The Pilgrims, the “New” World, and Christmas

In the year 1620, the Pilgrims, or Puritan Separatists, left England and set sail for North America in search of religious freedom. A group of 102 passengers set sail on the Mayflower, as they embarked on the journey across the Atlantic Ocean to reach “the New World”.

The Pilgrims faced religious persecution from the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. The Pilgrims disagreed with many sacraments and practices of the Church of England and its Roman Catholic roots. They found that many of these traditions were not from the Bible. The Puritan Separatists believed that the Church could not be reformed, but that their congregations needed to separate entirely.

The Pilgrims left Nottinghamshire, England for the Netherlands around 1607-08, moving to the city of Leiden/Leyden. Here, they were able to have more religious freedom. However, certain issues remained, and many of their children were becoming more and more Dutch. They decided that it was best to leave Europe and sail to North America.

In 1619, the Pilgrims secured a land patent from the Plymouth Company (Virginia Company of Plymouth). In order to pay for the trip, they received financing from the Merchants Adventurers (Company of Merchant Adventurers of London). Two ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower, were set to take sail.

The Speedwell, having problems, needed repairs after setting sail, quickly returning to England. Though it was set to bring some of the Pilgrims to America and to be kept there for fishing business, the ship was eventually deemed unseaworthy and never completed the trip. Some believed that the Speedwell was intentionally sabotaged.

The Pilgrims were held up by delays caused by disagreements with the Merchant Adventurers and complications with the Speedwell. Departing from Plymouth, England in September 1620, the congregation was able to resume their voyage, this time only aboard the Mayflower. The delays meant that they would not arrive to America until November 1620.

Aboard the Mayflower was a group of people that the Pilgrims referred to as “the Strangers”. This group was not from the Leiden congregation, but was largely made up of people recruited and sent by the Merchants Adventurers. Controversies arose between these groups including disagreements over the celebration of Christmas.

After two months on sea, the Pilgrims reached America, in the region known as New England. They sighted the area known today as Cape Cod. The Mayflower attempted to reach the intended landing site at the mouth of the Hudson according to the land patent, but due to difficulties, decided to return north to Cape Cod bay. They set anchor at what is known today as Provincetown Harbor before going on to Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, before setting anchor, men of the Pilgrims and “the Strangers” wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact.

With rough conditions and limited provisions, the Pilgrims and “the Strangers” faced a harsh first winter. Nearly half of the passengers died in the first winter. However, half of the passengers survived and continued on.

There were also difficulties repaying debts to the Merchant Adventurers. A year later, the Merchant Adventurers sent another ship, "the Fortune", to Plymouth unexpectedly. As it was returning back to England, the Fortune was carrying many goods. However, it was intercepted by the French, setting the Pilgrims back much farther in their efforts to decrease the deficit.

Many Europeans had already arrived and attempted settling in “the New World” before this time. A different English settlement, the Jamestown settlement, was founded in the Virginia Colony in 1607.

The Pilgrims identified with the Israelites, as they viewed their journey similarly to Israel escaping Pharaoh’s oppression by crossing the sea. The term “Pilgrims” came from William Bradford’s journal, as he referred to their group as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” as they were seeking a better country (Hebrews 11:13-16).

The Pilgrims favored Hebrew as they wanted to read the Scriptures in their original language. They took laws from the “Old Testament”, viewing the Bible as the true source of authority and teaching. They sought to practice their beliefs as it was done in the time of the Apostles.

The Pilgrims did not celebrate Christmas as they considered it a pagan holiday coming from Saturnalia. Jamestown, by contrast, embraced Christmas, though it did not become a federal holiday until 1870, after the Civil War. The Pilgrims however warned against turning to witchcraft and magic.

The Pilgrims believed that men and women have distinct but complementary roles, but neither was viewed as lesser in the eyes of Elohim. Part of the men’s role was to guide and go before the women, the weaker vessels(1 Peter 3:7). Also, men were responsible for the religious well-being of their household.

Parents often provided the education of their children. Sometimes, children were sent to other households where they would learn a trade or learn to read and write.

Many of the Pilgrims who came to America were considered to be of prosperous middle class families. They were skilled and were able to read, unlike many of the immigrants to Virginia. However, they decided to leave their financially stable lives in what they viewed as a corrupt England, venturing instead to emigrate across the Atlantic, to build a “city on a hill”. And the rest, as they say, is history.