What beliefs and character traits that typified the Pilgrims enabled them to survive in the hostile environment that greeted them in the New World?...

The Pilgrims were Puritans, and they were given their name because they wanted to purify the Anglican Church. Unlike most of the later Puritans who colonized Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Pilgrims were Separatists, in that they wanted to separate themselves entirely from the Anglican Church rather than purifying it from within. The Pilgrims were persecuted in England, and so they were motivated to immigrate to the New World and to establish a settlement. Their ability to survive the rigors of the New World came in part from their knowledge that England was a hostile environment to them--one they could not easily return to. In addition, the Pilgrims, like other Puritans, believed in predestination--the idea that one's status as saved or not saved was determined before birth. Being successful on earth was a sign that one had received God's favor and was among the elect, or saved, so the Puritans practiced the Protestant work ethic. They were determined to prove their elect status so they worked diligently, surviving in the New World.

Their beliefs also limited them in that they were not open to new cultures, such as the Native Americans, and so they treated them with hostility. They believed the Native Americans were not among the elect, so the Pilgrims were not tolerant of them. The Pilgrims and other Puritans could not tolerate any dissent.