Pilgrim Myths

In the sixteenth century of Europe, religious reform and changes led people away from the Catholic Church. From Martin Luther’s exposition of the church’s corruption to King Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy, these two religious figures broke away from the Catholic Church in favor of alternative religions. Their lives were heavily involved in their personal and political motives to change the church’s religious practices and beliefs. In the German states, Martin Luther realized that the priests were often unqualified, immoral, and corrupted.

Being the first two well-known places in which the English would set out to colonize in 1607 and 1620, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts hold very separate set of beliefs, standards, and outlooks on life then and the future to come. While paving the way for things such as slavery, taxes, ownership of land, inclusion of women, tobacco and government assemblies, John Smith and the people of Jamestown became a classical foundation for new life and economic growth for the new world that is, the United States. On the other hand, William Bradford and his people began to realize the intentions of the Church of England were unholy and had strayed away from God’s teachings from the Bible. With this in mind, the Pilgrims set on a voyage to the new world to seek religious freedom. As we know it, the Pilgrims sought for peace and a new way of living that was fair, just and free from religious corruptions.

In the years of 1509 through 1547 England was changing drastically due to their ruler King Henry VIII. There was dived in England between Protestant against Catholics. At this time in England the Catholic Church was the supreme religious authority meaning it controlled everything. Kings were only allowing to rule with the blessing from the Pope. Rulers were also not allowed to make drastic decisions without the counsel of the Church.

The social structure made in England was a bit different from the Native Americans; first, the pilgrims place men in the higher than female in a pyramid status. Any decision made where carried by men lead by the youngest and most courageous. The pilgrim comes from a place where monetary value was used for trade; however, they had none, the pilgrims use trade of any spice, animal, and vegetation as a use of value. The political structure was interdependent to the stability of their social environment, with one well established, the political influence can be place on top of their social life as it was practice in their homeland, Europe.

Like all historical documents, it was written with purpose and had some significance to their colony. Also as a historical document it had its limitations. The 41 pilgrims who composed the compact had a purpose when writing it. The pilgrims came from England, where at the time was ruled by King James. Like all who came to the Americas, they sailed for religious freedom.

Although all the colonists all came from England, the community development, purpose, and societal make-up caused a distinct difference between two distinct societies in New England and the Chesapeake region. The distinctions were obvious, whether it be the volume of religious drive, the need or lack of community, families versus single settlers, the decision on minimal wage, whether or not articles of agreements were drawn for and titles as well as other social matters were drawn, as well as where loyalties lay in leaders. New England was, overall, more religious than the Chesapeake region. Settlers in New England were searching relief for religious persecution in Europe. Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics were coming in droves to America searching for an opportunity to have religious freedom.

The Pilgrims is a story about the journey the Pilgrims took to land on America and what they did in order to get there The Pilgrims lived in England where Henry IVVV created a church called “The England Church. ” Many Pilgrims disliked the church because many ideas were established but many would disagree with them. The Pilgrims wanted the church to be controlled by religious leaders and not by politicians and felt forced to practice their religion. The pilgrims began to name themselves “Separatists” since they wanted to be separated from The Church of England.

Plymouth was founded in 1620, and led by William Bradford. William Bradford’s writing style was simple, and described the suffering and triumphs of the Pilgrims, as shown in his book, Of Plymouth Plantation. The Pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact, which was signed by all the male Pilgrims, in which they agreed to surrender their individual rights for the good of the community, and promised to obey rules and laws passed by elected representatives. This became the basis for the U.S. Constitution. The pilgrims depended on the Bible for setting up the government (31), based on Levitical Law.

the New England settlers came a few years later and resided in present day Massachusetts. The New England settlers came for religious reasons. The settlers from Chesapeake bay differed from the New England settlers in family structure, living conditions, and economy. Eventually, both groups settled in and had a prosperous life that turned into what is now the United States of America.

This influenced them to look more from the New World for individual gain and did not hold as much allegiance to England as the southern colonist did. Southern pilgrims went to the New World regularly by companies promising land. For instance, if Virginia guaranteed fifty acres of land to each individual paying to go to the New World this implied that they still positively liked the English and were not leaving England to escape persecution. While their property and financial frameworks may have been awful in England they saw their voyage as a way the English government was helping them turn out more stable.

He joined the Puritans. Reformers who wanted to purify the Church of England and separate from it. With other Puritans, he migrated to Holland in search of religious freedom. ” The quote is describing William Bradford, who was a Puritan who moved to Holland and established the colony of Plymouth for religious freedom.

The New England colony believed they were called by God to start a colony. “Let us trace . . .[the] men

The colonists wanted religious freedom. One reason they originally left England was to escape the Catholic Church. Some called themselves Puritans. They wanted the church and the state to be more separate.

The Elizabethan Era took place in England from 1558 to 1603, which was the time period that Queen Elizabeth I reigned. The official state religion was the New Religion, or the Church of England. Practicing the Catholic faith was strictly forbidden. Religion in Elizabethan England was different than religion today in many ways. During the Elizabethan Era, the rulers had a strong impact on the people’s religious beliefs, as opposed to today, we have religious freedom.

The Pilgrim Progress is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan in 1678. In this story, John Bunyan used many different symbols to describe hidden meanings. Symbolism is the use of any certain special figures or marks of identification to signify a religious message, for example the cross refers to Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. The author, John Bunyan, used symbolism to describe characters and places and give them a meaning behind it.