A pilgrim is anyone who makes a long journey for religious reasons.
1500 it's was not easy for Europeans to practice religion freely.
European Christians were divided into Protestants and Roman Catholics.
The division led to fierce religious wars.
For 40 years thousands and thousands were killed because of their religious beliefs.
The Europeans needed to set up a particular religion. Known as an established church.
In England and other nations people who did not follow the established religion were prosecuted. .
Persecution is the mistreatment or punishment of certain people because of their religion. Many had to worship secretly or else they would be prosecuted imprisoned or burned.
1. Separatists seek Religious Freedom.
2. They were called that because, although they were protestant they wanted to separate from the church of England .
3. The English government bitterly disliked this.
The Pilgrim Colony at Plymouth.
1. A group of separatist decided to return to England,.
2. They won a charter to set up a colony.
3. The mayflower landed on Cape Cod,.
4. Decided to call their settlement Plymouth because the mayflower had sailed from the port of Plymouth, England.
They Mayflower Compact.
1. The Pilgrims realized they would not be settling with the boundaries of Virginia.
2. Who would govern them.
3. The pilgrims and non pilgrims joined together to write governing laws that would be good for the colony.
4. They signed the Mayflower compact. It was how they would make their laws.
5. THE GENERAL GOOD FOR THE COLONY.
Traditions of Religious Freedom.
1. The pilgrims were the first to come to North America to worship as they pleased.
2. The Pilgrims set a precedent or example for others to follow in the future. In time religious freedom became a corner stone of American democracy.
Early Hardships.
1. The pilgrims built their settlement on the site of Native American villages that had been abandoned because of disease. .
First winter in Plymouth.
1) The pilgrims had failed to bring enough food with them.