U.S. History IColonial America (1607 to 1754)D2.His.1.9-12
Pilgrims and Puritans in New England
The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact (1620) and founded Plymouth; Puritans founded Massachusetts Bay (1630); dissenters such as Roger Williams (Rhode Island, 1636) and Anne Hutchinson were banished.
Thirteen years after Jamestown, a very different group sailed for America. They came not for gold but for their faith. Young learners meet them as the Pilgrims; here is the fuller story.
🔑 Key idea
The Pilgrims, Separatists who had left the Church of England, signed the Mayflower Compact in 1620 and founded Plymouth. The Puritans, who hoped to purify the church from within, founded Massachusetts Bay in 1630. Dissenters such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were banished, and Williams founded Rhode Island in 1636.
💡 Why it works
The Mayflower landed at Cape Cod, outside the area its charter covered, so the passengers had no legal government. Before going ashore, 41 men signed a compact to form a "civil Body Politick" and obey its laws. It was a small step, but it showed a habit that would matter: people agreeing to govern themselves. About half the Pilgrims died that first winter. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit (Ousamequin) made an alliance with them in 1621, and Tisquantum (Squanto), who spoke English, taught them to plant corn.
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The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay came in much larger numbers: about 20,000 in the "Great Migration" of the 1630s, mostly in families. Their governor, John Winthrop, told them they would be watched by the world:
✏️ Worked example: Why were dissenters banished?
Roger Williams taught that the government should not punish people for their religious beliefs and that the colonists should buy land from the Native peoples. Why did Massachusetts banish him in 1635?
The Puritans had come to build a community that followed their faith.
They believed the government should uphold true religion and that dissent threatened the whole community.
Williams challenged both the colony's church rules and its land claims.
Answer: He threatened the order they had crossed an ocean to build. He went south and founded Providence (1636), where no one was punished for religion.
✏️ Worked example: Another dissenter
Anne Hutchinson held meetings in her home where she questioned ministers' teaching. What happened?
She was tried in 1637 and banished in 1638.
She moved to Rhode Island, which had become a home for dissenters.
Answer: Banished; she settled in Rhode Island.
New England grew as a land of towns, churches, small farms, fishing and trade. Town meetings ran local affairs. A Massachusetts law of 1647 required towns to keep schools, so that children could read the Bible. Connecticut's settlers wrote the Fundamental Orders (1639), a written plan of government.
⚠️ Common mistake
A popular idea is that the Puritans came to found a land of religious freedom for everyone. They sought freedom to practice their own faith, and they expected others in their colony to conform. Religious toleration came from dissenters like Williams, not from the Puritan leaders.
Practice
Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.