William Bradford was an orphan who joined the English Separatists to become the Pilgrims’ leader in Plymouth. John Winthrop, a lawyer, was elected as the leader of the Puritans shortly before they left England ten years after the Pilgrims. Bradford led a group of 100 colonists on a single ship in 1620. Winthrop led a fleet of eleven ships and 700 migrants ten years later. Click here for a 56-minute lecture delivered by Rob Shearer, Director of the Francis Schaeffer Study Center in Los Gatos, CA on March 11th , 2025

Shearer cited two books as the source for his lecture. He then recounted the succession of Tudor monarchy that drove English Separtists to leave, first to Leiden, Holland, and then to Plymoth Colony.

Shearer outlined the causes of church reform and the rise of the Puritans in England who were motivated to leave England during the monarchy of King James I.

Shearer included a partially incorrect description of how Samoset and Squanto were kidnapped, taken to Spain and then England, and returned to Plymouth to welcome the Pilgrims. Only Squanto was taken to Europe; Samoset was an Abenaki sagamore who learned English from fishermen along the Maine coast.