early 1600s, were a Protestant sect that ultimately rejected the Church of England. They disliked its emphasis on rituals and hierarchies and refused to participate. As such, they became a target of persecution under James I. Wanting to escape this persecution; many Separatists left England for the Netherlands in 1608.
Fig. 2 - King James I
They settled in Leiden and received asylum, but they could not–nor did they wish to–integrate into Dutch society. They also faced financial hardship as they had uprooted and restarted their lives. By the time the Thirty Years’ War began, and the threat of Spanish intervention materialized, many Separatists were ready to find a new home–one across the Atlantic Ocean.
In September, they received a land patent from the Virginia Company, a British trading company. Investors believed that the Separatists would be an excellent group to send because of their close-knit nature and their resilience in the face of hardship. The Merchant Adventures, a group of 70 London businessmen, provided the funding by purchasing shares, expecting a profit from future trade. They paid for the ship, the crew, and a year of supplies, and in return, the Pilgrims pledged to work for the company for their first seven years.
All colonists over 16 would also receive one share after their service term.
The History of the Pilgrims: The Pilgrims’ Religion
In the fall of 1620, the Mayflower set sail from England to establish a settlement southeast of the Hudson River. The passengers earned the name Pilgrims because of their religious motivations--they were on a pilgrimage of sorts. But, interestingly, only half of the Pilgrims were Separatists.
Fig. 3 - painting of the Mayflower
The Separatists considered themselves ‘Saints,’ already chosen for salvation, whereas the other passengers were ‘Strangers’ who had not yet received salvation. These 'Strangers' included those seeking economic opportunity and those who would perform key roles like defending their territory.
The History of the Pilgrims: The Arrival
After over 60 days at sea, the Pilgrims reached America, but they ended up far from where they had intended to settle due to weather complications. Instead of landing southeast of the Hudson River, they found themselves in New England, in modern-day Massachusetts.
Fig. 4 - map of Plymouth Colony
Left without a charter for the land they would be occupying, the Pilgrims could develop their form of government. Before they departed the ship, they created the Mayflower Compact, a predecessor to later constitutions. It was signed by 41 men and stated that the government was subject to the people's will. They named their new settlement Plymouth after the English port they departed from.
Facts about the Pilgrims’ First Year
The Pilgrims’ first winter in Plymouth was not easy. Over half of their population died from exposure, starvation, and disease. Luckily for the Pilgrims, they found that Indigenous peoples, notably the Wampanoag tribe, were willing to help. They taught the pilgrims how to grow corn and introduced them to the highly profitable fur trade–beaver fur would soon become all the rage in Europe. By the following fall, the Pilgrims were finding real success and were sending fur, fish, and timber back to England.
Summary of the Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony
As the century passed, the Pilgrims developed relationships with other settlements in Massachusetts. These included trade relationships and military alliances that banded together to fight against the Indigenous peoples that had kept Plymouth alive. However, the colony remained independent until it joined the neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony under a new charter in 1691. This ended their self-governance as the governor, with broadened powers, would now be appointed by the crown.
Leaders of the Pilgrims
As we now know, the leaders of the Pilgrims answered to the people. Surprisingly, one man, William Bradford, kept the favor of the people for over 30 terms as governor. Let’s dive a bit deeper into his story and the story of John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony.
The election for governor occurred annually.
Leaders of the Pilgrims: John Carver
Not much is sure about the early life of John Carver, but we know that he had arrived in Leiden by 1609. He became among the first to support a settlement across the Atlantic. He was the one who negotiated with the Virginia Company for land and the Merchants of Adventure for funding. He even directed some of his wealth toward financing the trip.
Fig. 5 - John Carver
Once in Plymouth Bay, Carver played a significant role in drafting the Mayflower Compact. His signature was first, leading many historians to believe he wrote the document. The Pilgrims then elected him as their first governor. In this role, he led them through the harsh winter and negotiated a settlement-saving peace with the Wampanoag tribe. Unfortunately, despite surviving the winter, he passed away in the spring of 1921.
Leaders of the Pilgrims: William Bradford
William Bradford became interested in religion when he was a young boy–he was a sickly child and couldn’t perform farm labor, so he had lots of free time to read the Bible and other religious texts. As a young adult, he became a Separatist, and when members of the group left for Holland in 1608, he joined them.
Fig 6 - William Bradford
In Leiden, Bradford owned his cloth workshop and married Dorothy May, the daughter of a prosperous English family. But, in 1620, when a group of Separatists left for England with the eventual destination of the colony of Virginia, he uprooted his life again to follow. His wife, Dorothy May, joined him, but they left their three-year-old son with her parents.
Before they even had the chance to leave the Mayflower, Dorothy May passed away from an illness that would soon ravage the settlement. Although Bradford had fallen ill, he recovered, unlike many others. After the death of John Carver in April 1621, William Bradford took over as governor and helped to foster the burgeoning institutions of democracy, such as elections and town meetings.
Ultimately, William Bradford served as governor until 1956, with only a brief five-year break. Much of what we know about the Pilgrims and the Plymouth colony comes from his writing in Of Plymouth Plantation. Speaking on the growth of Plymouth, he wrote:
The settlers, too, began to grow in prosperity, through the influx of many people to the country, especially to the Bay of Massachusetts. Thereby corn and cattle rose to a high price, and many were enriched, and commodities grew plentiful." - William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1651
The Pilgrims - Key takeaways
- In the early 1600s, the Separatists, an uncompromising sect of Protestants, fled from England to avoid persecution and life under the Church of England. They settled in the Netherlands, where the Dutch granted them asylum.
- By 1620, however, a group of Separatists was ready to leave their newfound home of Leiden for a better life across the Atlantic Ocean. With a land grant from the Virginia Company and funding from the Merchants of Adventure, the Pilgrims departed on the Mayflower in the fall.
- They considered themselves 'Saints,' distinguished from the other half of passengers, known as 'Strangers' (non-Separatists), who came purely for economic opportunity.
- Due to weather complications, they ended up far from their intended destination southeast of the Hudson River. Without a charter for governance, they drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact before leaving the ship. It was a predecessor to modern constitutions that empasized a government that answered to the people.
- The Pilgrims had a hard first winter and over half of them died due to exposure, disease, and starvation. Their survival and eventual success was because of the Wampanoag tribe's willingness to help them.
- Plymouth colony existed as its own entity and thrived for many years with the trade of fur, fish, and timber. In 1691, it merged with the Massachusetts Bay Company, bringing an end to their self-rule. The governor, with broadened powers, would now be appointed by the king.
References
- Fig. 4 - Plymouth Colony Map (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Carv.jpg) Photo by Hoodinsky (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Hoodinski) licensed by CC BY SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
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Frequently Asked Questions about The Pilgrims
Who are the Pilgrims?
The Pilgrims were the settlers of Plymouth Colony. They were made up of Separatists, an extreme sect of Protestants who were seeking religious freedom, as well as those simply seeking economic opportunity.
Why did the pilgrims come to America?
The Pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution. Those who were not Separatists came to pursue economic opportunity.
When did the Pilgrims come to America?
The Pilgrims left for America in the fall of 1620.
When did the Pilgrims land?
The Pilgrims landed in America in November 1620, but did not reach Plymouth until December.
Where did the pilgrims land?
The Pilgrims landed in modern-day Massachusetts.
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