Definition of the WikiTree Puritan Great Migration project

Question

I’m probably being picky, but I’m concerned about the description of the WikiTree Puritan Great Migration project.  There’s a reason the New England Historic Genealogical Society and Robert Charles Anderson called their project the Great Migration Study Project, not the Puritan Great Migration Study Project.  Until the Puritans won the English Civil War in 1651, the impetus behind the ‘great migration’ was certainly the religious strife in England.  Nevertheless, the Puritans were not the only people who immigrated to New England.  And the description of the WikiTree Puritan Great Migration project is kind of confusing on the subject.  In the first paragraph, the project is described as, “profile pages and research of early Puritan colonists”.  In the second paragraph, we are instructed to, “Place [[Category:Puritan Great Migration]] on any profile page of someone who IMMIGRATED to New England…”, apparently regardless of their religious affiliation, or lack thereof.  Does this bother anyone else?

Comments

Kimball, I think your points are well made, and not trivial. We have used the PGM template for anyone in the migration years, so perhaps it would bring clarity to drop Puritan from the template name.

Many of the immigrants I have researched were indeed devout Puritans, and organized themselves into tight villages around a church, making a point of keeping out anyone who did not agree with their principles.

On the other, some of the people I've looked up were quite obviously motivated by the opportunity for land and wealth, and very pointedly disagreed with the Puritan doctrine.

A case in point, William Pynchon, who founded Roxbury in 1630, founded Springfield in 1636, and although he was definnitly religious, he was so in conflict with the Puritan authorities of Massachusetts that when he published The Meritorious Price of Christ's Redemption in 1650, it became the first banned book in America and led to him fleeing back to England to avoid suffering the same fate as his book - burned in public.

Tag: PGM

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I should clarify that I think actually changing the project name is overkill.  I think we need to clarify the definition so that it's clear the WikiTree Puritan Great Migration project covers all immigrants who participated in this 'great migration' — that was initially organized by, then promoted by, the Puritans.

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I'm the project lead on the PGM project. We'd initially considered simply the Great Migration Project, especially since we were following Robert Charles Anderson's work; but it was pointed out on this international wiki that such a name was very North-American centric, as there were many "great migrations" at different times and places throughout the world. We also intended to distinguish this migration from those migrating from Europe to points south of New England-- New Amsterdam and Virginia in particular. The result was not ideal, for the reasons you've stated, but I hope this explains the project a bit more.

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I have clarified the definition on the PGM project page.

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I am glad this has been discussed; especially since I have ancestors and people of interest who came over with disident preachers who disagreed as much with the Puritans as with the Church of England.

I have a second thing i would like clarified. What about ecomomic immigrants? I have some people who came very early to New Hampshire and Maine. From what information there is, it appears that they were coming primarily for material opportunities, and not for spritual reasons. Should I be excluding these people from the Great Migration?

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Toby, the PGM designation is a geographic and time-bound designation. Re-read the project description and you'll see that if your emigrating ancestors fall into that time period and space , then you can use the {{PGM}} designation.

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I think Jillaine's new definition of the PGM is very good, and much clearer than it previously was.  Thumbs up.

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I understand the project better now. Thank you Jillaine.

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I'm wondering, however, if we should pull the time frame back from 1650 to 1640. What do others think? I can't now remember why I selected 1650 initially; there was a good reason at the time...

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I think the Puritan migration was mostly influenced by English politics.  The English Civil War began in 1642.  Before the English Civil War began, life as a Puritan could be miserable, which encouraged migration.  At some point leading up to the Civil War, most Puritans felt relatively secure in England, and felt an obligation to support the Parliament there.  During the Civil War, unless they were in specific danger, Puritans were encouraged to stay and support the cause.  The Puritans won the war in 1652.  

I'm not an expert on actual numbers of immigrants in any given year.  The above is a quick review of the politics in England that motivated them.  Perhaps someone at the Great Migration project would be willing to volunteer a suggestion.  Perhaps they have a good reason for ending that project in 1640.  I don't know.

Answer 1

I agree with this distinction.

My 11th Great-Grandfather is Edmund Lewes, who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony on the Elizabeth in 1634.

I have no reason to think of him as a Puritan. He did come from Ipswich in Suffolk, England, probably from St. Clements Parish, where Samuel Ward preached noncomformity. But Puritanism was a specific form of noncomformity, not practiced by all who emigrated to the Colonies in the Great Migration.

In my opinion, the Puritan title mischaracterizes the full impetus of the Great Migration.

Answer 2

My two cents worth... Any generalization, like "Puritan Great Migration," is not going to be completely accurate in all cases.  If we remove "Puritan" then we have the Great Migration -- and which Great Migration would that be?  Perhaps the original Native Americans crossing the Bering Strait?  My point is, we really don't have a better label, and we need a label.  An furthermore... my ancestor John Peckham wasn't a Puritan; he was one of the earliest settlers of Rhode Island.  But the New World experience of people like Peckham was strongly colored by the predominant Puritan environment that they found upon arrival, so I have no problem keeping "Puritan Great Migration."