The document discusses the Puritans and Pilgrims who settled in America in the early 1600s. It describes how the Pilgrims were a group of English Protestants who fled to the Netherlands to freely practice their religion but later moved to America. In 1620, over 100 Pilgrims traveled on the Mayflower and founded the Plymouth colony, signing the Mayflower Compact to establish their own government. They had a difficult first winter and were aided by the Native American Squanto. The Pilgrim community emphasized family and women had more rights than in England.