The Motives of the Pilgrims

I'm still binge watching the series The Affair, now into season four (4). The plot arcs include a married couple where the wife is an undocumented alien from Ecuador who come to the states when she was 10. There's worry that the powers that be will eventually discover her situation resulting in her deportation. There's additional angst due to there being a stepdaughter involving shared custody with the ex-wife. This contributes an overall unease that the marriage is somehow unbalanced - she's essentially subjugated her entire life/culture to be a housewife in a small tourist town in white bread America. 

Her situation prompted a train of thought about the immigrant experience, and I decided to do a little research. I confirmed what is commonly held to be true about the Pilgrims, that they come to America motivated by the desire for religious freedom. But that wasn't the primary motivation for coming to America; they had already achieved religious freedom, having lived in Holland for ten years, worshipping as they wished under lenient Dutch rule -  according to an account found of the official website of the Mayflower Society:

"Fearing their children were losing their English heritage and religious beliefs, the resumption of war and their inability as non-citizens to find decent jobs, a small group from the Leiden church made plans to settle in Northern Virginia" 

I suspect most people aren't aware of that part of the story: the original immigrants' primary motivation was to preserve their native ethnic culture and beliefs. The idea of America becoming some sort of melting pot which originated in the late 1700's was not part of the original intent of the first settlers.

The reality is that it's not possible to integrate certain ethnic cultures because their world views are mutually exclusive. A backlash to the concept of the melting pot led to development of multiculturalism. While it does repudiate the assimilation that I associate with the concept of the melting pot, the problem is that at any given moment, one world view has to dominate, which means some people will be somehow unhappy or dissatisfied with any given choice that affects everyone. 

So it comes as no surprise that there is polarization in America, and I am compelled to conclude that the global tendency towards tribalism is going to affect America as well. I'm not sure how I feel about this.