Great Migration of Puritans

E1595

English emigration to North America historical event religious migration

The Great Migration of Puritans was a large-scale movement of English Protestants to New England in the early 17th century, driven by religious and political tensions in England and resulting in the establishment of enduring Puritan communities in North America.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

AI illustration

All labels observed (15)

Label	Occurrences
Great Migration to New England	7
Puritan migration to New England	4
Great Migration of Puritans canonical	2
Great Migration of Puritans to New England	2
Great Puritan Migration	2
English colonial migration to New England	1
Great Migration	1
Great Migration fleet of 1630	1
Great Migration to New England (early phase)	1
New England Puritan settlers	1
New England colonists	1
Pilgrim settlers of New England	1
Puritan Great Migration	1
Puritan migration	1
Puritan settlers	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T15709 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Great Migration of Puritans
Context triple: [Massachusetts Bay Colony, notableEvent, Great Migration of Puritans]

A. Mayflower landing at Plymouth
The Mayflower landing at Plymouth was the 1620 arrival of English Pilgrims on the coast of present-day Massachusetts, marking one of the foundational moments in early European colonization of North America.
B. Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a 17th-century English Puritan settlement in New England that became a major political, religious, and cultural center and a foundation for the future state of Massachusetts.
C. Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of infamous 1692–1693 prosecutions in colonial New England where mass hysteria and superstition led to the execution and imprisonment of people accused of witchcraft.
D. Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony was one of the earliest English settlements in New England, located across the Charles River from Boston and serving as an important colonial town in the 17th century.
E. Quakers
The Quakers are the athletic teams representing the University of Pennsylvania in collegiate sports.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Great Migration of Puritans
Target entity description: The Great Migration of Puritans was a large-scale movement of English Protestants to New England in the early 17th century, driven by religious and political tensions in England and resulting in the establishment of enduring Puritan communities in North America.

A. Mayflower landing at Plymouth
The Mayflower landing at Plymouth was the 1620 arrival of English Pilgrims on the coast of present-day Massachusetts, marking one of the foundational moments in early European colonization of North America.
B. Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a 17th-century English Puritan settlement in New England that became a major political, religious, and cultural center and a foundation for the future state of Massachusetts.
C. Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of infamous 1692–1693 prosecutions in colonial New England where mass hysteria and superstition led to the execution and imprisonment of people accused of witchcraft.
D. Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony was one of the earliest English settlements in New England, located across the Charles River from Boston and serving as an important colonial town in the 17th century.
E. Quakers
The Quakers are the athletic teams representing the University of Pennsylvania in collegiate sports.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	English emigration to North America ⓘ historical event ⓘ religious migration ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Great Puritan Migration ⓘ linked to: Great Migration of Puritans Puritan Great Migration ⓘ linked to: Great Migration of Puritans
approximateNumberOfMigrants	20000 ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Kingdom of England ⓘ
destination	Connecticut Colony ⓘ Massachusetts Bay Colony ⓘ New England ⓘ New Haven Colony ⓘ Plymouth Colony ⓘ Rhode Island ⓘ
endTime	1640 ⓘ
followedBy	English Civil War ⓘ decline of Puritan emigration after 1640 ⓘ
hasTheme	formation of colonial societies ⓘ migration for conscience ⓘ religious dissent ⓘ
influenced	American colonial education traditions ⓘ New England political institutions ⓘ New England religious culture ⓘ later American concepts of covenant and community ⓘ
mainCause	desire for religious freedom ⓘ desire to establish a godly commonwealth ⓘ political tensions between Parliament and the English monarchy ⓘ religious persecution of Puritans in England ⓘ
originRegion	England ⓘ
partOf	English colonization of North America ⓘ linked to: Colonial America
politicalContext	conflict over Anglican Church reforms ⓘ reign of Charles I of England ⓘ
precededBy	founding of Plymouth Colony in 1620 ⓘ
religiousAffiliation	English Protestantism ⓘ Puritanism ⓘ
result	development of New England town-based governance ⓘ establishment of enduring Puritan communities in New England ⓘ formation of a predominantly English Protestant culture in New England ⓘ spread of Congregational churches in New England ⓘ strengthening of English presence in North America ⓘ
significantEvent	establishment of Massachusetts Bay Colony ⓘ founding of Boston ⓘ founding of Puritan towns in New England ⓘ
significantFigure	Anne Hutchinson ⓘ John Cotton ⓘ John Endecott ⓘ John Winthrop ⓘ Thomas Hooker ⓘ
startTime	1620 ⓘ
timePeriod	early 17th century ⓘ

How these facts were elicited