WINTHROP & THE PURITAN MIGRATION Chris discusses the Puritan Migration to America in 1630, and the reasons for it as given by Governor John Winthrop, who is remembered as one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the city of Boston. Winthrop is famous for his "city on a hill" speech, often quoted by Christian conservatives in modern times. But when he listed the Reasons for the Plantation in New England, his number one purpose was "to carry the Gospel into those parts of the world, to help on the fullness of the coming of the Gentiles, and to raise a bulwark against the kingdom of Antichrist, which the Jesuits labor to rear up in those parts." Incredibly, an examination of the additional reasons he gave for leaving the old world reveals that the conditions of 17th century England were not unlike those of 21st century America. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).