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Faith, Spirituality & the 17th Century

Village at Sunset By Michelle Edited

The Light Here Kindled
Spiritual Realms of Patuxet and Plymouth

The Separatists' search for personal religious freedom was the motivating factor behind Mayflower's crossing in 1620. The establishment of a permanent English colony at Plymouth accelerated the transformation of New England in the 17th century - creating American institutions, fostering an Indigenous and English regional society and a new religious landscape.

In significant spiritual, political and economic ways, America is the product of what happened in Patuxet and Plymouth 400 years ago - the choices made, the risks taken, and the adaptation of community structures to new cultural and civic realities. Produced with support from Lilly Endowment Inc., The Light Here Kindled series and supplemental Conversations explore these ideas, moments, and impacts that are indelible to the ongoing American Experiment.

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Yet, the world in which the Pilgrims arrived already had belief systems, and although we think of the Pilgrims as the paragons of religious freedom, their communities valued orthodoxy, and religious liberty was looked on with suspicion. The image of the Pilgrims going to church is so ingrained in American consciousness that Native spirituality and the experience of dissenters from Puritan orthodoxy are often overlooked.

Plymouth Colony was both a place of Christian Providence (the will of God) and Native Manitou (indwelling spirit being), and these vital spiritual concepts shaped community encounters. Manitou and Providence influenced how the expansion of Reformed churches, the arrival of Quakers, and Christian missionaries work among the Natives affected life in the visible and invisible worlds. These are the ideas, moments, and impacts that Plimoth Patuxet Museums looks forward to exploring in the future.