The Pilgrims were Puritans who escaped to Holland as political exiles in 1608. The Pilgrims set sail because they wanted to explore, to make money, to teach and practice their religion, and to live in their own land. Welcome to the official website for the National Society Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, a non-profit hereditary society dedicated to perpetuating the memory and fostering and promoting the principles and virtues of the “Pilgrims.” The Society was founded on December 21, 1908 and has been in continuous existence since then. "Pilgrim" means a person who takes a long journey, usually for a religious or moral purpose; "Pilgrim" also is the popular term for all passengers of the Mayflower who sought religious freedom and who arrived in Plymouth in the 1620s. Pilgrim Fathers, in American colonial history, settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first permanent colony in New England (1620). The Pilgrims wanted to separate from the church in England, which is why they left for America. The Pilgrims first arrived in what is now Massachusetts in 1620. Start studying Pilgrims Puritans and Quakers. Puritans thought the national religion, Anglicanism, displayed too much similarity to Catholicism, the dominant European religion, which England renounced in 1534. During the reign of Elizabeth… Initially referred to as the Old Comers and later the Forefathers, they did not become known as the Pilgrim Fathers until two centuries after their arrival. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America to practice religious freedom. The puritanical view was much more restorative than that of the Pilgrims. The Puritans wanted to purify or improve the practices of the church which is why they came to America. 6 min read. The Pilgrims came to what is now the United States for the opportunity to practice their own religion, while the Puritans came to reform the beliefs of the Church of England and then spread them. Pilgrims and Puritans were 17th century-party animals. They immigrated to North America on the Mayflower in 1620. Most don't know that these are two different groups. Most Americans know the terms Puritans and Pilgrims. Puritans and their Pilgrim subset were religious groups in England that immigrated to the New World in the 17th century. Puritans were English Protestants in the late 16th century who wanted their church, the Anglican church, to follow the Calvinist model more closely and give up the remnants of Catholicism still present in Anglicanism.