OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION by William Bradford

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 September 16, 1620,
with about 102 passengers—
fewer than half of them from Leiden.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….......

The Pilgrims strongly believed that the Church of England, and the Catholic
Church, had strayed beyond Christ's teachings, and established religious rituals, and church
hierarchies, that went against the teachings of the Bible. This belief put them at odds with
church officials, who in the early years of King James I, tried to have them arrested and
thrown in jail for refusing to attend church services and participate in Anglican Church rituals.
For this reason, many of the Pilgrims fled to Leiden, Holland, where there was religious

freedom. In Leiden, the Pilgrims church grew as additional people fled from the persecution
in England.

However, the Pilgrims had difficulty adjusting to the more

permissive Dutch culture, and had difficulty supporting
themselves because their usual way of supporting themselves
(farming) was not possible in the Netherlands, where there is
little farmland and the economy is primarily based on shipping
and trade. Also, the great troubles with Arminianism rose. →
Reason why Pilgrims left the Leiden