Reconciliation with the Nauset

When exploring on Cape Cod, the Pilgrims desired to know everything they could about the Natives who already lived there.  What they may not have known, however, was that in 1614, previous to their arrival, Thomas Hunt, an English trader, had taken over 20 Natives to Europe as slaves, leaving another stain upon the reputation…

Preserving Peace

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” said Jesus in his sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5:9.  Though peace had been ratified with the Pilgrims’ closest neighbors and their great king, Massasoit, due to past injuries by the English, and also due to the challenge of…

The Return of the Mayflower to England

William Bradford wrote under the title of “Anno 1621”: “They now began to dispatch the ship away which brought them over, which lay till about this time, or the beginning of April.”  Though there are practical reasons Bradford states as to why the Mayflower had stayed so long through the winter of 1620-21, even after…

The Pilgrims and the Defense of Liberty

George Henry Boughton’s (1833-1905) painting Pilgrims Going to Church in 1867 was originally called The Early Puritans of New England Going to Church.  Boughton was known as the “painter of New England Puritanism” and here portrayed the Pilgrim Church of men, women and children walking to the meetinghouse on guard in defense of their liberty. …

The Economics of the Pilgrims

Before the Pilgrims could navigate the waters of the Atlantic, they had to navigate the economic challenges of raising funds.  They sought God at every turn in the face of financial obstacles.  Though the 1606 Charter of James I for exploration had a mission of “propagating (the) Christian Religion,” it took God’s intervention to allow…

Pilgrim Worship from the Book of Psalms

About the time we get the first glimpse of the Pilgrim’s order of worship in 1612, Henry Ainsworth published his Book of Psalms.  Containing lyrical and metrical versions of 39 Psalms from the Bible, it became the spiritual expression of musical joy brought by the Pilgrims to the new world 400 years ago.  On July…

Why They Came: Pilgrim Character

What kind of character did the Pilgrim Church embrace?  It is apparent that Pastor Robinson and William Brewster did embrace and teach good character.  In addition it is clear that they demonstrated it as an example as well. When the Pilgrim Church emigrated from Amsterdam to Leyden, they had to ask permission from the civil…

Why They Came: Betrayal

Almost immediately after their conversion, the Pilgrims were persecuted by “the profane multitude.”  Bradford then writes “Seeing themselves thus molested, and that there was no hope of their continuance there, by a joint consent they resolved to go into the Low Countries, where they heard was freedom of religion for all men.”  Persecution, and eventually…