Puritans to the New World

The Puritans set off to find a new life in September of 1620 on the Mayflower. They left because they wanted to change the church of England by removing catholic traditions. Since King Henry VIII did not want them to change the English traditions which consisted of a Catholic religion. Many people sailed, mostly men, and few women and children. They reached a land 3,000 miles away from their home, and started a civilization there. This land was named Plymouth. 10 years later, more puritans followed the movement and left to the new world called Plymouth.

Puritans Coming to the New World

The Puritans set off to find a new life in September of 1620 on the Mayflower. They left because they wanted to change the church of England by removing catholic traditions. Since King Henry VIII did not want them to change the English traditions which consisted of a Catholic religion. Many people sailed, mostly men, and few women and children. They reached a land 3,000 miles away from their home, and started a civilization there. This land was named Plymouth. 10 years later, more puritans followed the movement and left to the new world called Plymouth.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first colony of Puritans to come to North America. It was on the east coast of North America around Boston and the Salem areas and was founded in the 17th century. As many know, the Puritans came by sea, on a ship called the Mayflower, and had many more ships to follow. The puritans knew it was a difficult journey and that it would be a difficult task to create a new settlement out of nothing. But eventually they completed there tasks and let go of their fears of the journey by sea. After a while, they even established a congress for the area they were living in, now a days Massachusetts. Some congressmen there were John Cotton, Roger Williams, and Thomas Hooker. The English were very angry with the puritans because so many people followed them to the new world and that meant that so many people left England. King James I and Prince Charles I attempted to stop the Puritan movement, but all their tries were hopeless.

Basic info about John Cotton

John Cotton was one of the first leaders of the first generation puritans.

He was born into a family of lawyers in 1585 and died in 1653. He received

his religious education at Trinity College and when he graduated he became

elected a fellow. When he came over with the puritans he became Vicar of a

church at Boston. After only 21 years he was played a very important role in

the Church of England. He was a long serving minister.

King Henry VIII

King Henry VIII was born on June 28, 1491. He died on January 28, 1547 when he was 55 years old. He was known for his brutality and did not let the Puritans practice their own religion. Following this, the Puritans left by sea to seek a new world to live in without any restrictions. He was very powerful, for he was King of England and Ireland. As the days in his lifetime were a long time ago, the Kings were known for their multiple wives. For instance, King Henry VIII had six (6) wives. Some names included Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr, and Anne Boleyn. His father was King Henry VII, and since the time then (and still now) was a monarchy in the English Empire, King Henry VIII inherited all his power from King Henry VII. Since the religion stayed the same throughout the monarchy because of this power change, the puritans had to leave England to practice their own religion.

Puritans

The Puritans were a group of English settlers who came to the New World "United States" to practice there religion freely without being persecuted. "England had gone through extremely divisive religious conflict during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary, and had landed as a unique Protestant nation: the original Catholic church in England was taken over by the English government, completely separate from the Roman Catholic Church governed by Rome." In around 1630, a group of influential Puritans left England. They left to establish a safe space in America where the Puritans could wait out God's wrath on England. While the English were being punished, America would thrive, regenerating a holy people to lead England back to God's grace. In the picture, it is one of the boats the Puritans took over to America. Why do you think the Puritans came over? What do you think eventually made them come over to America? Feel free to comment.