WHO WERE THE PURITANS?
Puritans were a group of dissenters who refused to accept the Church of England as a protestant religion. Unlike the Pilgrims, however, the Puritans were willing to remain members of the Church in order to attempt to purify it. However, the accession of Charles I to the English throne led to an increase in government persecution of the Puritans. At this point, many Puritans gave up hope of reforming the church from within and left England. Among this group was John Winthrop and other members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
