They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty

by John G. Turner

An ambitious new history of the Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony, published for the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s landing

In 1620, separatists from the Church of England set sail across the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. Understanding themselves as spiritual pilgrims, they left to preserve their liberty to worship God in accordance with their understanding of the Bible.

There exists, however, an alternative, more dispiriting version of their story. In it, the Pilgrims are religious zealots who persecuted dissenters and decimated the Native peoples through warfare and by stealing their land. The Pilgrims’ definition of liberty was, in practice, very narrow.
 
Drawing on original research using underutilized sources, John G. Turner moves beyond these familiar narratives in his sweeping and authoritative new history of Plymouth Colony. Instead of depicting the Pilgrims as otherworldly saints or extraordinary sinners, he tells how a variety of English settlers and Native peoples engaged in a contest for the meaning of American liberty.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, American, Religion, Politics

464 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2020

About the author

John G. Turner teaches religious studies at George Mason University and is the author of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet and The Mormon Jesus.

Reviews

[Justin Pickett · Rating 3 out of 5]

“In puritan New England, the liberties of congregations were paramount, not those of individuals.”

Interesting, despite being written in a dry, person-event-person-event format. Religious hypocrisy never gets old or any less telling. You’ll read about ministers fighting over things like whether congregations should sing written songs, pray printed prayers, or baptize with sprinkling or immersion, all the while those religious leaders were cheating on their wives on a regular basis (e.g., John Cotton). You’ll read about people advocating religious freedom, but having (and mistreating) servants, even ones who were children; indeed, many servants lived in abject misery. Even children who were not servants died so regularly that infant mortality was seen as something to be expected.

“A dead child … is a sight no more surprising than a broken pitcher or a blasted flower.”

You’ll learn that the Pilgrims loathed holidays and would have objected to our Thanksgiving celebrations. You’ll also learn that several of the Mayflower passengers were bastard children placed there by the angry husband who found out that they weren’t his kids. You’ll learn that many Mayflower passengers lived on the ship for over a month before it set sail and died during or soon after the trip.

Particularly notable was the political organization of New England congregations, wherein the church members picked their minister who then had authority only within that community. That is, there was no external selection method for ministers. And in the book, there are several examples of congregations opting to pass on potential ministers, because they didn’t agree with their views (e.g., on baptism).

Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book have to do with New England deviants (e.g., Thomas Morton) and how authorities dealt with them. You’ll read about juries asking subjects to touch dead bodies, under the assumption that the deceased would bleed if someone guilty touched them. You’ll read about a Jamestown man who murdered his pregnant wife, salted her body, and then ate her.

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although John G. Turner is a professor of religious studies at George Mason University, he writes well and doesn’t genuflect to every politically correct piety that academics are expected to affirm these days. As the subtitle implies, Turner organizes this history of Plymouth colony (1620-1691) around the concept of liberty, which everyone involved—Native American, Puritan, Anglican, Quaker, and rabble-rouser—desired, though of course, also defined differently.

I came away from the book with a more nuanced view of the Pilgrims but one more sympathetic to these separatists than the majority of other readers who have left reviews. My opinion of the obnoxious contemporary version of Quakerism did not improve, however; and I definitely would not volunteer to do lunch with that supposed champion of religious liberty, Roger Williams, who ended having devotions only with his wife because he had separated from everyone else. (I’ll take lunch with William Bradford. He’d consider me worldly, but I'm willing to entertain that opinion.)

I found the first chapters of this book most engaging, the early years of settlement when Pilgrims put their lives on the line for their religious beliefs and they and the Indians actually did accommodate one another enough to enjoy some sort of joint meal that roughly corresponds to the popular notion of the First Thanksgiving. The latter years of the colony tend to bog down in minutiae.

And yet there was always something odd enough in the narrative to get me to turn the page. How different Pilgrim society was from ours, not just in acceptance of slavery, but in their not codifying whether African or Native slaves should serve for life or for a term of years, or whether children of slaves should be slaves themselves. You would think a people so consumed with regulating the personal lives of their fellow men would, over the course of seventy years, find it important to resolve such a matter. But they didn't.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complicated legacy, from the very beginning.

John G. Turner pulls no punches in They Knew They Were Pilgrims. As he reminds the reader - they knew they were pilgrims. This group of some strangers, some friends, some relatives, some congregations had been moving from one rejecting shore to another, until finally just to get them gone, the colonies seemed as good an answer as any. The passed along passengers were all familiar with the bible, and Hebrews 11:13 made sure all Christians were reminded often that they were "strangers and pilgrims on the earth". . .they knew they were pilgrims. It is our modern myth that elevates them to The Pilgrims. From there, the author will dismantle every drop of simple pilgrim coding you have in your memory bank.

My interest was held from the preface to the end papers on this complex and compelling text - a darker truth revealed about our Pilgrims, not the least of which are my own ancestors mixed up in this fabled community. Pilgrims were not simple people with simple lives, having simple desires and obligations. Their intentions were simple - and ruthless, even desperate - to carve out a place where liberty (their kind) could be enjoyed by (read: imposed on) all community members. Not a lot of wiggle room (as the Quakers found out).

The author undoes the onion, layer by layer, discussing the natives settled in the area that the Mayflower landed - not exactly Plymouth Rock - who were doing fine without the passengers who came ashore that day. They are so many more than just a few friendlies who brought the welcome basket - there were various tribes, chiefs (sachems), competing interests and politics a-play without new challenges. There were factions within the pilgrim groups that created friction and all out fighting, punishments (banishment, behanding and beheading with results up on the Fort walls - for decades). Present were the usual suspects (7 deadly sins) that get loose in any community if you stay in one place long enough. As always, when three or more are gathered religious strife is rife - Protestants v. Congregationalists v. Quakers v. Baptists (sprinkling v. immersion - baptizing timely meant risking your or your baby's life on hard winter days). Meanwhile, back at the ranch, England was always chiming in with, "Remember - we are the boss of you!" It was not just planting corn & salmon and Thanksgiving dinners.

This read is not quick and easy, but it is eye-opening, thoughtful and thoroughly done. The writing is accessible, with shared sources for those who are inclined to dive deeper. An excellent read if you are looking for how the Plymouth part of our origin story really unfolded (with all the warts and wrinkles). It's time to let go of the happy ending most of us have accepted from diligently curated historical sources (history is written by the victors, remember!). No more quashing problematic soul-searching with simple, happy myths. It just isn't so. Time to gird up your loins and breach the gap.

I learned more from this book than any other I have read on this topic, and I've been a fan of the Pilgrims all my life. Now I'm really rethinking the "fan" role. In all other previous reads, I've finished feeling proud, admiring accomplishments, recognizing bravery and generosity to those who needed it most (poor and starving natives, physically and spiritually). For all of my appreciation of this truly perspective-changing material, that previous comfortable smugness has fallen like scales. I am unarmed, surprised and pale - conspicuously sheepish (on many levels) as it relates to my race (that which doesn't exist, but is all about self-identification. . .or is it really other-identification?).

5 stars: seek.seasick.starve.strive.shrine.

A sincere thank you to John G. Turner, Yale University Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC to read and review.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

John G. Turner is to be commended for writing an excellent and balanced account of the Plymouth colony in New England. Growing up, my Dad would begin to read from Gov. Bradford's account of Plymouth Plantation, and I was given the politically incorrect guide to King Phillip's War. Years later, I read a more politically correct account of the wars and also got more of the Anglican side to the conflict between the Puritans and Anglicans. I kind of went too far in the other direction, and tended to see the Pilgrims too negatively.

Thankfully John G. Turner has written a balanced account, at the center of which is a point that is fairly simple and that should make anyone interested in liberty pay attention to: the Pilgrims were theocrats. The problem with this was that for them religious liberty did not mean the liberty for everyone to worship God as they saw fit, but only the liberty to worship according to the Bible. While it's not true that the Puritans were oppressive, they were very interested in a state church and wanted public worship. This meant that at times they persecuted their fair share of Quakers and fined some Baptists. Roger Williams, actually, is the beginning of religious liberty, and you really can tell he was a nut. He was even more concerned with a pure church and insisted that anyone who came over from the Church of England renounce their church, since communion with the Church of England was automatically communion with Papist errors. Turner really makes you very unsympathetic to him and to the Quakers. The Quakers, aside from having nutjobs that dressed up as Jesus Christ and went naked to imitate Isaiah, did not take off their hats to magistrates and started using "thee" and "thou" instead of "you" to show that they did not believe in hierarchy. It's interesting that all the most religiously tolerant were also the most perfectionistic, which is not very tolerant at all.

Turner does a great job showing that the Mayflower Compact was not really that politically significant (side note: neither was the Magna Charta), but he also does a good job of showing the ways in which it was uniquely Republican and politically advanced in tiny ways. For instance, although the New Englanders were elitist and only wanted landowning men to represent in society, one of the signers of the Mayflower compact was a freeman, and freeman could and did advance pretty far in society.

Turner is also great at showing the immensely complicated personal politics involved in the colonies. For instance, Nathaniel Hawthorne tried to portray Thomas Morton of Merrymount as a fun-loving Anglican oppressed by wicked puritans (which is also how Thomas Morton portrayed himself), but Turner documents how, even though the Puritans did have incentives to remove Morton, they were political, not religious, and Morton was a scumbag who treated his wife (and others) detestably. Turner also does not rant about abuse of slaves that happened at the time, or about the evils that the Pilgrims did inflict upon the Indians. He clearly inclines more toward the Indians than the Pilgrims, but he doesn't screech as he does it, so I am still inclined to think that many of them were in the wrong. The way the Praying Christians were treated was terrible, but it is also remarkable that John Eliot stood up for them and protested. He also shows that women could, in fact, divorce their husbands in some cases, and separate from them too, a point that belies the common stereotype.

He also shows the kinds of conflicts that would take place when people were perfectionistic. One minister was for infant-baptism, but wanted baptism by immersion and killed one of his own children with the baptism because the water was too cold :(. Imagine if your church disputes went political. I came away from this grateful that our churches do not have such high political stakes. Mandatory church attendance also brings with it a lot of problems. It's also remarkable that, for many years, the Puritans did not celebrate the Lord's Supper because of the absence of a minister. It was a different time, for sure.

At any rate, you come away impressed with the masculinity of the pilgrims and the craziness of what they tried to do, and the craziness of the high goals they expected to achieve. This book should make you impressed by them and be loathe to cast judgment on them for the ways they fell short, particularly in political matters. Still, you also realize that they were much more concerned with the liberty of states to be Christian, and to make mandatory Christian morality. While not as bad as portrayed to be (it's incredibly mild by Catholic standards), it set up high expectations that could never be fulfilled.

[Brandon H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Just as some Americans chipped away at Plymouth Rock, so others have chiseled away at the mythology surrounding the Pilgrims." - John G. Turner

Here Turner does a lot of chiseling to reveal a more accurate (and astounding) account of the Pilgrims and their founding in America. His historical rendering left me shocked and stunned. Before reading this book, I had a vague yet, positive impression of the Pilgrims thanks to the ubiquitous rosy narratives of the Pilgrims that have been passed down in recent decades. Now, I have come to see that these early Americans were not as saintly as we are told. Pious, religious, tough people living out their beliefs in a harsh world? Yes! Worthy of our gratefulness for their contributions to our country? Yes! But not as saintly and sinless as Daniel Webster and others would have us believe.

As a Christian, I think that if most of us modern believers were to visit them we'd quickly find them to be unbearably rigid and controlling killjoys, not to mention legalistic and somewhat barbaric. Their excessive austerity would be repugnant to most of us modern Christians. They would probably consider us, including the most conservative among us, to be carnal and worldly, worthy of imprisonment if they didn't ship us back to England or Europe first! They would probably also view us as soft, indulgent, and idolatrous people who needed to repent of our worldliness and excessive emotionalism before God's judgment fell upon us.

We may share the same land and nation but times have dramatically changed and our world is so different from theirs. So I'm glad I was able to observe them from a great distance and gain a more accurate, informed view of our American forefathers and mothers without having experienced it firsthand those many years ago. (If I ever get a chance to time travel, it won't be to New England during THIS time period!)

This is not to suggest that the book was difficult to get through. Not at all! It's a really good book! Christianity Today included it as "worthy of merit" in their annual book awards. I just wish it had been nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award category in 2020. I found this educational book to be a fascinating and memorable read. When I wasn't exasperated, I was laughing over some of the peculiar beliefs of this insufferable lot. And there were a lot of important lessons one could glean from this offering. And even though these folks would have gotten under my skin fairly quickly, I do admire them for overcoming the numerous challenges they faced.

I learned a lot about these peculiar people. Here a few of them -

"The notion of a Pilgrim first Thanksgiving did not become widespread until 19th-century magazines and novelists popularized the image. The pilgrims would have objected to the way that later Americans appropriated them for an annual holiday. Like other Puritans, the Pilgrims loathed recurrent holidays especially when endued with a sacred significance for which they found no warrant in scripture."

Perhaps this is where the dreded question, "So, why are YOU still single?" originated -

"Plymouth had no law against a man choosing to live alone but doing so was aberrant and attracted scrutiny and suspicion."

If only they could have traded some turkeys, cod, and corn for the little blue pill -

"Puritans expected married couples to maintain conjugal relations for pleasure as well as procreation. Unlike their civil and ecclesiastical counterparts in England, magistrates and ministers in New England accepted sexual impotence, insufficiency or refusal as grounds for divorce or annulment."

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

They Knew They Were Pilgrims is a balanced, well researched account of the history of Plymouth Colony from its founding in 1620 to its merger with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. This is a fact based volume that steers away from both idealizing these founders and from lionizing them as an evil force let loose upon the world. What we have here are true Pilgrims that ventured out to avoid English religious oppression and forged true friendships with native populations. Unfortunately, this first generation piety was not sustainable as 2nd and 3rd generation Plymouth colonists gave into the pressures of greed and religious oppression that ironically its founders came to avoid .

The great irony of the American experiment is that its high minded words (All Men are Created Equal) have rarely matched actual practice in how it has treated various populations in its history. Thankfully, America has had many opportunities to step back to create "a more perfect union." The Plymouth Colony is no different. Turner painstakingly details the persecution suffered by "Brownists" that wished to separate from the Church of England rather than obey the state controlled church. Most of the folks paid a heavy price and found themselves in Scrooby and then exiled to Dutch Leiden for holding such Separatist beliefs.

Finally in 1620, this loose group of separatists had had enough and took a late Autumn sail across the Atlantic with shaky investors who exacted pretty harsh terms to afford them such a crossing with food and supplies. Arriving in December, most of them would have died had it not been for Massasoit, a kind Native Wampanoag sachem (leader). He traded with the Pilgrims and enabled them to survive a harsh winter where half their population died. Before they ventured out, these settlers signed into law one of the first charters of the New World called the Mayflower Compact. Contrary to legend, this document really didn't establish anything other than the intent to self-govern, not the government itself. And the Compact ironically was the only tool the Separatists could use to ensure the minority that was not Separatist could not breakaway and form their own government.

Once relatively established in the first 20 years, New England Puritan/Separatist Congregationalism became the dominant religious and governmental force in the colonies in the first 200 years of European New England history. However, the author details the many 'outliers' such as the Merry Mount settlers who introduced the pagan Maypole to their religious orders. Such libertarian ideals set against an oppressive monarchy would not just sit still in the New England milieu where land was plentiful and mechanisms of government control were minimal. Therefore, separatism and more radical religious ideas of tolerance would grow with Roger Williams' Baptists and the 'inner light' of the Quakers. Rhode Island can probably lay claim to a truer form of religious tolerance since most everyone that was not Puritan Congregationalist ended up there. Turner painstakingly details the forces set against these religious minorities as the Congregationalists of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth would not let them gain any foothold in their town and provincial governments.

William Brewster and William Bradford (two fixtures of Plymouth colony leadership for decades) were very principled men who purchased all land from natives and enforced laws against settlers who stole or performed criminal acts against natives. Native populations were afraid of slave traders as several European expeditions had already been attempted to capture and bring natives across the Atlantic. But Brewster and Bradford drew a hard line against this, unfortunately later Plymouth leaders would not take such a principled stand as workers were desperately needed to work the land. Massasoit was eager to have a counterweight to the Naragansett threat so the first 50 years of colonial-native relations were mostly positive. This mutual interest began to fade unfortunately as Dutch, English, and French settlement of the New England and Mid Atlantic accelerated.

Consequently, Massasoit's son and progeny did not share his eagerness to compromise and forge a mutual alliance. The natives finally came to the realization they were getting pushed out and they attacked an estimated 50% of English settlements in 1675. Settler's land violations became too numerous to count and the native populations finally struck back in this conflict called "King Philip's War". As a percentage of the population, this colonial war took more of a toll than any other war on this continent. Native relations became permanently adversarial and it contributed to a uniquely local identity among the English settlers. Most historians call this war a colonial 'victory' but more recent historians mourn this event as culturally it was the end of what could have been a great partnership.

By the 1680's, as native relations soured and persecution of Quakers persisted, the English Crown no longer supported the colonies. King James II had a relatively short reign in England but his reign was instrumental in putting the nail in the Plymouth coffin as an official colony. James was eager for religiously tolerant allies as a Catholic and the religious intolerance of the Congregationalists was a barrier to his goals. Stories of Quaker executions became all too common, conflict with natives stifled production and therefore, the Crown dissolved the New England charters and established a New England 'Dominion' with a governor direct from England. This Dominion was short lived as it dissolved with Willam and Mary's Glorious Revolution in 1688. However, the damage was done as it related to Plymouth. King William was used to Dutch toleration and consequently Plymouth was merged into Massachusetts Bay to isolate Congregationalism and give a wide opportunity for more tolerant colonies.

Tensions would continue to boil over the next 80 years that culminated in the American Revolution. Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth ideals were obviously part of the core of this new revolution. But even 100 years later, New England Congregationalists were frustrated by Rhode Island's insistence on the Bill of Rights. As we view the events from a more distant historical telescope, Turner's characterization of the Pilgrim's appear to be more like the 'Unmerciful Servant' in the Gospels. The parable notes a debt ridden manager who is forgiven of his huge debt. Rather than exhibiting gratitude for such an opportunity and show his debtors the same mercy, the servant throws his debtors in jail. As a consequence, the Master throws the Servant in jail for showing such a lack of mercy. You do see a great measure of gratitude with Brewster and Bradford, but the new generations of Pilgrims could not survive the greed of new land, loss of power, encroaching native populations and new riches in this new world.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is clear and summarizes lots of the scholarship there been done over the decades about the folks who came from England/Netherlands to what they named as Plymouth. It’s a very sympathetic portrayal of why and how they acted as they did with respect to regulating religion and interacting with the Indian nations who lived on the land these self styled Pilgrims had moved onto. Turner is mostly concerned with defining liberty from their perspective and explaining how these separatists could be so committed to it and yet be so “intolerant” from modern perspectives.

[Steve Linskens · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Turner writes a fairly thorough history of the Pilgrims from the time of the pre-Holland journey, to life in New England. He provides ample facts and details about their lives, desires, and ambitions. I don't usually say this about many books, but I actually would have liked a limited amount of author commentary through the pages. It came across very detailed and factual, but at times slow and dry. Overall, a great history of the pilgrims.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was required reading for my Colonial America class. While I found the information useful for my assignments, I cannot say that I was very interested in the content.

[Darwin8u · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I first became aware of John G. Turner when I read his masterful biography of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet. As I non-practicing Mormon, I felt he did a fantastic job of telling Young's story and also framing Young in his time and space. I missed reading this over Thanksgiving, but figured late December was better than never, so I picked it up. Turner's approach to the Pilgrims using the lens of American Liberty is instructive to informing the myth surrounding liberty and the myth of the Pilgrims.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! The author gives the reader a great look into the religious lives of The Pilgrims and what religious liberty was to them. The Pilgrims left us with a complicated but very interesting history to discuss.

[James Hallenbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed history

Turner provides a detailed and scholarly history of the Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony. He avoids romanticizing them, thoughtfully considering both their strong and weak points.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because I wanted to know more about the Pilgrim Fathers and what made them go to America. I guess I learned that but not much more than I already knew.

I would say less than half the book covers that. The rest of the book covers what happened afterwards.

Things that surprised me.

1. In my mind, the Pilgrims (Separatists) left because they were more fanatical than their countrymen and wanted to organise themselves. A major reason, after spending 11 years in Holland was that their children were growing up Dutch and they wanted them to be in an English speaking environment. Basically, they didn’t want to be under the organised church in England but wanted to live in a more free English colony. Also, some of the orginal group that left England died in the bubonic plague epidemic in the city Leiden in Holland.
2. The trip to America was part of a commercial deal. There was a business plan, shareholders and an economic purpose. I never really considered that before. They were to be funded to go and set up a colony, employed by the "Merchant Adventurers" for seven years and keep a share of the goods and profits.
4. They were intending to join the established Virgina Colony but famously landed at Plymouth. They were heading towards the Hudson River area but either bad navigation or bad weather or their desire for autonomy brought them to Cape Cod and then to Plymouth. Here they discovered a native villiage that had been abandoned after a plague of smallpox brought by earlier European traders and found was a suitable place to set up by themselves without religious interference. The Mayflower was sent back to England and more people followed them with more supplies and people and started to carry back furs and timber as part of the deal.
5. After they been there over 30 years, Quaker missionaries started to arrive to escape persecution in England and the settlers then persecuted the Quakers!
6. It was only on the 200th anniversary of their landing that their story was popularised and that they became part of the founder myth of the USA.
7. The native Americans that they initially encountered taught them how to live off the land and became trading partners and allies against neighbouring tribes who were hostile towards them. Eventually, due to the steady encroachment onto tribal lands, the increasing new population inflow from Europe, attempts at conversion to Christianity after 50 years this developed into a war and many native Americans were taken into domestic slavery and others deported to sugar plantation slave colonies in the Caribbean where they were also not welcome and seen as less valuable than African slaves.
8. As an outsider, my image was that the Pilgrim Fathers were the original settlers from Europe in North America but St. Augustine, Florida dates from 1565. Jamestown, Virginia from 1607. I had also not considered that the Separatists had left during the reign of James 1st and their story was played out amidst the background of the English Civil War.
9. Only a small portion of the Plymouth Rock survives. Most of it has been chipped away for souvenirs. It was only identified in 1741 by a 94 year old who said that he had heard it was the place where they had landed from earlier settlers.

This book aims to be a historical account that cuts through some of the mythical and traditional accounts. I think I was a bit more interested at first in the reasons that they left England but that wasn't covered so much. A lot of the second half of the book is composed of new information that is gleaned from contemporary records so is a bit thin on story and heavy on trivial facts. It was worth reading for the surprising insights I gained but was admittedly a long slog. I will rate it highly but I'm not sure I would recommend any one else to read it unless they are really interested in the minutia.

[Hans Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Mason University Professor of Religion John G. Turner here authors a volume on the history of New Plymouth - its seven decades of existence as an independent colony - and its place in the history of the United States. In this volume, Turner does not kowtow at the altar of worshipping the Pilgrims of 1620 as the forebears of Religious Toleration... because they didn't believe in religious toleration. Running contrary to the long-established national myths, Turner presents the Pilgrims as closer to a theocracy than a bastion of religious liberty: torturing and persecuting Quakers and other religious sects, locked in a decades-long Holy War against the Church of England and its use of the Book of Common Prayer, and struggling to survive against intense political and religious pressure from 1620 to its dissolution in 1691. Turner also focuses on the legacy of the "First Thanksgiving," and undermines the rosy allure of that particular canard by illustrating generations of ruthless subjugation of Native Americans beneath Puritanical hegemony at the point of a musket or a sword: one particularly powerful image has the Pilgrims returning a snake skin sent as a threat by a local Native tribe, but now loaded with gunpowder and musket balls as a threat of their own. All in all, They Knew They Were Pilgrims is a timely reexamination of Plymouth Colony for its quadricentennial - and one which should, ideally, form the basis of a reexamination of the role Plymouth played in the foundations of New England Congregationalism.

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most common retellings of the Plymouth Colony we hear are the hagiographic tale of our saintly ancestors who fled persecution to set up a free society (though less common anymore) or the story of how white people ruin everything. Those stories have emotional power because of how they relate to or explain our experiences today. However, the truth is somewhere in between.

John Turner does an admirable job wading through a lot of historical data (of varying degrees of reliability) to tell the story as best we can. In the end, the Plymouth Colony is a mixed bag. Sometimes the people are generous with the Indians; other times they swindle them and kill them unprovoked. They labor to maintain their own freedom to worship, but they are reticent to grant the same to others. Political, economic, and sectarian issues loom larger than modern concerns with human rights and religious pluralism.

Turner sets Plymouth in its historical context well. Much of European society was brutal in its treatment of dissidents, overtly persecuting those with theological differences. Religious toleration was not a thing, and the settlers didn't come to New England devoid of cultural baggage. The depopulation of Indian lands due to disease was unintentional, and the settlers were not unusual in regarding it as an act of God.

There is a lot to mourn in this story, but a great deal of tenacity and vision. The roots of free society are in this story.

[Cozy Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you with gratitude to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this fascinating body of work about the Pilgrims. My relatives were part of the original Pilgrims and in researching their history I found this book to be of immense interest.
My review opinions are my own.

This book was written to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims arrival in America. The author did extensive research and has presented here for the reader a most complex history of every aspect of their journey , arrival and settlement in America. The scope of this book goes well beyond the average narrative of the Pilgrims told to Americans in schools. I appreciate the author's detail of their treatment of the Native Americans. The intent they had to build cities and towns that would help them thrive for future generations while maintaining their religious beliefs. He documents how they became the foremost military power with closely guarded communities and highly trained personnel. Their hardships are documented here as well as their strict religious beliefs. He speaks here of their importance of their religion, their customs and their hope for their families future.

I found this most fascinating and highly recommend this book for all interested in American history and the journey of our Pilgrims. A exemplary body of work.

[Ken Burkhalter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustively detailed history of early colonial days that reveals the machinations of players on all sides of early America. While Turner's work focuses mainly on the ins and outs (and there were many outs) of various religious groups and their competitions, it also goes well into the history of colonial involvement with native tribes as well. Be ready to discard virtually everything you learned in school about those early years, and to admire the steely mettle of the pioneers. Don't be surprised when you learn what "religious freedom" and "liberty of conscience" really meant in their time and language, or when you learn that some pious leaders were as broken as some are today. There is enough intrigue, deception, heroism, and character in this volume to give you your fill for some time. It does not read as a story but as an academic history, allowing the reader to peel back long held images to reveal new truth and understanding. If you thought our story was great before, wait until you read this.

[Joshua Horn]

I liked this book, I think it replaces Philbrick's Mayflower as my favorite history of the Plymouth Colony. It was interesting and easy to follow. I appreciated that he spent a lot more time talking about the religious background of the Pilgrims. If you start with their arrival in America you've missed a huge part of the story. His main theme is liberty and I appreciated that he nuanced the Pilgrim's idea of liberty, unlike some who are quick condemn them as hypocrites because they did not believe in complete toleration at the government level.

That said, I didn't like everything. There are certain interpretations that I would disagree with, which is to be expected. But from someone who claims to be a Christian I found his handling of certain of the Pilgrim's beliefs to be quite disappointing. I also thought that he, like many modern historians, greatly downplayed the atrocities perpetrated by the natives in King Philip's War, and almost made it sound like it wasn't, at best, a preemptive by the Indians.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turner's work examines the formation of a group of religious separatists in England and follows them on their journey to the new world upon the Mayflower through the formation of the Massachusetts colony. Turner doesn't sugarcoat the negative aspects of the colonists' relationship with the Native Americans, the hardships they face, nor the internal conflicts experienced as they claim to want liberty while sticking to strict religious guidelines.

The work is well researched and extremely detailed. The narration is more for the academic reader than the casual reader, but that isn't always a bad thing. There were moments of speculation that seemed a bit unnecessary, but it was not overwhelming.
Overall, the book contributes to the narrative of the pilgrims' history and, therefore, is successful.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1620, a band of religious separatists, having been unable to find the religious freedom they sought from both the English and the Dutch, boarded the Mayflower and set sail for the New World where they hoped to find the freedom to worship in their own way. The leaders of Plymouth Colony were able to make to a defense agreement with the local tribe, the Wampanoags, that overnight made them the “foremost military power in the region.” However, those same leaders made church attendance mandatory and banished anyone who refused to comply, like Anne Hutchinson who was tried and banished from the colony, and the Quakers.

This drily written history of the Plymouth Colony is best suited for academics and not the casual reader who might find the subject matter of interest.

My thanks to Yale University Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC.

[Charles Sager · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough read. Pretty long and not super engaging. Some tough parts for both native Americans and the pilgrims/puritans. I would have given this a 4 or 4.25 but there were a few glaring issues. First, the historian that wrote this seems to be ignorant of basic Christian beliefs, something I’d assume he’d need to make comments about the religion and how it informed the puritans and pilgrims. As a Christian and specifically a reformed Christian who draws their Christian heritage from the puritans the ignorance (not agreement, I am not asking the author to agree but to understand) it seems such a lack of knowledge here could have bled into the whole of the story being told. A worthwhile read.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book I learned some interesting things about this period of American history, but there was too much religious repetition and detail that I found tedious. Some new things I learned were about the hangings of Quakers, interesting details of many of the earliest colonists to New England, ie Roger Williams, the plight of indentured servants, and the poor and deceitful treatment of the natives.....and that Myles Standish, was referred to as "a shrimp"!! Who knew.
For anyone wanting to learn about the trials and tribulations of religion in 17th century England and the New England, this is a well researched book.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook.

I listened to this in the spirit of the upcoming thanksgiving holiday. I like to learn the history of the holidays around the time we celebrate them. But I expected more from it. Not sure why though. Maybe because I really enjoyed listening to Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower last year. This book mostly focuses on religion and politics and it wasn’t exciting. Not sure what else I expected though. Maybe more about the relationships between the English settlers and the Native Americans. And more about the initial years the pilgrims spent at Plimoth.

[Aaron Hayworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and enjoyable picture of the Plymouth pilgrims. The author is empathetic, critical, and realistic about the behavior of the religious dissidents.

Each chapter follows a small group of significant figures in and around Plymouth and the new world. There is a thread which runs through the story, however the book comes to a rather abrupt end. The author gives a lot of historical data but reserves much analysis for the reader.

[Lorena P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough and well-rounded. I appreciated the scope of the history of Plimouth Colony - beginning in England and Leiden, and going entirely through King Philip's War and the dawning of the 18th Century. Explores all aspects of the early settlement of New England - good, bad, ugly; but also humbling and awe-inspiring. I came away with a much better understanding of this incredible part of American History.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one heck of a read. It completely changed my views on the Pilgrims and their world. Turner gives us a balanced account of their actions, good and bad, and gives a full account of the Native Americans with whom they interacted and, ultimately, displaced. I'm not saying that in giving up celebrating Thanksgiving, but I am going to put away the cardboard figures of the cute little puritans that we made back in elementary school.

[David Gross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. A lot more this, then this, then this, than I liked. Much less analysis than I had hoped for. I think if you read this there’s value in also listening to the interview with Albert Mohler on the “Thinking in Public” podcast from 3 June 2020. That’s where I heard about this book, and it has a fair amount of the analysis that should have also been in the book.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

For as much as the pilgrims came to the new world for religious freedom, they didn’t seem very open minded towards other groups of people that came to the new world for the same purpose! They were kinda really mean! Maybe the indigenous peoples should have taken them all out when they had the chance! The most surely weren’t kind to the native people either.

[J.R. Underdown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming into this I thought it would be a deep dive on the Pilgrim's first year or two in America. Turns out, it's a fly-by look at the colony's near-century life and relevance. I found it insightful and also a little depressing. What surprised me is how many of the issues the Pilgrims wrestled with are issues we still wrestle with today. I guess humans don't change too much.

[Sean Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative, although too drawn out in places and too short in others. There was literally less than a page on the first Thanksgiving and countless pages on tedious intra-colony politics. Still, I rather enjoyed the first half of the book. When you get to a point where you're bored, feel free to stop reading because it doesn't ever get interesting after that again.