In the 1600s, England had become a dangerous place for Separatists, who believed that the Church of England had become corrupt. Separatists went back to the Bible and did not accept anything that could not be found in scripture. This put them at odds with the Church of England, and after fleeing to Leiden, Holland, where they enjoyed religious freedom for a while, the Separatists left for the New World. Their ship, the Mayflower, set sail for the New World in September 1620 to seek out a place where the Separatists might worship freely. Ironically, given the persecution they had faced, they were extremely intolerant of other beliefs. This intolerance would cause problems for many others in New England.

The Separatists called themselves Pilgrims, and were forced to travel, and later live, with people they called the Strangers. These people did not share the same religious beliefs as the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims had to become more flexible in their beliefs in order to live peacefully with the Strangers. Though the Pilgrims established Plymouth with the Strangers, the Pilgrims ensured that their religious views still held sway, and their belief system became the standard for Plymouth and many of the other colonies.