Jay Milbrandt. They Came for Freedom. Nelson, 2017.

Subtitled The Forgotten Epic Adventure of the Pilgrims, the reader might be tempted to ask, “Another book about the Plymouth Pilgrims?” We visit Plymouth, Massachusetts, nearly every year on a school field trip, and we know that the folks in Plymouth were looking forward to a big year this year—the 400th anniversary of the settlement—but the virus problem has certainly hurt some of their plans.

What makes this book different? Almost like a novel, it tells the story of note only how but why the Scrooby, England, Separatists ended up in New England. We also get probably the most detailed story of Squanto, how he ended up in England and learned English. Although Milbrandt does not make a big deal of it, the Pilgrims settled in a spot that the Indians feared because of a plague three years before. The land itself would not be contested, nor would it have to be purchased. And then the one surviving member of the Indian village that was wiped out had spent approximately fifteen years in England or among English sailors and knew the language and customs.

We learn how Squanto three times sailed to England from North America, the first time in 1605. His is really quite a tale. First he was kidnapped but was treated fairly well in England and learned a trade. The native Americans of New England had their own caste or class system, and the orphaned Squanto (Tisquantum) was of the lowest class. He was generally treated with respect, especially by sailors, tradesmen, and fishermen who wanted to learn more about the land and peoples of northeastern North America.

On his second voyage to England, his ship was captured by a Spanish vessel. The crew was taken to Spain where Squanto and some of the crew spent two years in prison and at least one year in a monastery before they were able to return to England.

We not only learn about Squanto’s adventures but also about the background of the religious group that sailed to North America. We learn about the martyrs—there is no other word—Barrow and Greenwood, early English believers who could not in good conscience worship at or serve the state church. Even Queen Elizabeth was appalled when she heard of their executions. Of all people, she wanted no repeat of her late sister, Queen “Bloody” Mary.

It does appear that Archbishops Whitgift and Laud, among others, were more concerned about their own control rather than the consciences of Christian believers. In 1607, the first attempt to move to more tolerant Holland was thwarted. Most of the men, including seventeen year old William Bradford, spent a year in prison.

Milbrandt tells us in some detail about the experiences the expatriate English had in the Netherlands, and how they spent ten years in Leiden. Interestingly, the congregation’s elder, William Brewster, Jr., started a printing press. He produced at least fifteen different books and tracts in English and imported them to England. Some came to the attention of King James who was upset not only at some of the content but that the printer was beyond the reach of British censors.

This detail is significant. The Plymouth Colony legally observed both religious freedom—including non-establishment, i.e. no state church—and freedom of the press. Of course, there were no presses in the early colony, but there was no censorship. These are the foundational liberties for all the other liberties which would be declared as a result of the American Revolution.

As with Bradford’s own On Plymouth Plantation, there is a tragic sense. The Plymouth Pilgrims never quite re-caught the vision for their free churches. The Massachusetts Bay Colony with its own state church absorbed Plymouth eventually, but the vision did not die.

Today most of the vigorous churches in the United States are free associations. While there may be many “politically correct” challenges for some of them, most Americans strive not only for freedom of conscience but freedom of expression, too. The challenges are different today, but the goals have not changed for most of us—a nation under God with liberty and justice for all.