Colonization of the New World: Pilgrims vs. Puritans The easiest comparison and contrast with the Puritans colonization at Plymouth would have to be the colonization of Jamestown by the Pilgrims. These colonies came to the New World for different reasons but did share some similarities regarding their colonization reasons. William Bradford was part of the Separatists that came with the Pilgrims to the New World. They left for the New World in 1620 after receiving a charter from England granting them the right to go to the land and settle. These Separatists left for the New World because they were enduring severe poverty and were scared that they would be taken over by the Dutch (McMichael 46). The Pilgrims were financed by a group of English investors. The Pilgrims had to agree to pay back their financing with shipments of furs, fish, and minerals. Bradford ended up being one of the most important people involved with the Pilgrims. However, he …show more content…
These Puritans left for the New World in 1630. They were concerned about the religious oppression they were enduring in England. Therefore, Winthrop wanted to establish a Christian colony in the New World where they could escape persecution (McMichael 66). This shows the similarity between the Pilgrims and the Puritans in regard to the need for religious escape. Winthrop was also similar to Bradford in the way he felt about religion. "Winthrop found his guiding principles in the Scriptures and in the teachings of Puritanism" (McMichael 66). The literature also states that the Puritans needed a divine purpose for everything in their lives. " It shows the Puritan's need to find divine sanction for there acts and shows their craving for evidence of a divine purpose in even the trivial events of their daily lives" (McMichael 66). This shows how important religion was to the Puritans and that it was one of the main reasons for them coming to the New
These Puritans were strongly opposed to the church of England. They felt that the church had become corrupt and defiled because of the idolatrous worship. They began to meet in secret until one day they were discovered. Among these was Wilford Bradford, a young man who joined the Pilgrims religious group. In later chapters we see an older Bradford becomes Governor of the Plymouth colony who is also student of the Hebrew language;for he believed that he would achieve a stronger connection with God. Very early in his life, Bradford read the Bible and sought to please God and he believed that the best way to do this would be to separate from the church of
“So many therefore of these professors as saw the evil of these things, in these parts, and whose hearts the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his truth, they shook off this yoke of anti-Christian bondage..” (123). Also, even though the leaders of the colony of Jamestown and Plymouth were both Englishmen, they had different goals. William Bradford was dedicated to his cause of finding a safe haven where they could find religious freedom, while John Smith was more interested in finding land, natural resources for his
The Jamestown and Plymouth settlements were both settled in the early 1600's. Plymouth and Jamestown were located along the shoreline in Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively. Although both had different forms of government, they both had strong leadership. Jamestown was controlled by the London Company, who wanted to profit from the venture, while the Puritans who settled at Plymouth were self-governed with an early form of democracy and settled in the New World to gain religious freedom. John Smith took charge in efforts to organize Jamestown, and at Plymouth William Bradford helped things run smoothly.
William Bradford was born in 1590. He was a very smart child, and taught himself how to several languages. He also studied the bible quite frequently. When he turned 18, he was in a separatist group and they broke away from the church. They went to Holland so they wouldn't be killed. He then was one of the members on the Mayflower heading to America. He made it there in December 1620.
The Pilgrims and Puritans are extremely similar in most of their practices and beliefs. They both came to America looking for religious freedom. Both Pilgrims and Puritans strongly opposed the Catholic church. They both believed that The Anglican Church, the Church of England should ultimately make more reforms and get rid of any and all traces of the Roman Catholic Church. Pilgrims and
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
The strength of their faith was obvious from the very beginning. They wanted their religious freedom and that is why they left the only lives and familiar places they knew to seek that freedom they so strongly desired. Those in England who wanted to make that change and prove that their faith was the most important thing to them, did so and it proved to be a life altering experience for all who made the voyage. The conclusion was to live as a distinct body by themselves under the general Government of Virginia and by their friends to sue to His Majesty that he would be pleased to grant them freedom of religion. (Bradford pg 30.) Because of the restrictions and the lack of their religious liberty the Puritans felt that the only way they could worship God the way they wanted and felt was the right way to worship was to get away from the people stopping them. This strong belief in their religion was the true influence of what we know as the Plymouth Experiment.
One of the greatest similarities between Jamestown and Plymouth colony is that they were both founded by individuals in search of something. However, this “something” differed greatly. The Pilgrims came to the new world in search of the opportunity to practice their religion without interference from the English monarchy, while the charter to form the Jamestown colony by James I was primarily for monetary gain. Investment in The Virginia Company of London was fueled by the exploration of a trade route to Asia as well as searching for gold that was rumored to be abundant in the new world. The overall work ethic of the aristocratic businessmen of Jamestown was poor which eventually led to food shortages. The Separatists, who believed
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
The Puritans were Englishmen who chose to separate from the Church of England. Puritans believed that the Anglican Church or Church of England resembled the Roman Catholic Church too closely and was in dire need of reform. Furthermore, they were not free to follow their own religious beliefs without punishment. In the sixteenth century the Puritans settled in the New England area with the idea of regaining their principles of the Christi...
William Bradford (1590-1657) was probably the most famous Pilgrim that journeyed to Plymouth. Aboard the Mayflower, his peers chose Bradford as the future governor of the English separatist
As of September 1620, a merchant ship called the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, a port on the coast of England (http://www.history.com/topics/mayflower). The Mayflower’s cargo was dry goods and wine but the ship also carried passengers, about 102 of them, who were all hoping to start a new life on the other side of the Atlantic. Forty of these passengers were Protestant Separatists–they called themselves “Saints”. These saints hoped to establish a new church in the New World. The colonists who crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower were often referred to as “Pilgrims.”
The Puritan pilgrims as a society based many of their practices and customs on religion. Once in America and away from the prejudices they faced in England they were able to freely practice their beliefs as they saw fit. This led to a very strict society in which members were expected to live and behave according the theological rules which they had set for themselves. This strict society also directly influenced the way children were brought up and educated in New England.
John Winthrop, a passenger of the Arbella, and the ten other ships carrying over a thousand Puritans to Massachusetts, in 1630, left England with a great vision in mind. Puritans believed in Predestination. A doctrine in Christian theology, which states God is all-knowing and powerful; thus, the fate of each individual soul is known to God at birth. Winthrop and many Puritans colonized and planned to become “a city upon a hill,” to model Christian charity in the New England Colonies, in colonial America; the land of opportunity, liberty, and ordeal. However, the determination of the extent of opportunity, liberty, and ordeal depended, mainly, on the social status of the person.
Though the Puritans, as well as some later groups, fled to the American colonies to escape religious persecution or restrictions, the fact remains that the Puritans had been granted "a charter from King James" for their settlement. Thus, the colonists who came to America for religious reasons were serving the primary purpose of generating profits for the Mother country of England (Boorstin et al.