You know the basic story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, right? It starts in Plymouth, England, and ends in a three-day feast. But that telling skips a lot of details.

Question

So what's the whole story?

Well, the Pilgrims didn't pick America first. They picked Holland, a region in the Dutch Republic. But the thing was, the king of England had this rule. No one could leave the country without a license. The Pilgrims didn't have one. And they weren't going to get one, either. They were totally opposed to the Church of England. That was a big no-no.

So, they had to be sneaky. In 1607, they arranged for a ship to pick them up. But the ship's captain called the authorities. They were thrown in jail for a while. They weren't ready to give up yet, though. They plotted another escape and got out of England. For a while, it was all good in the Holland 'hood.

Too Much of a Good Thing

They might have stayed put there in the city of Leiden, Holland. But a truce between the Dutch Republic and Spain was ending. What if war came, and Spain won? The religious freedom the Pilgrims had enjoyed would end. Plus, there was a little bit too much freedom for them in the Dutch Republic. Sure, they got to do their thing. But that meant other people could, too. Some didn't want their kids around all that "loosey-goosey" liberty.

That's when they decided to give America a shot. In 1620, they packed up and went back to England. They hitched rides on the Mayflower and the Speedwell. But the Speedwell wasn't speedy—it was more leaky than speedy. The ships had to turn back twice before they ditched that drippy ship in Plymouth, England. Everyone got on the Mayflower with all their baggage. Some of it, to be honest, was pretty unnecessary, like one guy's 139 pairs of shoes!

Finally, they took off from Plymouth. Each person had a gallon of beer for every day they planned to be at sea. Sounds like a party cruise, right? It wasn't. In those days, plain water sometimes made people sick. The Pilgrims' beer didn't have much alcohol in it. It was just safer to drink.

If only they'd brought enough.

The Pilgrims planned to settle near the Hudson River on land owned by the Virginia Company. They didn't plan on being blown off course and ending up in New England instead. By the time that happened, they were running out of drinks and snacks. So, they decided to scrap the original plan and just settle already.

It seemed meant to be anyway. An earlier explorer had already named the spot "Plymouth."

We're Here. Now What?

Not everyone who came along for the Mayflower ride was in it for religious freedom. There were also folks just trying to start a new life and maybe make some money. The group made a deal to keep everyone all civil, despite their differences. Their agreement, the Mayflower Compact, got pretty famous eventually.

So, there they were, planting the seeds of democracy. But they couldn't plant anything edible because winter was coming. It was rough for a while there. They only caught one fish the first month, and zero game. Nada. Lucky for them, their first Native visitor, Samoset, eventually showed up and asked for a drink. And he spoke English!

The Mayflower clan found out Samoset learned English from European fishermen he'd met out and about. Samoset later introduced them to Squanto, who ended up being a total lifesaver. He taught them how to plant corn so they wouldn't have to starve anymore. Fresh digs. New friends. Farming fun. Feast!

The group's big feast may have been inspired by a Dutch celebration they'd witnessed in their Leiden days, by the way. And their Thanksgiving definitely inspired a tradition back in Leiden. Every year, people still gather in a 900-year-old church on the American Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the Pilgrims' grit and good fortune.
According to the Article, why did the Pilgrims leave Leiden to go to America?

They needed to leave because some people wanted to put them in jail.
They wanted to live farther from the king of England.
They did not have enough land in Leiden to grow food.
They were afraid of a war between the Dutch Republic and Spain.

Answer 1

According to the article, the Pilgrims left Leiden to go to America because they were afraid of a war between the Dutch Republic and Spain. They were concerned that if the truce between the two powers ended and Spain won, the religious freedom they had enjoyed in Holland would come to an end. Additionally, they sought a place where their children could grow up with values more aligned with their beliefs, as they felt there was too much freedom in the Dutch Republic.