Overview

Overview

Neither Elizabeth Latham nor her family were real people. But Elizabeth's thoughts and the details of her life - as well as her name - are typical of those of a Puritan girl in the American colonies during the mid-1600's. Puritans were members of a religious group that developed in England. Some Puritans departed England to settle in North America and founded Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts in 1620. This group of Puritans is better known as Pilgrims. Many Puritans that came later settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The Puritans dressed plainly, lived virtuously, and worshiped faithfully. They valued learning and hard work. Many of these Puritan ideals live on in the fabric of American life.