Explore the Mayflower Trail

Refuge in Leiden
On 12 February 1609 the city government of Leiden granted 100 English religious refugees permission to settle in Leiden. In 1620 a group of these radical refugees left for America as Pilgrims and founded Plymouth Colony there. Most of the roughly hundred Pilgrims who found refuge in Leiden had previously lived off small-scale agriculture in England. Upon arrival in Leiden, they could immediately start working in the city’s textile industry – among the largest in Europe at the time.

A colony of their own
Most Pilgrims had little trouble integrating into this dynamic, multicultural society, and as a result their leaders feared that the group would eventually lose its religious and cultural identity. The establishment of a private colony to which they could retreat and where they could sustain their pure faith community became an increasingly enticing solution. Moreover it was economically attractive for many to leave the arduous textile industry, and build up a new life and home by cultivating new lands in North America.

Key

  • pilgrim-crewHometowns.png Pilgrim & Crew Hometowns
  • mayflower-speedwellDestinations.png Mayflower & Speedwell Destinations
  • speedwellRoute.png Route of Speedwell
  • mayflowerRoute.png Route of Mayflower
  • Pilgrim & Crew Hometowns
  • Mayflower & Speedwell Destinations
  • Route of Speedwell
  • Route of Mayflower

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