FYI: This week in American History I studied
the Pilgrims and Puritans...naturally I had to
write an essay on them. Enjoy! :D
~Photobug
Sixteen years after the Jamestown colony was planted another group of colonists sailed to the New World. They came from Holland, and they became known as the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims originally came from England. At this time they were called “Separatists”, because they wanted to be separate from the Church of England. If you did not believe like the Church of England did, you would be persecuted. The Separatists did not like this, so they uprooted themselves and their families from England and moved to Holland, where there was religious freedom.
However, Holland had its ups and downs. True, there was religious freedom and that was nice. However, since the Separatists could not speak the language, they could not get good jobs. Naturally that meant they did not earn much money, which did not make life easy. And to make things worse, the Separatists’ children were becoming Holland children, forgetting the English customs and traditions. The parents didn’t like this. While the Separatists didn’t like the lack of religious freedom, they did want their families to retain the good customs and traditions of their homeland.
The Separatists knew they had to move. But where?
Certainly not back to England. Ahhh…yes. To the New World they would go! So in 1619 thirty-five Separatists (now known as “Pilgrims”) and sixty-six others boarded the ship Mayflower for a voyage to the New World. It was a good plan; the Pilgrims would do the work, and the merchants would pay their way.
But during the trip a huge storm blew down upon the group. Waves were gigantic, and the mast and deck started buckling. Everyone knew they were in danger. But with many prayers and men nailing more nails into the beams the Pilgrims and crew made it through alright.
Finally they made it to the New World. But the huge storm had blown them terribly off course; they were far north of their original destination, Virginia. But when all things were considered, the Pilgrims decided to stay north and to govern themselves. They said this in the Mayflower Compact, a written document that was the first of its kind. Unlike the Crown’s colonies of Roanoke or Jamestown, the Pilgrims said that they would organize a new government and rule themselves.
The new colony, Plymouth, was different in other ways as well. Unlike the Roanoke or Jamestown colonists, the Pilgrims came to the New World for religious freedom and a new life, not seeking gold.
But despite the Pilgrims’ good intentions, disaster still struck. Soon after they landed, people started dieing like crazy. The mothers worked themselves to death. 15 out of 18 wives died. 19 out of 29 hired men died. Half of the Mayflower crew died. And only 5 Separatist men and 8 strangers lived. The Mayflower captain had pity on the colonists, and stayed through the winter to help them. The Mayflower was a lifeline to the colony.
One might say that Plymouth was the luckiest colony to date. In March of 1621, an Indian steps out of the woods. It was Squanto, probably the savior of Plymouth. Amazingly, he could speak English! He had the most interesting life story. He sailed to England with an English explorer, and learned the English language there. But when he sailed back home, he was kidnapped and taken back to England! Finally he met some Spanish monks who taught him Spanish, and helped him sail home once more.
But Squanto was in for a big, sad surprise. When he finally got to the New World, he found that his tribe was all dead, the cause being disease. He was the only surviving member. When Squanto found the Pilgrims, he adopted the colony, and taught them how to survive. Taught them how to fish, plant corn, and hunt. Squanto was truly a savior of Plymouth.
With Squanto’s help, the Pilgrim’s gardens flourished. 1621 was an extremely successful year for them as they planted, cared for, and harvested their crops. As the Pilgrims picked food from their gardens, they were filled with joy and thanksgiving. They were so thankful that they invited the Indians to a thanksgiving celebration, where they would give thanks to God for a successful harvest.
The Indians came to the colony’s celebration. It was a day of feasting and joy. The Pilgrims shot their muskets and the Indians their bows. The Thanksgiving Celebration was a good step in peaceful relations with the Indians. In fact, besides hard work, the Pilgrims’ alliance with the Indians of peace and trading may have been the factors why Plymouth survived and other colonies didn’t do so well.
The Pilgrims continued to do well. After their third harvest they sent a man back to England to sell their furs. Unfortunately, the choice of who to send back was a bad decision. The guy made the Pilgrim’s debt 8 times worse, with many Pilgrims having to sell their farms in order to pay the debt off!
However, the Pilgrims did not stop their trading. They would trade with the rowdy Dutch colony.
The difference between the two colonies was like night and day. The Plymouth colony was neat, orderly and well-constructed. They would have church, and no taverns were in Plymouth. The Dutch colony was churchless, unorderly, and just about the opposite of Plymouth.
In the early 1600s another group of colonists came to the New World. They were called Puritans, and unlike earlier settlers, they came prepared. Unlike the Pilgrims, Puritans did not want to separate from the Church of England. On the contrary, they wanted to purify it. The Puritans thought that the Church of England had too much Catholic influence. Unfortunately, the Puritans’ plans did not work out. When they kept begging, persisting to purify the Church of England, they just received persecution.
So, one day over 1,000 Puritans set sail for the New World, some of them on the ship, Arbella. They knew that there would be less temptation for them in the uncivilized New World than there would be in Europe.
The Puritans were a very religious people. They saw themselves as a “city upon a hill”, a showcase of a better civilization. They believed that they were at the forefront of the Protestant Reformation.
The Puritans had two mottos: to serve, fear, and love God; and they also believed that there was nothing that they, hard work, and God couldn’t accomplish together. The Puritans also believed that their way of living was a model order.
While similar to the Pilgrims, the Puritans were different. For example, the Pilgrim’s ruling body was back in England. The Puritans made a remarkable decision: have the governing body in the Americas. The Puritans had strong leadership, such as Governor John Winthrop. While the Puritans did spread out all over New England, their main center was Boston.
One day just after they had all gotten to the New World, the entire Puritan group came together to make a covenant with God. There were eleven ships and over one thousand people present. The Puritans were the best equipped than any other colonists to date; they had prepared and knew what was coming. The Puritans were not the gold hunters of Jamestown! When the Puritans arrived, New England’s population doubled. With God’s help and our hard work, they figured, we can do anything.
Another of the Puritans beliefs was that they would labor, work, suffer and be glad together. The entire group would share the wealth of all, and be happy. This practice was known as a commonwealth.
Later on the Puritans were very successful, establishing the first printing press in America in 1639 and Harvard College in 1636. They also founded several grammar schools.
While similar, the Pilgrims and Puritans are different. The Puritans were more religious and well-prepared than the Pilgrims. However, the Pilgrims were very lucky indeed that Squanto adopted their colony and showed them how to survive. Another difference was the position of the governing bodies; the Pilgrims’ in England, and the Puritans in the Americas. Both groups of people were looking for religious freedom, and both had very upright and orderly colonies.
The Pilgrims originally came from England. At this time they were called “Separatists”, because they wanted to be separate from the Church of England. If you did not believe like the Church of England did, you would be persecuted. The Separatists did not like this, so they uprooted themselves and their families from England and moved to Holland, where there was religious freedom.
However, Holland had its ups and downs. True, there was religious freedom and that was nice. However, since the Separatists could not speak the language, they could not get good jobs. Naturally that meant they did not earn much money, which did not make life easy. And to make things worse, the Separatists’ children were becoming Holland children, forgetting the English customs and traditions. The parents didn’t like this. While the Separatists didn’t like the lack of religious freedom, they did want their families to retain the good customs and traditions of their homeland.
The Separatists knew they had to move. But where?
Certainly not back to England. Ahhh…yes. To the New World they would go! So in 1619 thirty-five Separatists (now known as “Pilgrims”) and sixty-six others boarded the ship Mayflower for a voyage to the New World. It was a good plan; the Pilgrims would do the work, and the merchants would pay their way.
But during the trip a huge storm blew down upon the group. Waves were gigantic, and the mast and deck started buckling. Everyone knew they were in danger. But with many prayers and men nailing more nails into the beams the Pilgrims and crew made it through alright.
Finally they made it to the New World. But the huge storm had blown them terribly off course; they were far north of their original destination, Virginia. But when all things were considered, the Pilgrims decided to stay north and to govern themselves. They said this in the Mayflower Compact, a written document that was the first of its kind. Unlike the Crown’s colonies of Roanoke or Jamestown, the Pilgrims said that they would organize a new government and rule themselves.
The new colony, Plymouth, was different in other ways as well. Unlike the Roanoke or Jamestown colonists, the Pilgrims came to the New World for religious freedom and a new life, not seeking gold.
But despite the Pilgrims’ good intentions, disaster still struck. Soon after they landed, people started dieing like crazy. The mothers worked themselves to death. 15 out of 18 wives died. 19 out of 29 hired men died. Half of the Mayflower crew died. And only 5 Separatist men and 8 strangers lived. The Mayflower captain had pity on the colonists, and stayed through the winter to help them. The Mayflower was a lifeline to the colony.
One might say that Plymouth was the luckiest colony to date. In March of 1621, an Indian steps out of the woods. It was Squanto, probably the savior of Plymouth. Amazingly, he could speak English! He had the most interesting life story. He sailed to England with an English explorer, and learned the English language there. But when he sailed back home, he was kidnapped and taken back to England! Finally he met some Spanish monks who taught him Spanish, and helped him sail home once more.
But Squanto was in for a big, sad surprise. When he finally got to the New World, he found that his tribe was all dead, the cause being disease. He was the only surviving member. When Squanto found the Pilgrims, he adopted the colony, and taught them how to survive. Taught them how to fish, plant corn, and hunt. Squanto was truly a savior of Plymouth.
With Squanto’s help, the Pilgrim’s gardens flourished. 1621 was an extremely successful year for them as they planted, cared for, and harvested their crops. As the Pilgrims picked food from their gardens, they were filled with joy and thanksgiving. They were so thankful that they invited the Indians to a thanksgiving celebration, where they would give thanks to God for a successful harvest.
The Indians came to the colony’s celebration. It was a day of feasting and joy. The Pilgrims shot their muskets and the Indians their bows. The Thanksgiving Celebration was a good step in peaceful relations with the Indians. In fact, besides hard work, the Pilgrims’ alliance with the Indians of peace and trading may have been the factors why Plymouth survived and other colonies didn’t do so well.
The Pilgrims continued to do well. After their third harvest they sent a man back to England to sell their furs. Unfortunately, the choice of who to send back was a bad decision. The guy made the Pilgrim’s debt 8 times worse, with many Pilgrims having to sell their farms in order to pay the debt off!
However, the Pilgrims did not stop their trading. They would trade with the rowdy Dutch colony.
The difference between the two colonies was like night and day. The Plymouth colony was neat, orderly and well-constructed. They would have church, and no taverns were in Plymouth. The Dutch colony was churchless, unorderly, and just about the opposite of Plymouth.
In the early 1600s another group of colonists came to the New World. They were called Puritans, and unlike earlier settlers, they came prepared. Unlike the Pilgrims, Puritans did not want to separate from the Church of England. On the contrary, they wanted to purify it. The Puritans thought that the Church of England had too much Catholic influence. Unfortunately, the Puritans’ plans did not work out. When they kept begging, persisting to purify the Church of England, they just received persecution.
So, one day over 1,000 Puritans set sail for the New World, some of them on the ship, Arbella. They knew that there would be less temptation for them in the uncivilized New World than there would be in Europe.
The Puritans were a very religious people. They saw themselves as a “city upon a hill”, a showcase of a better civilization. They believed that they were at the forefront of the Protestant Reformation.
The Puritans had two mottos: to serve, fear, and love God; and they also believed that there was nothing that they, hard work, and God couldn’t accomplish together. The Puritans also believed that their way of living was a model order.
While similar to the Pilgrims, the Puritans were different. For example, the Pilgrim’s ruling body was back in England. The Puritans made a remarkable decision: have the governing body in the Americas. The Puritans had strong leadership, such as Governor John Winthrop. While the Puritans did spread out all over New England, their main center was Boston.
One day just after they had all gotten to the New World, the entire Puritan group came together to make a covenant with God. There were eleven ships and over one thousand people present. The Puritans were the best equipped than any other colonists to date; they had prepared and knew what was coming. The Puritans were not the gold hunters of Jamestown! When the Puritans arrived, New England’s population doubled. With God’s help and our hard work, they figured, we can do anything.
Another of the Puritans beliefs was that they would labor, work, suffer and be glad together. The entire group would share the wealth of all, and be happy. This practice was known as a commonwealth.
Later on the Puritans were very successful, establishing the first printing press in America in 1639 and Harvard College in 1636. They also founded several grammar schools.
While similar, the Pilgrims and Puritans are different. The Puritans were more religious and well-prepared than the Pilgrims. However, the Pilgrims were very lucky indeed that Squanto adopted their colony and showed them how to survive. Another difference was the position of the governing bodies; the Pilgrims’ in England, and the Puritans in the Americas. Both groups of people were looking for religious freedom, and both had very upright and orderly colonies.
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