Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647

"Those reformers who saw the evil of these things, and whose hearts the Lord had touched with heavenly zeal for his truth, shook off this yoke of anti-Christian bondage and as the Lord's free people joined themselves together by covenant as a church." 

Before describing the persecution that originally led the Pilgrims to flee from England, Bradford briefly describes the complaints that these religious separatists had with the Anglican Church. Since many of these differences involved the structure of the Church, it is significant that Bradford here describes the Pilgrims as the "Lord's free people" (5). While this could simply refer to "freedom" from sin (a common Christian figure of speech), it may also be a reference to the very hierarchical nature of the Anglican Church, which the Pilgrims found oppressive. The church they eventually establish in Plymouth is more egalitarian in structure, allowing laypeople a greater say in church matters, and this relatively democratic approach to religion may have laid the groundwork for the democratic political institutions that developed in America as time went on. It is also worth noting that Bradford describes the reformers as "touched with heavenly zeal" (5).In keeping with the doctrine of predestination, Bradford suggests that moral behavior is something given to individuals by God, rather than a choice those individuals themselves can claim credit for.