Although many opted out of this agreement, still the opportunity for religious freedom was enticing enough to motivate most of them to accept none the less. During this initial 7 years they would not be able to profit from their new colony. After this time, the Pilgrims would own their new colony themselves. Furs, lumber, and crops would be shipped back to England and sold for a profit. He agreed to fund their move to America in exchange for 7 years of service from them after they arrived. Weston was a successful and wealthy iron merchant in London. They sought support from a man named Thomas Weston. Most of the Pilgrims were not well off, and as such would require some other source of financing for their journey. They chose to settle far to the North near present day New York City in a location they felt would be their own. At this time the Virginia Colony extended from Jamestown in the South all the way to the mouth of the Hudson river in the North. The Pilgrims briefly considered settling in Jamestown, but decided against this due to fear of once again encountering persecution for their religious beliefs. After months of pleading to join the existing Virginia Colony, they are eventually accepted. Eventually, the group decides to leave Holland for the New World. Funding a New JourneyĪs the Pilgrims considered leaving Holland, they faced a choice between Guiana and America. In spite of all of this, accounts tell us that the locals viewed the Pilgrims as productive and honorable members of society, and they welcomed their presence and contributions to the community. They were also quite uncomfortable with what they perceived as immoral influences of the highly industrialized Dutch society. The Pilgrims were living in poverty and had great difficulty integrating with the local economy due to the language barrier. While they were welcomed by the people there, they began to feel uncomfortable in their new country. The University of Leiden had been founded in 1575, and was said to be at the forefront of scholarship in the Christian world. The Pilgrims were attracted to Leiden because it was a town with a university. At first they arrived in Amsterdam, but later moved to Leiden where they would stay for the rest of their time in Holland. In 1608 they were exiled from England to Holland for 12 years. After enough persecution and secretive worship, they decided that it was time to leave England in search of a new land where they could practice their religious beliefs freely. They began to meet in secret to study the Bible and worship God together in a manner that they believed to be right and holy. The Pilgrims (separatists) saw James' rule over the church to be corrupt and not in keeping with the teachings of the Word of God. Those who chose to separate from his rule faced almost certain persecution, imprisonment, and sometimes even death. In England during the early 1600's, King James ruled over the church of England. Bradford was himself a member of the Pilgrims, and so his writing is an eyewitness account of the events and decisions that shaped their destiny.
Much of what we know about their journeys is taken from William Bradford's Of Plimoth Colony and Mourt's Relation. The Pilgrims were a group of English citizens who chose to separate from the church of England and practice Christianity freely.
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