Pilgrims to America and the limits of freedom - the Leiden chapter | Museum De Lakenhal

In 2020, it will be 400 years since a group of colonists set sail for America on the ship the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony there. Today we know these migrants as: the Pilgrims. What many people don’t know, is that the Pilgrims’ journey went through Leiden – then the second largest city in the Dutch Republic. In the United States, the Pilgrims are considered important founders of American identity. While the romanticized version of their arrival has found less support by many Americans and Native Americans in recent years. The Leiden chapter of their story has however seldom been told even though the city had a great influence on the religious refugees.