Finally, lets annihilate the idea that they were victims of religious persecution. OK a few of them might have been, but not as popular legend would have you believe, in the same way that Jews for example were persecuted. The Pilgrims were in fact for the large part religious dissenters or separatists, to the recently established Church of England. And they weren’t Puritans in the truest sense of the word either, for the most part. Let me explain. In late 16th Century England, Queen Elizabeth, keen to foster a model of religious harmony, had made a few tweaks to the religious mess she had been handed when big sister Mary passed away. Her rule of five years wasn’t long, but it was enough to create a fair amount of chaos as far as the Church was concerned. Particularly following the upheaval of the Church by her father, and the following embellishments under their brother’s rule, led by reformers within his close circle.
Firstly, Elizabeth reintroduced Protestantism, the Anglican Church, back into the lead role, having been brought up as such herself. Then she passed Acts of Tolerance, allowing the peaceful worship of other faiths without (much) prejudice. Provided the followers of other faiths went about it quietly, and didn’t use it as a reason to try and dislodge her from her long-awaited place on the throne of England, she was happy to turn a blind eye. Those who had fled under Mary’s rule, were finally able to return from their exile because let’s face it, whilst remaining a staunch Catholic, Mary was still very much her father’s daughter, and wasn’t averse to lighting a few fires under prominent Protestants.
Amongst those returning, were Protestant clergy, whose next task was to purify the Anglican Church once more from its Catholic constraints. This led to the later label of Puritanism; a label which is often misinterpreted as to represent the “moral virtue” of its participants.