Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647

The Pilgrims live in Leyden for over a decade, but ultimately decide to look for a new home. Bradford attributes this decision to several factors, though many of these are tied to the economic difficulties associated with life in the Netherlands. Financial hardships discouraged many would-be Pilgrims from leaving England and weighed on the minds of the more elderly settlers, who might not be able to work at the same pace they had when they were younger. In addition, Bradford says that financial necessity often compelled children to work, which could have various negative consequences:

Many of their children […] were often so oppressed with their labours, that though their minds were free and willing, their bodies bowed under the weight and became decrepit in early youth…. […] But still more lamentable, and of all sorrows most heavy to be borne, was that many of the children, influenced by these conditions, and the great licentiousness of the young people of the country, and the many temptations of the city, were led by evil example into dangerous courses (13).

Ultimately, however, Bradford suggests that the Pilgrims' primary motive in relocating was a desire to spread Christian teachings into new regions of the world.