CHAPTER 3 • SECTION 2
opinions. Eventually the Separatists approached the Virginia Company and gained permission to settle in America.
Because this group of Separatists traveled far to gain reliPilgrims. A
gious freedom, they later became known as the Pilgrims
pilgrim is a person who goes on a religious journey.
More About . . .
The First Thanksgiving
The event that has come to be called the
“First Thanksgiving” was not celebrated
by the Pilgrims as a religious holiday, but
rather as a harvest festival with good food
and games. It is not certain that the Pilgrims
ate turkey at this celebration—some
historians believe eel and lobster were more
likely foods. Also on the menu were foods
such as duck, roast goose, venison (deer),
and clams. Side dishes included corn bread,
leeks, and wild plums for dessert.
Teach
The Puritans Come to
Massachusetts Bay
Talk About It
• What was the Great Migration? (the period
between 1630 and 1640, when about 20,000
settlers came from England to New England)
The Pilgrims Found Plymouth On a cold November
day in 1620, the Pilgrims, traveling on a ship called the
Mayflower, arrived off Cape Cod on the Massachusetts coast.
Blown north off its course, the Mayflower landed in an area
that John Smith had mapped and called New England. The
Pilgrims settled on the site of an abandoned Native American village. They called their settlement Plymouth.
Because the Pilgrims landed beyond the limits of the
Virginia Company, their charter did not apply. They were
far from government authority and the laws of England. So
most of the men aboard the Mayflower signed an agreement
Compact. The Mayflower Compact
called the Mayflower Compact
helped establish the practice of self-government and majority rule. (See Reading Primary Sources, page 74.)
A reenactment of
preparation for a
Like the settlers at Jamestown, the Pilgrims at Plymouth endured a “starvThanksgiving feast.
ing time.” Half the group died during the first winter. However, they were
Why would the
saved by Native Americans who had learned to speak English. Squanto, a
Pilgrims need Native
Americans’ help in
Native American, taught the Pilgrims how to plant native crops.
order to survive?
Sometime in the fall of 1621 the Plymouth settlement celebrated a good
Answer: They would
harvest by holding a three-day feast. It was the first Thanksgiving in New
not have had time to
plant and harvest crops. England. This Thanksgiving came to represent the peace that existed at that
time between the Native Americans and Pilgrims.
Answer: The Pilgrims
disagreed with the
Church of England;
King James persecuted
them, so they fled
England and eventually
settled in America.
• How were the Puritan congregations different
from the Church of England? (They were
self-governing; each congregation chose its
own minister; they were not governed by a
king and bishops.)
CAUSES AND EFFECTS Explain why the Pilgrims settled in America.
The Puritans Come to Massachusetts Bay
KEY QUESTION What kind of society did the Puritans hope to create?
By the late 1620s, England was troubled by religious and political conflict.
Many groups of dissenters were speaking out against the king and the Church
of England. The Puritans were one such group. Unlike the Separatists, who
wanted to break away from the English church, the Puritans wanted to
reform, or “purify” its practices. The Puritans faced increasing persecution in
England. Many decided to leave and set up a Puritan society in America.
The Great Migration In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Company, a jointstock company owned by Puritan merchants, received a royal charter to settle
New England. The charter also gave the colony freedom to govern itself.
In 1630, 11 ships carried about 1,000 passengers to the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. There the Puritans founded Boston, which became the most important town in New England. Between 1630 and 1640 about 20,000 more setMigration
tlers crossed the Atlantic Ocean in what is known as the Great Migration.
• Causes and Effects How did John Winthrop
affect voting rights in Massachusetts Bay?
(He allowed “freemen” to vote—freemen being
all male church members, not just investors.)
68 Chapter 3
DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION
Inclusion
Pre-AP
Sequence Diagram
Pilgrim and Puritan
Comparison
Point out that the Puritans are the same
group of people whose leader, John
Winthrop, is quoted at the beginning
of this section in One American’s Story.
Draw a simple sequence chart with two
boxes—one for the Pilgrims and the
other for the Puritans—to help students
understand that the Pilgrims preceded
Winthrop’s Puritans by 10 years. Have
pairs of students reread the section and
complete the boxes with information
about the groups.
68 • Chapter 3
Have students use library and online
sources to prepare a Venn diagram
comparing and contrasting the Pilgrims
and the Puritans on these points:
• preparations for the journey and colony
• economic and social classes
• arrival and settlement in America
Then invite students to present their
diagrams to the class, discussing each
point.
CHAPTER 3 • SECTION 2
New England Colonies 1630
Connecticut
River
Merrimack
The New England Way The Puritans set
up their ideal society—a religious “commonwealth” of tightly-knit communities. Instead
of a church governed by bishops and king,
congregations. A
they created self-governing congregations
congregation is a group of people who belong
to the same church. Because Puritan congregations were self-governing, their churches
came to be called “Congregationalist.” This
Congregationalist way of organizing churches
became known as “the New England Way.”
Each congregation chose its minister and
set up its own town. The town’s most important building was the meetinghouse, where
religious services were held. Everyone had to
attend these services. The meetinghouse was
also used for town meetings, a form of selfgovernment.
Puritan values helped the colonists organize their society and overcome the hardships
of colonial life. Puritan colonists valued:
Ri
MASSACHUSETTS
B AY C O L O N Y
ve
N
r
E
W
Massachusetts
Boston (1630)
Connect Geography
Plymouth (1620)
P LY M O U T H
Cape Cod
25
25
COLONY
50 miles
50 kilometers
Nantuc ket
V i n e y a rd
72°W
71°W
41°N
70°W
69°W
• hard work as a way of honoring God.
The Puritan work ethic contributed to
the colony’s rapid growth and success.
• education. Because the Puritans
wanted everyone to be able to read the
Connect Geography
History
Bible, laws required that all children
1. Place How far is Plymouth from Boston?
learn to read.
2. Make Inferences Why do you think that Boston became
• representative government. Puritans brought
the most important port in New England?
their traditions of town meetings and local
self-government with them to America.
Democratic rights were quickly expanded. The colony’s charter allowed
only “freemen” or investors to vote. But when the colonists arrived in
America, Winthrop, the colony’s first governor, changed the definition of
“freeman” to mean any male church member. Although this covered only a
limited number of people, it was a major step in expanding voting rights.
Answer: They hoped
to create a religious
commonwealth of
tightly-knit, selfgoverning communities.
Massachusetts Bay “Seeds” New England
CONNECT TO TODAY Have students refer
to a map of New England today to locate
towns and areas pertinent to this section.
ANSWERS
1. Place about 40 miles
2. Make Inferences It was the home of
the Puritans, the dominant population
in New England. These people were
determined to set up a successful,
prosperous society.
The first colonists built
houses with roofs of
thatch, or straw, like
this one.
SUMMARIZE Describe the kind of society the Puritans hoped to create.
History
42°N
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN
Mar tha’s
New England Colonies 1630
S
Bay
0
0
43°N
KEY QUESTION Why did some colonists leave Massachusetts?
The Puritans worked hard to create an orderly society and felt threatened
by those who questioned their ways. But dissenters within their ranks soon
began challenging Puritan leaders. Disagreements within Massachusetts
forced many to leave and found other colonies. In this way, Massachusetts
became a “seed colony” out of which other New England colonies grew.
The English Establish 13 Colonies 69
Teach
Massachusetts Bay “Seeds”
New England
Talk About It
• Why do you think the Puritans felt so
threatened by those who challenged them?
(Possible Answers: They believed they were
creating a godly society and that anyone who
challenged them was challenging God; they
had a disciplined, authoritarian society that did
not allow for dissent.)
• What specific belief did Anne Hutchinson
have that challenged Puritan authority? (She
believed that many of the Puritan clergy were
not among the “elect.”)
• Causes and Effects How did Massachusetts
become a “seed colony” for New England?
(Dissenters were forced to leave the
Massachusetts colony and found other
colonies.)
INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES
CONNECT
to Math
CONNECT
to Language Arts
Mayflower Distance Calculations
Puritan Rules and Values Essay
Remind students that the voyage of the
Mayflower was not an easy one. Tell students
that the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth,
England, on September 16, 1620, and landed
at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21,
1620 (about 2,738 nautical miles). Ask students
to calculate the number of days the voyage
lasted (66 days) and how many miles per day the
ship sailed (about 41). Have students compare
responses.
Have each student write a brief essay on Puritan
rules and values discussed in this section. Essays
should include a description of the rules and
values and a discussion of why the Puritans
followed them.
Unit 2 Resource Book
• Interdisciplinary Projects, pp. 39–40
Unit 2 Resource Book
• American Literature, pp. 48–50
Teacher’s Edition • 69