| | The '''Pilgrims''' were a congregation of religious separatists influenced by Robert Browne who traveled 10 hard weeks at sea in the [[Mayflower]] and landed at [[Massachusetts]] in 1620 to found [[Plymouth Colony]]. They were led by pastor John Robinson, John Carver, church elder William Brewster, and [[William Bradford]]. They are best remembered for their pious culture and staunch belief in religious freedom from an oppressive establishment. [[Thanksgiving]] Day honors them. | | The '''Pilgrims''' were a congregation of religious separatists influenced by Robert Browne who traveled 10 hard weeks at sea in the [[Mayflower]] and landed at [[Massachusetts]] in 1620 to found [[Plymouth Colony]]. They were led by pastor John Robinson, John Carver, church elder William Brewster, and [[William Bradford]]. They are best remembered for their pious culture and staunch belief in religious freedom from an oppressive establishment. [[Thanksgiving]] Day honors them. |
| | + | It is estimated that 35 million people worldwide are descended from the Mayflower today, and one can search for them using a pre-1910 name.<ref>https://www.familysearch.org/en/collection/mayflower-descendants/#:~:text=How%20many%20descendants%20of%20the,descendants%20in%20the%20United%20States.</ref> |
| | While still in the town of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, England, the congregation began to feel the pressures of religious persecution. In the Hampton Court Conference, [[King James I]] declared [[Puritans]] and Protestant Separatists to be undesirables, and in 1607, the Bishop of York raided the homes of and imprisoned several members of the congregation in a prison in Boston, Lincolnshire.<ref>Philbrick (2006) pp 7-13; Addison (1911), pp xiii-xiv</ref> The separatist congregation did not seek to reform the Church of England, so they left England and settled the Netherlands, first in Amsterdam, and finally in [[Leiden]] in 1609.<ref>Addison (1911), pp 51</ref> | | While still in the town of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, England, the congregation began to feel the pressures of religious persecution. In the Hampton Court Conference, [[King James I]] declared [[Puritans]] and Protestant Separatists to be undesirables, and in 1607, the Bishop of York raided the homes of and imprisoned several members of the congregation in a prison in Boston, Lincolnshire.<ref>Philbrick (2006) pp 7-13; Addison (1911), pp xiii-xiv</ref> The separatist congregation did not seek to reform the Church of England, so they left England and settled the Netherlands, first in Amsterdam, and finally in [[Leiden]] in 1609.<ref>Addison (1911), pp 51</ref> |