What is the puritan myth?

Answer 1

The "Puritan myth" is the unsupported theory that a small group of Mayflower settlers, many of them religious Separatists, founded the United States, and that, therefore, this is a Christian nation. While many of the Plymouth, MA settlers and others left England in search of religious freedom, any study of history indicates that early European visitors came here for many reasons, some as slaves or indentured servants, some as explorers and adventurers, some for political and intellectual freedom, some due to impoverished or dangerous conditions at home, and a great many to better their lifestyles and gain wealth and property. The Separatists of Plymouth were far from the first visitors to the East Coast which saw Spanish settlers to the south and French visitors to the north in the late 1500s. English settlers arrived at Jamestown and in Maine (then Northern Virginia) in 1607. Early trips to the New World were all commercial affairs in which investors intended to earn a profit on the voyage or from the settlers who stayed behind. The founding history of the USA is rich and complex and the semi-successful 1620-era Plymouth Colony is one in a kaleidoscope of founding stories. Thanks to the Pilgrim journals, it is very well documented, but their popular portrayal is highly over simplified and often presented as more myth than fact. This group did not "found" the United States and it is likely, based on their laws and beliefs, that they would never have approved what the Revolutionary War-era founders created. For an authentic look at the Plymouth story, read MAYFLOWER by Nathaniel Philbrick. Submitted by J. Dennis Robinson,