William Bradford recorded the Protestant journey from England to Holland, and finally, to "the vast and un-peopled countries of America" (p.160). In his account of the Protestant reformation, he identified several reasons for their exhibition. Three of those reasons are the following: many people interested in the Protestant cause were reluctant to join it because of their hardships faced in England and Holland, the influence of the Dutch culture was negatively penetrating the English children, and they had a desire to advance the gospel of Christ" Kingdom into the New World.
Many supporters of the Protestant cause found the transition from England to Holland to be a great hardship. They faced many inconveniences and great labor, which they could not endure, and as a result, discontinued their journey of purity. Some of the people preferred to "live within the prisons of England, rather than dwell in the liberties of Holland" (p. 159). Leaders of the Puritan cause believed that if the discovery of a better place of living existed, the discouragements of the people would no longer exist, and the people would continue to preach and live in a purified manner. .
Secondly, the English children forced to labor in Holland, in an attempt to assist their families, became decrepit because of the heavy labor. Many English youth began to depart from their parents and draw away from the ways of the Puritan church and engage in Holland's temptations by evil Dutch examples (as perceived by the English). "The Dutch did not keep the Sabbath Day in the strict sense that the English Puritans did "(p. 160). The English Puritan community saw that if they did not withdraw from Holland, then their "posterity would be in danger to degenerate and be corrupted" under the influence of the Dutch (p. 160).
Finally, the Puritans had an earnestness to lay a good foundation in an un-churched land by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and advancing Christ" Kingdom.
