TI,,'I 'i l t , ;m h I/ lIn's1.",Ji"t
; 11 .; "'''';c"." PUlllrA NNEWENGLAND
portofP ly m o uthandheadedfo rA m erica. They
were accompaniedb y a numberofotheremigrants
theycalled"Strangers."
T he Pil grims' ship wasanoldtr ad ing vessel.the
.\laY.11oll'cr.f oryears th e.\I<1y.fl(lU'f'Thadcarriedwine
acrossth e nar r o wseasbetv.. -een Fran ceandEn gland.
Nowit la ced a muchmore d an gerous voyage.For
sixty-five daystheAI<1y.f1(1l1'rTbattled throug hthe
rollingwavesofthenorthA rlami cO cean. Atlast,0 11
November9. 1620 .it reachedCapeCod.a sandy
hookoflandinwhatisnowth e state o f
Mas sach use tt s.
CapeC odis fartoth e northofthelan dg ran t edtothe
Pilg rimsb ytill'Virgmia Company.Butth e Pil g rims
did no t have eno ug hfood andwater, andmanywere
sick. T heydecid ed toland at th e bestplacethey could
find.a llDecem ber 21. 162 0. th eyrowed ash o rean d
set upca m p at a placeth ey n am edPlymouth.
"T heseasonit wasw int er , "wrote oneofth eir
leaders."an dthosewhokn owthew intersofth at
countryknowthemtobe sharp andviolentw ith
crudandfiercestorms;"T hePil gr i ms' chancesof
survivingwere not hig h .The frozengroun dand the
deep sn o wmadeit difficuh fo r th e mto bu i ld hou ses.
TIleyh adverylinle food. Before spri ngca me.half of
thelitt legrou po f a hu ndred set tlerswere dead.
But rhc Pilg rim s weredeterminedto succeed.The
fifty su rv ivorsbuiltbetterhouses.T hey learnedho w
to fishandhunt. Frien dlyAmerin d ians gaveth em
seed co mandshowed themh o wtoplan tit.Itwas
n otthe en doftheirhardships .butw hena ship
arrived in Ply mouthin1622 andoffered to ta ke
passen gers backtoEng land .no t on e o f'rhcPilgri ms
accep ted.
O th er Engli sh Purita ns follow edthe Pilg ri ms to
A m erica .T en years lateramuch largerg ro u p o f
almo sta th ou san dcolo nistsse ttled nea rb yinw hat
became rhc Bost o n area. T hesepeo pleleftEngland[
escapeth e ruleofa new king.Charl esI. C harl esw as
evenlesstolerantthanhis fathe r james hadb eenof
peoplew hodisagreedw ithh is policiesin religionand
govcnuucnr.
TheBo stonsettlementp ro s per edfro mthesta rr. Its
populationg rewq u i ckly asmore an dmorePuritans
left England to escapeperse cu tio n. Man yyea rs later.
in 169 1.it com b ine dv....irh the Ply mouthco lo ny
underth e n am e of Massachusett s.
T h e ideasofth e M assachusetts Purita ns had alasting
influenceo nAmeri can society.Oneo f t heirfirst
lead ers. JolmWin th ro p,said thattheysh o uldbuild
an ideal communityfo r th e res tofmankin dto learn
fro m. " We sha llbelikea cityona h ill. "said17