Final answer:
The Puritans and Separatists were Protestant groups facing religious persecution in England, which led them to seek asylum in the American colonies where they could practice their religion freely.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Puritans and Separatists were Protestant religious groups that sought to practice their Calvinist-based Protestantism without persecution from the English Church or Parliament. Facing religious persecution, the Pilgrims, a subset of Separatists, moved from England to the Dutch Republic before finally settling in the New World. They established the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620, where they could live according to their religious convictions without the fear of persecution. The Puritans, on the other hand, desired to 'purify' the Church of England from within and later formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but faced increasing oppression as the Church and State in England began cracking down on their activities. Eventually, many Puritans also joined the exodus to the American colonies to escape the stifling conformity imposed by the Church of England, envisioning a new society that lived up to their strict religious standards.