Saints vs. Strangers | Saints & Strangers

[Music]

Historically, the religious separatists were called the Saints, and the merchant adventurers were known as strangers. What most people don't know in history is that those were the two groups that came on to the Mayflower: the Saints and the strangers.

"Have you been below deck, Mr. Martin?"

"I have not. It is vile. Mayflower was never meant to carry passengers. It is a cargo ship, meant for wine and woin, not women and children."

"We all must make do. The Mayflower picked up what is basically an ostracized religious sect who were, even in their day, deemed as fundamentalists. I have been abroad in the world, seeking my fortune, not hiding in Holland up with my Bible."

"Do you go too far, sir?"

"The Saints are the people who were basically separatists of the Church of England. They believed that they were holy and in the right. They weren't adventurers; they weren't warriors. They certainly weren't seen as such. They were just regular folk. Everyone sort of understands the idea that they were seeking religious freedom, but I think what we don't usually get in school is that they weren't all religious pilgrims. There were opportunists, you know, looking for a better life, and they happened to share a boat."

"Within the group of the pilgrims, there were a lot of different opinions, a lot of different belief systems. We are bound together in this venture, Mr. Hopkins, your people and ours. We need to make a common cause for a better life for all of us."

"Common cause with us? With those that you call strangers?"

"The strangers were more adventure seekers, and they are opportunists. They're people who are looking for riches in the new world. You know, they want to come here and have an empire, and I don't think any of them were foolish enough to think they would have an empire, but for their children's children too. It's a wonderful sort of visceral melting pot that was the birth of America."

"Saints and strangers is a story about the complexities with the factions of people within, people who are Puritans and people who are adventurers, people who are looking for opportunity and how invariably you need each other to survive."