The Pilgrims-Overview - 0 views
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The Pilgrims were English Separatists. 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, in Holland 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-ton Mayflower. It began its historic voyage on Sept. 16, 1620, with about 102 passengers--fewer than half of them from Leiden.
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Founding of New England, The by Adams, J. T., (1921; repr. 1963) Bradford, William, Of Plymouth Plantation: 1620-1647, ed. by Samuel E. Morison (1952) Mayflower, The (1974) by Caffrey, Kate Mayflower Pilgrims, The by Colloms, Brenda (1977) Land Ho!--1620 by Nickerson, W. S. (1931). A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony by Demos, John (1988) Pilgrims, The by Dillon, Francis (1975) Mayflower Remembered: A History of the Plymouth Pilgrims by Gill, Crispin (1970) Saga of the Pilgrims by Harris, J.(1990) Pilgrim's Own Story, The by Notson, A.W., and R.C., eds., Stepping Stones: (1987) Pilgrim Fathers from a Dutch Point of View by Plooij, D.(1932; repr. 1970) Bradford of Plymouth by Smith, Bradford (1951) Pilgrims and Their History by Usher, R. G. (1918) Pilgrim Reader (1953) and Saints and Strangers: Pilgrim Fathers, The by Willison, G. F. rev. ed. (1965). Pilgrim Colony: A History of New Plymouth, 1620-1691 by Langdon, G. D., Jr. (1966) Story of the Old Colony of New Plymouth, The by Morison, S. E. (1956); Plymouth Colony: Its History and People by Stratton, E.A. (1987)
