Pilgrims came to the New World for different reasons. People in England were experiencing anxiety over the changes that were happening in England. During Henry, the eight and Elizabeth I rule over England the poor double in size. Many of the poor did not have a place to go after the parishes closed.

Martin Luther had written the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Henry the Eight used this to separate from Rome beginning in 1529 to 1536 and began the Church of England, the movement known as English Reformation. Many years after this, the Catholics and Protestants were at war. The Puritans believed the English Protestants had gone too far. They were seeking religious freedom.

Sir Walter Raleigh got permission from Queen Elizabeth I to start colonies in the New World. He had conquered the Irish and felt he could do the same in the New World. His first attempt was with Ralph Lane at Roanoke, but his colonist caused problems with the local Indians. They kidnapped the son of the chief and taunted the Indians. The ship returned to England for supplies, the colonist had upset the Indian so bad the Indians did not want to help the colonist during the rough winter. The ship returned from England and all the colonist refused to stay and went back to England. There were 15 men from the ship left behind, they never heard from again.

The second attempt made; this one was suppose to go to a different spot but ship blown off course landed at Roanoke again. John White was to be Governor of Virginia (named for Virgin Queen). His pregnant daughter and her husband a bricklayer came along. Her name was Eleanor Dare. She wanted religious freedom. She had the first English born child named Virginia Dare.

The trip was a hard journey. The ship passengers treated much like a steers. They had straw for beds, which got wet a lot. There was much sickness such as dysentery and cholera. They only food they had were dried beef and dried salt pork and peas.

There were not enough supplies when they landed; John White went reluctantly back on the ship to England. It took him three years to return to Roanoke, the only thing left was the name Croatoan carved in a tree.

John Rolfe later successfully cultivated tobacco and exported it to England. He smuggled seeds out of Trinidad or South. He later married Pocahontas. The Virginia Company supplied the men with Tobacco Brides. Life was hard for the first settlers in this land.

Plymouth colonists were unlike the Jamestown they were looking for freedom to worship the way they wanted to worship.

Conclusion of why the Pilgrims came to America was for religious freedom, making money, and finding a

You can go to James town Settlement and experience the way the Indians lived, see replicas of the first ships, life size recreation of the colonist forts, and even pick up souvenirs.

Sources:

wikipedia.org

docsouth.unc.edu

nationalcenter.org

pilgrimhall.org

Learn more about this author, Linda Whiting.
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