What is a pilgrim?

	Tweet			Pin It
0

The pilgrims you are most likely thinking of are the Pilgrim Fathers, a group of Englishmen (and women) who sailed the Mayflower to America in 1620.  

This group of people left England in the early 1600's because they did not agree with the Church of England's (the religious majority) beliefs. Though they were able to live peacefully in the Netherlands for a few years, they grew worried that they and their children would lose their English language and traditions. So in 1620 they chartered they Mayflower and 102 of them made their way to America.

Their destination was originally due to be closer to Jamestown, the first English settlement, but bad weather forced the ship off course and they famously landed at Plymouth Rock, in what is now Cape Cod — this lead to the founding of Plymouth Colony, and what would eventually become New England.

While the Mayflower Pilgrims are most commonly associated with the term, another definition of the word "pilgrim" is "a religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or sacred place;" it can apply to anybody making a long trip for religious purposes. One famous example is hajj, a practice in Islam where followers travel to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia — in 2008 alone, over 3 million people made this sacred journey!

Did you know?
The term "pilgrim" was not commonly used to describe the Mayflower settlers until almost 200 years later! A politician named Daniel Webster, popularized the term when he made a speech to commemorate the Mayflower landing's 200th anniversary on December 22, 1820.