When the Pilgrims embarked from Europe in 1620, their voyage across the Atlantic to establish new lives in America was driven by a complex interplay of factors. Contrary to popular belief, the pursuit of religious liberty was not their foremost concern.
It is a common misconception that the Pilgrims fled England primarily to escape religious persecution. However, these Separatists had already found religious refuge more than a decade prior to their journey on the Mayflower. In 1608, they sought asylum in Leiden, a city within the Dutch Republic, where they were granted the freedom to worship and enjoyed considerable peace and liberty, as documented by Pilgrim Edward Winslow.
According to Simon Targett, co-author of New World, Inc.: The Making of America by England’s Merchant Adventurers, “The Pilgrims actually had no reason to leave the Dutch Republic in order to go to America to seek religious toleration—because they already had it.” This prompts the question: what other motivations compelled them to undertake the perilous journey to the New World? A significant factor was economic opportunity.
The Disillusionment of the Dutch Sojourn: Economic Hardship
Like countless migrants who would follow in their footsteps to America, the Pilgrims were, in essence, economic migrants. After residing and working in Leiden’s textile industry for over ten years, their material possessions remained meager despite their religious freedom. These former farmers lived in poverty, toiling relentlessly for meager wages through weaving, spinning, and cloth making. This economic adversity significantly hindered their ability to attract fellow Separatists to join them in Leiden, despite the religious freedoms available. Pilgrim leader William Bradford recounted that “Some preferred and chose the prisons in England rather than this liberty in Holland with these afflictions.”
The Pilgrims’ economic prospects continued to decline with the downturn in the wool market. Furthermore, the eruption of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe and the looming end of a twelve-year truce between Spain and the Dutch Republic threatened the stability of their sanctuary. As their community dwindled, anxieties grew regarding the Dutch society’s secular nature, which, while tolerant of their religious beliefs, seemed to erode the moral values of their children. Bradford lamented that “many of their children” were yielding to Leiden’s “manifold temptations” and being “drawn away by evil examples into extravagant and dangerous courses.”
Targett elucidates, “The Pilgrims wanted their children to be English citizens, not Dutch citizens. But if they were going to leave, they wouldn’t be able to go back to England because of religious reasons.” Consequently, their attention turned westward, across the Atlantic, to America. English merchants had been funding colonial settlements for decades, presenting a destination where they could not only practice their faith freely but also secure greater economic stability and preserve their English heritage. The Pilgrims also harbored a conviction that the New World provided an opportunity to spread Christianity among Native Americans and to undertake, in Bradford’s words, “the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.”
Embracing a Commercial Enterprise: The Lure of Profit
England’s nascent commercial outposts in America, such as Jamestown established by the Virginia Company, were primarily driven by profit-seeking corporations. Even for investors whose interests leaned more towards financial returns than religious propagation, the Pilgrims appeared as ideal candidates to initiate a New World colony. Their strong community bonds, industrious nature, and resilience to hardship were compelling assets.
Following the acquisition of a patent from the Virginia Company to establish a settlement within its jurisdiction, a collective of 70 London businessmen, known as the Merchant Adventurers, provided the necessary capital for the venture. They invested by purchasing shares in a joint-stock company, funding the Mayflower, its crew, and provisions for a year.
The Merchant Adventurers anticipated a return on their investment. They stipulated that the Pilgrims were obligated to work for the company for their first seven years in America. Each colonist over the age of 16 received one share for their emigration and labor on the land, which, along with any future profits, would be theirs after the seven-year contract expired.
To finance the voyage, the Pilgrims had to accommodate fellow economic migrants aboard the Mayflower. These individuals shared the Pilgrims’ aspirations for economic prosperity but not their Separatist religious beliefs. Referred to as “strangers” by the Pilgrims, they constituted half of the Mayflower’s passengers. When these “strangers” argued that the Virginia Company’s charter no longer bound them after the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts, significantly north of its intended destination, in November 1620, Pilgrim leaders drafted the Mayflower Compact. This document established rules for self-governance and aimed to prevent potential discord.
The Economic Realities of Plymouth Colony: A Struggle for Profitability
As a business undertaking, the Plymouth Colony’s inception was as challenging as the infertile New England soil the Pilgrims were compelled to cultivate. After a devastating first winter in America, the Plymouth Colony barely managed to survive, let alone prosper. The Mayflower’s return voyage to England was devoid of marketable goods, foreshadowing future challenges.
“The early investors were dissatisfied with what the Pilgrims sent home,” notes Targett. “They were meant to send back fur, timber and fish, and on a couple of occasions the ships sent back either sank or were captured by pirates, so the investors never saw the benefits.”
Plymouth Colony eventually achieved financial stability through the trade of beaver pelts. These were highly sought after in England for crafting felt hats and other luxury fashion items. Historian James Truslow Adams observed, “The Bible and the beaver were the two mainstays of the young colony. The former saved its morale, and the latter paid its bills, and the rodent’s share was a large one.”
However, the arrival of the Puritans and the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s intensified competition for beaver pelts, diminishing the Pilgrims’ profits. It was not until 1648 that the Pilgrims managed to settle their debts. Ultimately, Plymouth Colony experienced a fate common to many struggling enterprises. It was absorbed by a larger, more prosperous entity when it merged with other colonies to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691.
In conclusion, while the Pilgrims did seek religious freedom, their journey to America was propelled by a broader spectrum of motivations. Economic hardship in the Netherlands, the desire to preserve their English identity, and the opportunity for commercial success were pivotal factors that drove their migration to the New World. Religious freedom, while valued, was a condition they already possessed, making economic and cultural factors the more pressing catalysts for their voyage to America.
