by Dean Traylor

Created on: November 05, 2009   Last Updated: December 03, 2009

The Pilgrims of Colonial America were never known for their fun and games, literally. Some of them viewed such things as a sin. On top of that, they were regimented and strict in their beliefs; imposed stern punishments for those who broke religious laws; and had a firm belief that God chose only a few among them to go to heaven despite how devoted they were to his precious words.

As for holidays? Many of them believed it was a sin to celebrate them (even Christmas). Ironically, this group has become one of the most enduring symbols of a national holiday.

The story of the Pilgrims goes beyond being the first people to celebrate Thanksgiving. In fact, their story began at a time of great changes in their native land of England more than a hundred years before their famed Thanksgiving feast. They went from being radical separatists to power brokers in the British government. Then, they became hated outcasts who eventually fled England for America to start a new life. Even their life in America was marked with hardship, warfare and cases in which they, themselves, became the persecutors, as well as the persecuted.

Their story begins much earlier in history around the time the Church of England broke away from the papacy of the Pope. Henry VIII had formed the church as a way to nullify his first marriage. As a result of this action, England switched from a Catholic country to a Protestant nation.

Despite the split, the Church of England still kept some of its Roman Catholic rituals in place. This didn't sit well with a small group within the church. By the late 1500s, this group was gaining momentum and eventually split from the church. Later, this group would come be known as the Puritans: the name the Pilgrims were known to be.

Although they had been around for a long time, the name "Puritan" wasn't given to them until the early 1600s. Puritan belief - Puritanism - required its believers to follow a very scrupulous moral rigor. This included hostility to social pleasures and indulgence. The name was derived from the belief that the members of this group wanted to "purify" Christianity and have it devoted to worship and devotion to the lord; anything else was sacrilegious.

The Puritans came into direct conflict with Charles I - a Catholic king who wanted didn't hide his intolerance for Protestants. In protest, many Puritans took direct action against the king by becoming members of Parliament. Ultimately, the hostilities between the Monarch and the members of

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