1. The next group of Colonists that came to the New World didn’t come for reasons we have seen thus far. They didn’t come for gold Or to grow Tobacco In Fact, they didn’t come for riches at all! If they didn’t come to make money, then why did they come? Discuss other reasons that people from England might have come to the new world.

2. Seeking Religious Freedom

3. Religious Troubles The protestant reformation led by Martin Luther caused great division between Catholics and the new protestants. To keep the peace, nations in Europe would make established religions. This meant that there was a national religion that had to be practiced in each country. You only had one choice. In England, it was the Church of England. If you tried to worship outside of the Church of England, you were persecuted, or mistreated because of your beliefs

4. The Pilgrims Come to the New world There was one particular group of people that the king was getting tired of. These people wanted to separate from the Church of England. They were known as separatists, or Pilgrims. To get these people out of his hair, the king granted them a charter to go to the new world.

5. Now What do we do? The pilgrims left for the New World in September of 1620. After a long hard journey on their ship, the Mayflower, they made it…kind of. You see, the Pilgrims were off their charter. They had not landed in the right place, and they knew it. They had landed in Massachusetts rather than Virginia. I don’t know what to do

6. The Pilgrims Make a Plan Since the Pilgrims were off their charter, they had to come up with new laws. Since they were breaking their charter, the laws of the charter were not legal anymore. 41 Pilgrim and non-Pilgrim men signed the Mayflower Compact. This set up new government for the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims then stepped off the boat and named their new colony Plymouth.

7. Remember, we talked about representative government? Hi! I’m your governor, and your representative. The Mayflower Compact is important because it is a baby step toward the Representative Government that we have today! Yeah Representative Government

8. A Hard Winter and New Friends Like the people of Jamestown, the people of Plymouth had a hard winter. After that winter, the Pilgrims were helped by a neighboring tribe of Native Americans. In the fall, the Pilgrims had a good harvest. Because they saw the Natives help and the good harvest as a gift from God, the Pilgrims set aside a day for giving thanks. Today, Thanksgiving is a national holiday.