European Religion Spreads (2.1, Explore 6)

In England, King Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church. He created a new, official Protestant church in the 1530s. It was called the Church of England, or the Anglican Church.

Not all Protestants in England agreed with the teachings of the Anglican Church. Some people thought the Anglican Church was too much like the Catholic Church. They wanted to purify or cleanse the church. For that reason, they were called Puritans. Others believed the Anglican Church could not be changed. They wanted to completely separate from it. They were called Separatists.

Henry VIII’s heir, Queen Elizabeth I, wanted a united church. To do this, she had Separatists punished or even killed. When Elizabeth died in 1604, James I became king. He ordered a new version of the Bible. He wanted more people to read it. Today it is known as the King James Bible glossary term (opens in a new window). James I also made it a crime not to belong to the Church of England.

Rather than face persecution, Puritans and Separatists decided to leave England. Separatists who went to Holland in 1607 left in 1620 to set out for Virginia on the Mayflower. Their purpose was to establish an English colony based on religious freedom. These Puritan colonists called themselves Pilgrims. A pilgrim is someone who goes on a journey for a religious purpose. As a result of a severe storm, the Pilgrims never arrived in Virginia. Instead, they landed several hundred miles further north, in what is now Massachusetts, and decided to stay. They named their new colony New Plymouth and drew up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement to govern their colony.

The Mayflower Compact was written with the idea that a government's authority to rule is based on a contract between that government and the people to be ruled. It was an important influence on the development of representative government in the colonies.

The Pilgrims did not end up in Virginia. Instead, they landed several hundred miles north, in what is now Massachusetts. Before they left their ship they signed the Mayflower Compact. In the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims agreed to form a government for their colony. They agreed the laws for the colony would be made by majority rule. They agreed to obey any laws the colony enacted. They named their colony New Plymouth.

In 1630, another group of about 1,000 Puritans left England. They moved to an area claimed by the Massachusetts Bay Company glossary term (opens in a new window)and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony glossary term (opens in a new window). John Winthrop glossary term (opens in a new window)was the group’s leader. They first arrived in Salem, Massachusetts. Then they moved their colony a little south, to present-day Boston.

The English government started Massachusetts to earn income. But the Puritans who moved to the colony had a different goal. They wanted to follow their religious beliefs. However, these Puritans did not believe in religious freedom. The Puritans created an official church for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Only those who joined the state church had equal rights.