Anchored off the inhospitable coast of Massachusetts, a meager band of 88 Pilgrims, weak and weary from their lengthy voyage, stared at two terrible behemoths: in front of them was a vast, hostile land and behind them was the powerful, immense Atlantic Ocean which cut them off from the rest of the world. After they set foot on the rocky shores and watched the Mayflower sail past the edge of the endless horizon, one can only imagine the settlers’ unbearable sense of being all alone, separated from all civilization. What would compel anyone in their right mind to forsake modern society and seek out a desolate, unfamiliar land? The Pilgrims were Puritans known as “Separatists.” Puritans sought out to purify the Church of England from its corruptions,
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However, they decided that they must again leave to another land. They feared that their children were losing their English identity. Some of the young people, falling into Dutch culture, forsook their families and became soldiers and sailors. Additionally, the Separatists were concerned that Holland and Spain would go to war against each other. Thus, a few, brave Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, intending to sail to Virginia, but arrived at Plymouth in November of 1620. Because they arrived with an insufficient supply of food and it was too late to grow crops, half of the Pilgrims died in their first winter. Thankfully, the chief of the Wampanoags, Masasoit, and his translator, Squanto, helped save the Separatists from starvation and total destruction. Of course, the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest with Masasoit’s tribe, which we know today as the story of the “First Thanksgiving.” News of the Pilgrim’s religious haven and prosperity reached England, where a wave of persecution against Puritans was …show more content…
Fathers were more often present to support their families and be a part of their lives. Women also played a very important role in the colonies. Dedicated mothers nurtured large families and worked hard on family gardens. They made clothes for their family and tended to their livestock. Unfortunately, religious persecution in certain rare cases still existed within New England colonial governments. Most notably, Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were exiled because of their beliefs and, in Salem, 20 residents were executed because they were accused of practicing witchcraft. However, other colonies in New England, such as Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, were established, in part, as a counterweight to extend religious liberty to all people. Life was not always easy in New England, as the Pilgrims demonstrated when they spent their first harsh winter in a frigid forest on the Massachusetts coast. However, their endurance made history as they ushered in an age of American prosperity and religious liberty for those who wish to escape the persecutions of tyrannical
However, they decided that they must again leave to another land. They feared that their children were losing their English identity. Some of the young people, falling into Dutch culture, forsook their families and became soldiers and sailors. Additionally, the Separatists were concerned that Holland and Spain would go to war against each other. Thus, a few, brave Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, intending to sail to Virginia, but arrived at Plymouth in November of 1620. Because they arrived with an insufficient supply of food and it was too late to grow crops, half of the Pilgrims died in their first winter. Thankfully, the chief of the Wampanoags, Masasoit, and his translator, Squanto, helped save the Separatists from starvation and total destruction. Of course, the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest with Masasoit’s tribe, which we know today as the story of the “First Thanksgiving.” News of the Pilgrim’s religious haven and prosperity reached England, where a wave of persecution against Puritans was …show more content…
Fathers were more often present to support their families and be a part of their lives. Women also played a very important role in the colonies. Dedicated mothers nurtured large families and worked hard on family gardens. They made clothes for their family and tended to their livestock. Unfortunately, religious persecution in certain rare cases still existed within New England colonial governments. Most notably, Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were exiled because of their beliefs and, in Salem, 20 residents were executed because they were accused of practicing witchcraft. However, other colonies in New England, such as Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, were established, in part, as a counterweight to extend religious liberty to all people. Life was not always easy in New England, as the Pilgrims demonstrated when they spent their first harsh winter in a frigid forest on the Massachusetts coast. However, their endurance made history as they ushered in an age of American prosperity and religious liberty for those who wish to escape the persecutions of tyrannical