July 22, 1620 - Pilgrims Board The Mayflower

Most Americans are aware that the Pilgrims came to the New World for “religious freedom,” but many do not understand what they desired freedom from. They were religious refugees feeling oppression by the Church of England. They felt that the Church had lost its focus on the supremacy of Scripture, focusing instead on tradition that was heavily influenced by the Catholics. Deemed “separatists” by the Church and forced to attend or risk fines and punishments, they boarded the Mayflower on July 22, 1620, and set sail for the New World. They landed at Plymouth Rock in the Massachusetts Colony in September of that same year.