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Pilgrims

Parent Category: Educational

1. The Pilgrims came to America to avoid the religious rules imposed by England.
The Pilgrims were Calvinist Protestants. They followed the teachings of John Calvin
on how to worship God.

2. The pilgrims had asked the King to allow them to form their own church.
The King denied the pilgrim's request.

3. The Pilgrims decided to move to Holland where religious freedom was practiced,
and where they would be allowed to worship God as they saw fit.

4. They lived in Holland until 1620, when they became dissatisfied with their situation
and the effects that living in Holland was having on their children. In 1620, the Pilgrims
moved back to England and prepared to leave for the New World.

5. The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America. They sailed on a
ship named the Mayflower.

6. On December 11, 1620, the first Pilgrims (or Puritans, as they were first known) landed
at Plymouth Rock.

7. The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to get the land ready
for planting.

8. By the fall of 1621, only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived.
The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to prepare a thanksgiving feast.

9. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast
in the year 1621, in Masschusettes. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of
around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited.

10. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. The drink that the Puritans brought with
them on the Mayflower was beer.

A Walking Tour of Plimoth Plantation

America's First Thanksgiving

First Thanksgiving

First Thanksgiving Facts and Fancies

Mayflower Compact
Pilgrim Hall Museum

Pilgrims of Plymouth

Plimoth Plantation: Living Breathing History

Scholastic: The First Thanksgiving

Search for Religious and Political Freedom

Story of the Pilgrims

Thanksgiving Glossary

The First Thanksgiving

Fast Facts Resources
Who Were the Pilgrims
A Brief History of the Pilgrims
The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony: 1620

Pilgrims

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