The English Pilgrim Fathers, persecuted for their faith, settled in Leiden in 1609. Here they came into contact with a different culture and innovative ideas. After an eleven-year stay, the Pilgrims set out again. They sailed to America and founded the first permanent colony. Their Dutch period is still an influence on American society. For example with the holiday Thanksgiving.
The celebration of Thanksgiving, on the fourth Thursday of November, is very important to Americans. Sometimes even more important than the celebration of Christmas. The essence of this national holiday is getting together, sharing a festive meal with the whole family and being grateful for the good things in life. The Dutch know the images of American families who together outsmart huge turkeys, especially from movies. Another tradition is the performance of school plays by American children. Dressed as the Pilgrim Fathers, they depict the first Thanksgiving celebration where the Native Americans share food with the new settlers. The Pilgrims, who have become the mythical ancestors of the Americans, have indeed started this celebration. They just didn't bring the celebration of the party from England, their homeland.
Flight to tolerant Holland
The roots of the Pilgrim Fathers lie in England. In the 16 e century, various Puritan Protestant groups arose there. They felt that the Anglican Church had not taken the Reformation far enough and wanted to separate as an autonomous community. After his accession to the throne in 1603, the English king James I opened a real manhunt for the Puritans. As head of the Anglican Church, the king wanted nothing to do with a secession. The result was discrimination, restrictive measures and persecution. Finding work became difficult, travel was prohibited without permission and false accusations of all kinds of crimes were common. A group of Puritans from Scrooby in Nothingham decided in 1608 to flee this oppressive regime. These people, who would later be called the Pilgrim Fathers, secretly left for Amsterdam.
The Dutch territories had been at war against the Spanish King Philip II since 1568, partly because of religious oppression. In 1608, the two fighting parties had concluded a 12-year truce. The moment the English Puritans got on the boat, it is therefore relatively quiet in the Netherlands. The tolerance of religion and the fast-growing prosperity made the country the perfect place to settle. The religious leader of the group, Reverend John Robinson, set his sights on Leiden – the second largest city in the Netherlands with a thriving textile industry.
In this cloth city, all kinds of fabrics were made for which an enormous amount of wool had to be combed, dyed and woven. Most of the work was poorly paid as it only required muscle strength and no knowledge. Most Puritans were farm laborers by birth and easy work was just what they needed. Reverend Robinson asked in a letter to the city council for permission to live with his people in Leiden. This was not mandatory, but by agreement of the city council, the future orphans were assured of a place in the orphanage instead of a one-way ticket to England. The city council responded positively.
Unwanted integration
Once in Leiden, the refugees, who called themselves Pilgrims, had to adapt to a foreign country, with a foreign language and underpaid work. The city was bursting at the seams at that time and entire families were crammed into one or two-room rental houses. The refugees were poor but at least they were safe from persecution.
In their Leiden years they tried to remain a close group:as loyal English subjects, despite the persecution in their own country, they hoped one day to be able to practice their faith as a community on English soil. But the English motherland remained hostile to the Pilgrims, and the English colonies in America presented another option. Leiden was just a stopover from the start. The Puritans therefore tried to avoid contacts outside the group as much as possible and they mainly intermarried.
But the inevitable happened over time anyway. The second generation integrated and their parents saw this with sorrow. The more Leiden the children would become, the greater the chance that they would not want to leave. The children spoke the language and started to behave more and more like Dutch people. That meant going to church on Sunday morning, but then heading out. To the fair, play games, dance, to the pub, and so on.
In the eyes of the stern Pilgrims this was terrible. Sunday was the day to worship God with a church service for the whole family starting at eight in the morning. Until noon, members prayed together, listened to Pastor Robinson's sermon, and sang. The latter without accompanying music because the Bible did not mention an organ. In the afternoon the men gathered again to discuss the contents of the Bible, together as well as with outsiders. The Pilgrims by no means thought that their own faith was better than other religions.
Their children's behavior, partying and drinking a bit on Sundays, was absolutely taboo. But adolescents were also adolescents in the 17 e century. They went out with their Dutch friends, got Dutch partners or they chose the sinful but better paid professions of soldier and merchant. But it was not only the fear of the youth breaking loose and thus the disintegration of the community that bothered the Pilgrims. The religiously tinted riots during the Truce disputes and the impending war also played a part.
The Twelve Years' Truce with Spain was to end in 1621. Preparations for new battles were in full swing, and the dull beats of the war drums sounded terrifying through the streets. Before the armistice, the Spaniards had wreaked havoc and plundered and half-killed cities such as Naarden and Zutphen. Despite the stories of bloodthirsty savages and appalling conditions, America didn't seem much more dangerous.
The legendary journey to America
Time to go, but the Pilgrims were still not welcome in England. The English colonies in America, on the other hand, were desperate for new migrants because of the high death rates. Their religious background was a lot less problematic there and the chance of persecution was nil. The Pilgrims who dared, were healthy and had money for the expensive journey packed their things. After a last meal together in Reverend Robinson's house, the Pilgrims left for Delfshaven on 21 July 1620, where the ship Speedwell was ready for them. Relatives and friends left behind with heartbreaking farewells and the travelers set out for England where the larger Mayflower was waiting for them.
The people of Leiden boarded here with 48 unknown English Puritans and they were going to populate the new colony. The Mayflower sailed on September 6, 1620, with 57 people from Leiden on board. The arduous journey lasted more than two months and on 9 November the travelers spotted land for the first time. After weeks of exploring, the Pilgrims stumbled upon a beautiful spot in New England on December 11. They named their new colony Plymouth Colony. The colony would become the first in America to remain continuously inhabited.
But the joy soon faded for the Pilgrims. They had arrived in the middle of winter and they could find little food. Because of the severe frost and snowfall, it was impossible to build houses. In particular, the weaker and young travelers could not cope with these conditions and half of the passengers and crew members died. The help of the Wampanoag Indians turned things around. They brought food and utensils and showed the Pilgrims what crops they could grow and where to find the fish.
Of the more than 100 passengers and crew on the Mayflower, half died before the first Thanksgiving celebration in 1621. Of the 57 Leiden passengers and their babies born on the voyage, 34 died. Also James Chilton, the man who carried out the attack survived in Leiden did not make it to spring. Entire families died from diseases such as scabies, the lack of food and the bitter cold. After the winter, six of the 21 children were found to have died and six had become orphans. Of the 12 female passengers, only two survived the first hard months. Of the 26 men, 17 were mourned dead in the spring. Only two families remained complete.
Six more ships would follow after the Mayflower. The last ship arrived in 1630 and a total of at least 125 Leiden Pilgrims moved to the new colony. Those left behind would merge with the Leiden population and join other churches. So is the widow of Reverend Robinson. Her husband died unexpectedly in 1625 without ever seeing the new colony.
Dutch influence
In the end, the Pilgrims only lived in the Netherlands for a decade, but this short time still had its influence on the formation of the colony and even on American society. Tolerance of different faiths was great in the young Republic, especially in comparison with the rest of Europe. This appealed to the Pilgrims and of all the religious groups that settled in America, they were the most tolerant. The persecution of Quakers and witches did not occur to them.
Practical Dutch innovations, for example in the construction of houses and furniture, came in handy in Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims also wanted a separation of religion and state and therefore adopted the principle of Dutch civil marriage. The democratic election of their municipal government was based on the example of the Leiden neighborhoods and Thanksgiving they shaped after the celebration of Leidens Ontzet.
Opinions on the impact on Thanksgiving are divided. The celebration would rather be a continuation of the pagan harvest festivals and thanksgiving, as they were already celebrated in Europe in the early modern period. American historian and Pilgrim Fathers expert Jeremy Bangs disagrees. He has conducted extensive research into the religious refugees, both in the Leiden archives and in Plymouth. According to him, the design of the holiday is indeed a copy of the Leiden celebration. The church service held, with the use of translated Dutch songs, and then the communal meal:these are elements of the Three-October celebration that the Pilgrims took with them from Leiden and introduced them to America.
In addition, the deeply religious would not celebrate a purely pagan festival, according to Bangs. They added the Christian elements of the Leiden celebration to the Thanksgiving Day for the Crop. And the turkey? Diary excerpts from the Pilgrims reveal how they discovered these beasts roaming in the wild near Plymouth Colony. In the week of the first Thanksgiving of 1621, they got hold of a few festively prepared. A tasty start to a tradition that is now indispensable in American culture.
Pilgrim Press
Press freedom was relatively high in the Republic and censorship was considerably less common than in other countries. Printers were required to put their name and address on the books or pamphlets, so that they could be held accountable for printing prohibited or unwanted work. However, false data was regularly used for this. The Pilgrim William Brewster started a printing business in Leiden. Books that were banned in England were smuggled to Leiden and printed by him. Brewster wanted to strengthen theological debate and convert readers through these works. This went well for about 20 different works until he published the book Perth Assembly . in 1618 by the Scottish writer David Calderwood. This book was a direct attack on the English King James I and his policy of imposing the hierarchy of English bishops on the Scottish Presbyterian Church. The king was absolutely not happy with this popular book and started a search for a writer and printer. It soon became clear that Brewster had something to do with the book:the Leiden authorities found evidence in his house. The angry king personally sent his ambassador to Leiden to lecture the city council. They had meanwhile released the arrested Brewster 'accidentally' again. The printer went into hiding and would reappear in Plymouth where he would assume the religious leadership.
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