I visited Plymouth, Massachusetts, and saw a replica of the Pilgrim’s (or more accurately the Separatists’) ship, the Mayflower. And I visited a replica of their original settlement. They came partly to escape grinding poverty and take a big chance at starting a new life in the New World. But they came primarily for religious independence from the oppressive and corrupt state church in England. They had bought a ship and were to sail on two ships, but their ship leaked, and after many weeks they couldn’t fix it, so they all piled onto the rented cargo ship called The…