The Pilgrim Fathers
There was a time when the people of England were not allowed to pray to God in the way they thought right, but were punished if they did not worship as the king ordered. This was very hard, and when James I was king, a little band of brave people, who found that they could not obey the king, left their country to make a new home across the sea, where they could be free. They are called the "Pilgrim Fathers".
A hundred people men, women, and children set sail in a little ship called the Mayflower for the new world which a great explorer called Columbus had discovered away in the west, and which we now call America.
They had a long and stormy voyage, but at last, in mid-winter, they landed on the shores of North America, and set up their huts.
At first they had much trouble, for the ground was frozen and barren.
They suffered from hunger and sickness, and the wild Indians who lived in that land came down upon them and tried to drive them away. But the Pilgrim Fathers did not lose courage. They were free, and they worked hard, and waited in patience for brighter days. By and by other ships from England brought food to keep them alive, and more people to help them. Then they made friends with the Indians, and when spring came they planted seeds and grew crops for themselves.
After a time many other Englishmen, who wished to be free, followed the Pilgrim Fathers, and settled in America. They founded the colonies of New England, which are now a part of the United States.