Puritan Migration

The 17th century witnessed the Puritan (Pilgrims) migration to the New World with a fear of being prosecuted in England. These Puritans segregated themselves from the Church of England and moved to the New World in 1620 where they established the Plymouth Colony. The reign of Charles I was even worse than the reign of James I for the Puritans who moved westward in search of freedom of religion. Another reason why the Puritans were ready to leave England was that it did not provide them opportunity to prosper and the New World held such promises along with the possession of extensive land under their control. Besides, they were glad that they were the chosen to spread the name of God among the people in the New World. Therefore, ten year later, along with the colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Company, another group of Puritans boarded the famous Mayflower in search of a new life in the New World. Within a year of landing in Massachusetts Bay Colony, many people perished as they could not adjust to the new environment. However, the remaining persisted to live in the colony and this attracted a fresh batch of Puritans to move into America. Within the next ten years about 20,000 Puritans left England to settle in Massachusetts and then there was a lull in migration until the American Revolution. The movement of Puritans in large groups to different parts of the New World from 1620 - 1640 is termed as the Great Migration Puritans have undoubtedly played an important role for shaping the moral ethics of the Americans .Some of the popular Puritans who played a dominant role in the lives of the colonists in the Massachusetts Bay were Roger Williams, Richard Mather and John Cotton.