1. What’s the difference?

2.  In Europe most people were Roman Catholic.  There were some Jews and Muslims, too but no Protestants.  The Protestant churches have not been founded yet.  Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Catholicism were the only Christian religions.  The Protestant religion would get started in the 16 th century.

3.  King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and formed the Anglican Church.  The Anglican Church is the official established Christian church in England.  Not everyone in England was happy with the change.  At the time, some Protestants wanted to change or reform- The Anglican Church, while others wanted to break away from it all together.  This was the beginning of the reformation!  Protestants= Protest

4.  The Protestants who wanted to reform the Anglican Church were the Puritans.  Puritans was the name given to the more extreme Protestants within the Anglican Church.  They thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church; they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence.  Most puritans are often strict in religious and moral beliefs.  Came to America 10 years after the Pilgrims and settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

5.  Separatists- wanted to leave and set up their own churches.  Separatists were persecuted in England and some fled to the Netherlands.  Separatists found religious freedom there but had a hard time finding jobs.  Came over on the Mayflower trying to settle in Virginia but were blown off course to Massachusetts and settled Plymouth  Signed the Mayflower Compact before reaching land  P

6.  Pilgrim- One who makes a religious journey  Only 35 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower considered themselves Pilgrims.  The others were called, “strangers”  Because Pilgrims beliefs shaped life in the Plymouth Colony, most of all the early settlers are usually called Pilgrims.

7.  Puritans did not want to separate from the Church of England. They wanted to “purify” it of practices they considered too Catholic.  Separatists wanted to separate from the Church of England.

8.  Puritan = Purify the Church  Separatist = Separate from the Church