The years spent in Holland were a time of poverty and hardship for a great majority of the Separatist congregation. The culture and language were difficult for the Separatists to learn, and as the years passed it was observed that their children were becoming more Dutch than English. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained at Leiden. Moreover, a war was brewing between the Dutch and Spanish. If Spain overtook Holland, there was a possibility that the Separatists would then lose their freedom.