How The Puritans Differ From The Pilgrims?

With the colonization and expansion of the oceans between England and America that led to increased differences between the puritans and the pilgrims. The pilgrims were the separatist who did not believe in the teachings of the Church in England while the puritans believed in modifying the teachings of the church. The latter mainly believed in bringing reformations in the Church of England that would ultimately help in restoring the Old England. However, the pilgrims were less in number but came to New England during the year of 1620 whereas the puritans were as large as thousands but came much later to New England during the late 1620s.

Pilgrims were also known by the name of extreme puritans who settled in Plymouth whereas the puritans were mainly concentrated in the areas of Salem and Boston. The latter were a group of educated individuals who mainly pursued their education in Oxford or Cambridge. They are also the founder of the Harvard College in Boston. Thus, the people of this group mainly belonged to the upper middle class. In contrast to this, the pilgrims were mainly uneducated and the group comprised of the poor class people. The pilgrims also rejected the remnants of Catholicism apart of the Church of England. Another reason for the poor class people to join this group was to gain economic opportunities that can improve their livelihood. They were in fact successful in setting up trading posts in Maine as well as Conn. The puritans greatly emphasized on the corporate righteousness of the community established by them before God. They believed in bringing about reformations by continuing as members of the Church.

On the other hand, the Pilgrims fought for their personal as well as spiritual identity. For them, separation from the Church was necessary in order to bring about reformations without tarrying. They gave more emphasis on individualism unlike the puritans who laid more emphasis on community. Nevertheless, the puritans were more outnumbered and by the year of 1776, seventy-five percent of the American population comprised of the puritans. In contrast to this, the pilgrims remained fewer in number and half of the travelers died in the first winter. Thus, difference between the puritans and the pilgrims are many even though they have similarities. Their history dates back to decades due to the contrasting opinions on the teachings and believes of the Church of England.