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Pilgrims to America: A Pictorial History

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http://awesomestories.com/images/user/51242583ca.jpg

1882 Painting by William Halsall, Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor.  Maintained at Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

 

... it was thought good
there should be an association and agreement,
that we should combine together in one body,
and to submit to such government and governors
as we should
by common consent
agree to make and choose ...

William Bradford
Pilgrim Leader
November, 1620

 

They meant to land in Virginia, but their ship brought them to Cape Cod. It wasn’t the first time this group of people, seeking religious freedom, had ended up in the wrong place.

In 1608, English Protestants who disagreed with the Church of England were persecuted - as were Catholics. A group of protestant separatists, thinking they would have greater opportunity to freely practice their religion in The Netherlands, left England for Amsterdam.

Within a year, that group of separatists - much later known as "The Pilgrims" - objected to aspects of life in their new city. With their families, they moved to Leiden (Leyden), a Dutch town north of The Hague.

By 1620, it was illegal for anyone in The Netherlands to hold religious meetings in their homes. Leiden, the Pilgrims’ adopted city, was no exception. Twelve years after they left England, the Pilgrims realized they would have to leave Europe altogether in order to practice their beliefs unhindered.

On a ship called the Mayflower, a group of about 102 people set sail for a new life in the “new world.” Their last port of call, before crossing the Atlantic, was Plymouth, England.

What events led this group of early 17th century people to undertake such a risk-filled, dangerous trip to an unknown world?

 

 

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Original Release Date:  May, 2006
Updated Quarterly, or as Needed

To cite this story, using MLA Guidelines:

Bos, Carole D. "Pilgrims to America: A Pictorial History" AwesomeStories.com. Date of access
       <http://www.awesomestories.com/history/pilgrims-america>.

IN OTHER WORDS: Author. Title of story. Name of web site. Date of access <URL>.