| Basic Concept: The Separatists
Among the extremists in the ranks of the English Puritans were a small community of religious enthusiasts called "Separatists." Led by the Reverend William Brewster of Leyden, England, the "Separatists" found the efforts of the Puritans far short of the mark in rectifying inherent problems in the Church of England. The Separatists sought a complete dismantling of the Church of England, espousing a strict Congregationalist model that rejected in any administrative or ecclesiastical hierarchy beyond the authority of the local congregations. So vehement were they in their denunciations that Bishop Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, expelled them from England. In 1608, they fled to Holland where they faired better in the atmosphere of religious toleration but found physical and social life unbearable, accepting the most inhospitable employment in a land where they could not speak the language or understand their hosts. Returning only briefly to gather their
meager holdings, the Separatists had negotiated a contract with the Virginia
Company to establish a colony in the name of James I, the first of the
Stuart kings of England. They left late in the autumn of 1620 from
Plymouth and Leyden, England, on the "Goodspeed" and the "Mayflower."
After twice floundering off the English coast, the "Goodspeed" was abandoned,
and all remaining passengers took passage in the "Mayflower," the smaller
of the two little commercial packet boats.
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