when did the pilgrims first arrive in america
Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony) Land was sighted on November 9, 1620. The passengers had endured miserable conditions for about 65 days, and they were led by William Brewster in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving. It was confirmed that the area was Cape Cod within the New England territory recommended by Weston. An attempt was made to sail the ship around the cape towards the Hudson River, also within the New England grant area, but they encountered shoals and difficult currents around Cape Malabar (the old French name for Monomoy Island). They decided to turn around, and the ship was anchored in Provincetown Harbor by November 11/12.[34][36]
Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony) The pilgrims moved to the Netherlands in about 1607. They lived in Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants,[13] residing in small houses behind the "Kloksteeg" opposite the Pieterskerk. The success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed. Leiden was a thriving industrial center,[14] and many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing, and brewing trades. Others were less able to bring in sufficient income, hampered by their rural backgrounds and the language barrier; for those, accommodations were made on an estate bought by Robinson and three partners.[15]
Plymouth Colony The Pilgrims themselves were a part of the English Separatists (also known as English Dissenters) who were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England. The movement sought to practice Christianity as was done in the times of the Apostles. Following Martin Luther's and John Calvin's Reformation, they believed that the Bible was the only true source of religious teaching and that any additions made to Christianity had no place in Christian practice, especially with regard to church traditions, such as clerical vestments or the use of Latin in church services. In particular, they were strongly opposed to the Anglicans' episcopal form of church government. They believed that the church was a community of Christians who made a covenant with God and with one another. Their congregations had a democratic structure. Ministers, teachers, and lay church elders were elected by and responsible to the entire congregation (Calvinist Federalism). Each congregation was independent of all the others and directly subject to God's (or Christ's) government (theocracy), hence the name Congregationalism.[86] The Pilgrims distinguished themselves from the Puritans in that they sought to "separate" themselves from the Anglican Church, rather than reform it from within. It was this desire to worship from outside of the Anglican Communion that led them first to the Netherlands and ultimately to New England.[87]
Mayflower In early September, western gales began to make the North Atlantic a dangerous place for sailing. The Mayflower's provisions were already quite low when departing Southampton, and they became lower still by delays of more than a month. The passengers had been on board the ship for this entire time, and they were quite worn out and in no condition for a very taxing, lengthy Atlantic journey cooped up in cramped spaces in a small ship. But the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth on September 6, 1620 with what Bradford called "a prosperous wind".[18]