Separatists,
dissenters who withdrew from the Church of England during the 16th and 17th centuries
because of their dissatisfaction with the ritual used in worship and with the 
state control of religion in England. The English clergyman Robert Browne
was influential among them, and his followers came to be known as
Brownouts.
His writings contain perhaps
the earliest statement of Congregational principles. In the
17th century the Separatists became known as Independents; their congregational
system was brought to America by the Pilgrims.
Puritanism,
a movement arising within the Church of England in the latter part of the 16th
century, which sought to carry the reformation of that church beyond the point
represented by the Elizabethan settlement, an attempt to establish
a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant
reformers Church of England. It had a
continuous life within the church until the Stuart Restoration.
Mayflower Compact, first colonial agreement
that formed a government by the consent of the governed. The Mayflower Compact
was signed in 1620 by Pilgrims, English people hoping to establish a settlement
in North America. The agreement was
completed on the ship Mayflower, which was anchored off the
coast of Massachusetts.
THE
PILGRIMS
William Brewster
was born, probably in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, ca.1566 and died in Plymouth on April 10, 1644. He
served as Elder of the Separatist church both in Leiden and Plymouth Colony. Brewster was one of the leading figures in Pilgrim
history and served for many years as the religious leader of Plymouth Colony in
the absence of a minster.
John Carver,
was born in the year 1576, and died on Apr. 5, 1621. He was one of the
Pilgrim
Fathers, and was the first governor of Plymouth Colony. A wealthy merchant, he
helped arrange the Pilgrims' emigration to America in 1620, chartering the
Mayflower. He was governor for less than a year before his death.
William Bradford was
one of the leaders of the pilgrims who established Plymouth Colony. He was
governor for over 30 years. He wrote an account of the history of Plymouth 
Plantation from the years 1620 through 1647 and this account is a minor classic
that reflects the unusual qualities of the man and the values of the small group
of English separatists who became known as the Pilgrims. He was born in March
1590 and was self-taught. When he was a young
man, he joined Puritan groups that met illegally in Scrooby and was a member of
that congregation when it separated from the Church of England in 1606. William
Bradford took control and responsibility for arranging the details of the
emigration to America. The term "pilgrim" comes from his description
of himself. Bradford became governor in April
of 1621 and
was reelected 30 times. He died on May 9th or 19th
in the year 1657.
for their Plymouth colony in America. When he arrived on the Mayflower he focused his efforts on defending the colony and on Indians relations. Standish also served as one of the governor's assistants and as the colony's treasurer. He also was one of the founders of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts. He is best remembered in the poem by Henry Longfellow: "The Courtship of Miles Standish. "
