 Pilgrims- The founders of Plymouth. Sought only religious freedom, not gold or wealth  Persecution- The mistreatment of certain people due to their beliefs  Mayflower Compact- Document pledging to create a government for the good of the colony  Precedent- An example for others to follow in the future

 People left Europe for the new world for a myriad of reasons  Seeking wealth  Seeking an escape from every day life, a fresh start  Political differences  Forced to depart by the government  Seeking religious tolerance  Europe in the 1500’s was not a good place for religious separatists  Two dominant religions  Protestants and Roman Catholics  These two groups fought each other fiercely  Thousands were killed due to their beliefs

 Often it seemed that the Church had more power than the government  European rulers felt that order could not be found unless there was only one supported religion  Parliament passed laws making the King or Queen the automatic head of the Church of England  In countries all over Europe, those who did not practice the one accepted religion were persecuted  Many died as a result  Beheading and being burned at the stake were common  Many more were imprisoned  Most separatists practiced their religions “underground”  Many began to see the new world as a safe place to practice their religion

 “Separatists” in England  They were protestant, but just wanted to separate from the Church of England  They were persecuted by the English Government  Some were imprisoned  Some were simply followed and constantly observed  They fled England for the Netherlands in the early 1600’s where they could worship freely  They began to miss their English way of life  Also feared their children were becoming more Dutch than English

 In September 1620, some that had returned to England, left for the new world  With a charter for a colony in Virginia in hand, more than 100 men, women and children set off on the Mayflower  In November, the ship landed in near Cap Cod in Massachusetts, further north than they had planned  Since they were exhausted by the long journey, they decided to stay there  They called their colony Plymouth, as they had departed from the port city of Plymouth in England

 Since they were off course, the terms of the charter did not apply  As this was the case, the Pilgrims created and signed the “Mayflower Compact”  Some of the colonists were not Pilgrims  41 male passenger signed the Mayflower Compact  Both Pilgrim and Non- Pilgrim  Signed on November 11, 1620  They agreed to make and abide by laws for the general good of the colony  They eventually set up a government and elected a governor  This strengthened the English style of representative government in the colonies

 The Pilgrims were only the first of many people to come to the colonies seeking religious freedom  Many though, felt that their own religion should be the only one practiced  Each colony had their own established church  The pilgrims stated that any peaceable person could live there  As long as they followed their laws and seek the common good  This set the precedent for later religious tolerance

 Early life for the colonists was anything but easy  All they had was leftover corn from an abandoned Native American village  Too late in the season to plant crops and not enough food was brought to last the winter  Shelters were not properly built due to time  Some lived in sod houses, others in pits covered with branches through the harsh winter  Nearly half of the settlers died of disease or starvation  The first governor died this winter and William Bradford was elected to take his place  He was reelected many times he led the colony for almost 36 years

 Pilgrims began to clear land for crops in the Spring  The Wampanoag Indians helped them greatly  Squanto helped them the most  He had once been captured by an expedition for exploration and was taken to England where he learned English  He could communicate easily with the Pilgrims  He brought them seeds for corn, beans and pumpkins and taught them how to catch eels  After a great harvest that fall, they set aside a full day for giving thanks as they believed that the harvest and Squanto were sent from God  The tradition stuck and the Pilgrims celebrated for a day after each harvest with a day of Thanksgiving  We as Americans celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday every year