THEY KNEW THEY WERE PILGRIMS

A professor of religious studies argues for reinstating the Plymouth Pilgrims at the forefront of the fight for "liberty of conscience" on American soil.

Usually relegated to the margins of academic history as the "smallest, weakest, and least important of the English colonies" compared to John Winthrop's Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, notes Turner, forged the first sense of American identity and mythology in terms of a participatory political framework and fierce commitment to liberty. But what did the concept of “liberty” mean to them? Separating from what they perceived as the corruption of the Church of England—from the "bondage" to "monarchs, magistrates, bishops, or synods"—they were determined to form their own congregations and elect their own officers. They were continually hounded for these desires, especially under the new king, James VI of Scotland, who ascended to the throne in 1603 and was unsympathetic to puritanism because he associated it with "limits on royal prerogatives." Moving to the Netherlands did not prove satisfactory in the long run. Wherever they went, notes Turner, the author of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet (2012), “English separatists were disunity specialists.” Making the arduous journey across the Atlantic Ocean, however, was an act of pure faith, and their “Mayflower compact” was an attempt at establishing “a civic body politic” that did not hinge on church membership. On one hand, they were able to fashion an important defense treaty with Massasoit, which benefited both the settlers and Wampanoags and established the settlers as “the foremost military power in the region.” On the other hand, church attendance was compulsory, and the colony’s leaders banished anyone who wanted to worship by other principles, such as the Quakers. Ultimately, Turner concludes, the “Colony leaders took it for granted that some groups of people were entitled to more liberties than others.” Though rather dry, the author’s study offers original scholarship that academics will appreciate.

A sturdy history of an insular people that will appeal mostly to students of early American history.