Yawn,  the cross is the reason for many deaths.... ho hum...

Not true.

Why do you want to know Flapps? 

Why are you so afraid of the symbol of the cross?   Hummmmm?

  What the pilgrims were not oppressed for their idea of worship and religious belief.  Well my history teacher lied to me then. 

The immigration of the Pilgrims to New England occurred in stages. But that they had to go somewhere became apparent soon enough. Theirs was the position of the Separatist: they believed that the reforms of the Anglican church had not gone far enough, that, although the break with Catholicism in 1535 had moved some way toward the Puritan belief in and idea of religious authority grounded solely in Scripture, by substituting king for pope as the head of the church, England was only recapitulating an unnecessary, corrupt, and even idolatrous order (Gill, 19-21). In one basic respect, the Pilgrims are a logical outcome of the Reformation. In its increasing dissemination of the Bible, the increasing emphasis on it as the basis of spiritual meaning, the subsequently increasing importance of literacy as a mode of religious authority and awareness, a growing individualism was implicit. This individualism may then have easily led to an atomization or dispersion of authority that the monarchy duly feared, and that later generations of Americans could easily label democratization. As a writer in 1921 put it, "They accepted Calvin's rule, that those who are to exercise any public function in the church should be chosen by common voice" (Wheelwright, vii). However much this might emphasize the democratic qualities of the Pilgrims, as dissenters they do suggest at some level the origins of democratic society, in its reliance upon contending and even conflicting points of view, and in its tendency toward a more fluid social structure.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/puritan/purhist.html

Even I know how domineering England was with their religion. Christian yes, but they didn't want any Catholics around. They even battled in Ireland, but lost. Now Ireland is divided - Catholic is Southern Ireland and protestant is Northern Ireland.

Why did the Pilgrims come to America?

First let's define Pilgrims. Pilgrims are typically considered to be early protestant Christian settlers from England. They chose to come to America to escape religious persecution from the church and from the English monarchy. At the time Protestants were forced to practice their beliefs in secrecy, otherwise they would be considered a threat to the Church and to the throne, which was far from the reality. The secret living is what caused them to make the trek to the Americas in order to escape this way of living.

Pilgrims began to migrate to the Americas in about 1620 AD. The first settlers came over on the Mayflower and landed in Plymouth. They received aid from the Native Americans and actually befriended them, a concept contrary to other settlers. These pilgrim communities are the ones that the typical Thanksgiving stories come out of.

There were more ships than just the Mayflower that came over, over many years, containing Pilgrims or Protestants. They formed communities all over the northern coast and eventually moved inland. Many of today's Amish communities are descendant of these early settlements.

kx viewer said

"Religion was one of the reasons the pilgrims landed here in 1492.  Our country is founded on christianity and the freedom of religion.  We opened our arms to the oppressed, no matter what religion."

This is far from the truth.  They had religiuous freedom in england,  they wanted a religious monopoly, they wanted to deny all other forms of religiuon, including other forms of the christian rekligion.

Of course they all died too.

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Constitution of the United States

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; Reply...