Why the Pilgrims Migrated (1620)

William Bradford (1590-1657) was an English Puritan Separatist who moved to Holland in 1608 to avoid religious persecution. In 1620 he and 101 other "Pilgrims" set sail on the Mayflower. Although originally bound for Virginia, they arrived at Cape Cod and established Plymouth. Bradford became governor of the colony in 1621. He kept a journal from 1621 to 1646 that became the book, Of Plymouth Plantation.