The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America to practice religious freedom. In the 1500s England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created a new church called the Church of England. Everyone in England had to belong to the church. There was a group of people called Separatists that wanted to separate. read more
As of the 1600s, everyone had to pay a tithe to the Church of England whether they were a member or not (possibly even including Jews, I'm not sure). Because the Church was the established church of England, it was effectively a tax. read more
As a group, they tended to stay in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (greater Boston area)--but a small minority did migrate to the Connecticut River Valley. The Puritans were a part of what became the Congregational Church here in America. read more