Who Were The Pilgrims

WHO WERE THE PILGRIMS?

Detail of Edgar Parker's Embarkation of the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims began as a religious group who felt that the only way to practice their religion was to separate from the Church of England. These "Separatists" centered around Scrooby, a village in Nottinghamshire in the English Midlands. In 1607/8, the congregation moved to Amsterdam and in 1609 to the city of Leiden in the more religiously tolerant Netherlands. The community began to move to America in 1620.

To pay for their passage and supplies, the Separatists contracted with a group of English merchants. The merchants recruited other colonists to supplement the small group and to provide needed skills for the new colony.

Bacon's Landing of the Pilgrims

In early Plymouth, the passengers who arrived on the first four ships took on the title of "First Comers," to distinguish themselves from later colonists. The first four ships were the Mayflower (1620), the Fortune (1621), the Anne and the Little James (1623). Eighteenth-century Plymoutheans frequently referred to the early colonists as "Forefathers." The term "Pilgrims," referring to religious travelers, was not generally used to describe the early Plymouth colonists until the early 1800s, when Governor Bradford’s phrase, "they knew they were Pilgrims" began to be quoted.

There is no single definition of "Pilgrim." Many families, Separatists and non-Separatists and Separatist sympathizers, traveled to America in several ships in the early 17th century, and distinctions are difficult to maintain. Pilgrim Hall Museum has extended the name "Pilgrims" to all the early colonists of Plymouth. However defined, their story has provided inspiration for centuries.