Essay on Development of Colonies

In the 1630's and the 1640's, the Puritans traveled to the colonies to detach from their opinion of a convoluted Church of England. They set up towns and started new lives that were all based on their idea of a pure religion. The Puritan's definition of a pure religion did not include many of the ideas of the Church of England. They built the colonies and made a system based upon the idea that God was the most important aspect of life. Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660’s by spreading their beliefs into every facet of daily life. Politically their ideas regarding what was considered sinful behavior and how power was separated among the

Colonists: About 250,000 Spanish emigrants populated the newly established cities; they saw the New World as an opportunity for success. As the natives died off Africans and their children replaced them. As mixing production rose due to Spanish women scarcely traveling to the new world, the government created a hierarchy known as castas to keep social order.

The colonists of Virginia were instructed to worship in the Church of England. They created the House of Burgesses, which was the first legislative assembly of representatives in North America. The colony of Maryland was established as a refuge for Catholics. The people of the New England region were Puritans. Puritans were people who wanted to “purify” the Church of England. The Puritans came over from England to flee from economic problems and religious persecution. They were people who followed strict rules and they learned from reading the Bible. The Puritans developed a form of theocracy for their government. They believed that the church was to follow the beliefs of the Puritans, that the church and the government should operate as

2. "Explain how the Puritans’ theology shaped the government and society of the Massachusetts Bay Colony." Puritans tried to reform the church from within is support of parliament. They Church in england wanted reformation causing the Puritans to be resented by the leaders of the church. This then lead to the persecution of Puritans which caused them Puritans to escape and search for new life in the colonies. Living by the Puritan lifestyle in the colony society permitted the basic freedoms including the right of voting. The society in the colonies favored the Puritan belief because it allowed the tolerance of religions.

For the people of Europe the Americas was a place to prosper, worship in there own way, and expand there kingdoms. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies grew differently in various ways, but each with the same state of mind, “do it our way”. Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different in religion, government, and ways of expansion.

The puritans go create the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They didn’t have strict rules like England, people were not forced to go to church, it all seems great. However, there were many issues. Puritans believed in Calvinism, or predestination. This was the idea that everything is preset by God and nothing you do can change your fate. “Nothing a person did in his or her lifetime could alter God’s choice or provide assurance that the person was predestined for salvation with the elect or damned to hell with the doomed multitude.” (The American

With religious reforms causing controversy in England came the Puritans, known for their simplicity in their way of life. They wore basic clothing and were against consumption of alcohol and sex (unless married). With the disagreements of the religious conflicts happening in England, the puritans “wanted to purify the Church of England from within.” The sole reason the idea sparked to settle a colony in America was in search of a Puritan lifestyle and the freedom to do so. On March 4, 1629 King Charles gave the Massachusetts Bay Company a charter while not knowing the true nature of what this colony was to become and for the reasons behind it. Still, the Puritans left for America in March 1630. In contrast to the type of people who immigrated to Virginia, the Massachusetts population was mostly nuclear families, meaning husband, wife, and kids. Also differing from the colonists in Virginia, the settlers in Massachusetts Bay worked together for the common good of the colony. Along with their lives and beliefs, their government and politics were religiously based as well and soon they decided upon a Congregationalism form of church government. Their churches were a matter of choice but in order to become a member they had a strict regulation “In order to join one (a church) a man or woman had to provide testimony–a confession of faith–before neighbors who already had been admitted as full members.” Because religion was the bases behind Massachusetts being colonization crimes and religious disagreements called for serious

The Puritans believed that God instituted society and expected to see Christian principles prevail within (173). The goal of the Puritans was not to be legalistic but to please the God who sent His Son to save them from their sins. As a result, they sought to establish laws that aligned with Christian principles. One Puritan, Thomas Cartwright, even said that “the commonwealth must be made to agree with the church [that is Christian principles].” Laws were not instituted to force action of the citizens but sought to ensure that the citizens of the colony followed the commands of God laid out in the Bible. While this motivation to obey the Word of God in all portions does substantiate the claim towards legalism, a deeper study of the term legalism shows that the Puritans were not legalistic.

The Massachusetts colony, otherwise known as the ‘Massachusetts Bay colony’ was originally settled by Puritans in 1630. They were plagued by the religious persecutions of King Charles I and the Church of England. Weary from this dogged torment, they left England under the leadership of John Winthrop. These original colonists quickly established many small towns in the name of high religious ideals and strict societal rules. They also planted churches, spread Puritanism and religiously educated the masses, as these were some of their goals. A utopian society that other colonies looked upon with high regards was the ultimate goal.

The European conquest for establishing North American colonies began with various motivations, each dependent on different, and/or merging necessities: economics, the desire to flee negative societal aspects, and the search for religious freedoms. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 in search for a trade route to Cathay (China), North America remained uninhabited, excluding the Native American establishments. Following this discovery, Spain –along with other European nations such as France, England, Sweden and the Netherlands– soon began the expedition to the new land with vast expectations. Driven by economic, societal, and religious purposes, the New World developed into a diversely structured colonial establishment

All southern colonies - economy similarities? – All of the southern colonies were broad acred outposts of the English empire. They were devoted to the export of commercial farm products, tobacco, indigo, rice, and sugar cane especially the staple economic crops like tobacco and rice. Slavery was found in all of the southern colonies by 1750, and the power and acreage remained in the hands of the few, except in North Carolina.

     Building on English foundations of political liberty, the colonists extended the concepts of liberty and self-government far beyond those envisioned in the mother country. While Englishmen had some representation in their parliament, Americans took the system further. All colonies had some form of a two-house parliament system. Some, like New York, had governors appointed by the crown. Others, like Rhode Island, elected their own. Local government also varied between the colonies. The southern states had a strong County government, while the New England colonies relied on town-meeting government. In either case, voting was reserved to land-owning white men.

The Puritans had what was known as town meetings, which was where members of the community would come and discuss town issues and would then vote using the principal of majority rule. Another form of government the Puritans had was the General Court, which was the state legislature and also a judicial court of appeals. Puritans were known as Congregationalists; that is when the church congregation is independent and is self-governed. Only elected members could serve in the church; they were known as living saints. Among the first Puritans to arrive in the New World was John Winthrop who was appointed governor and his intent was “to create a city upon a hill”. This city was to act as an example for the rest of the world. Now because of the Puritans we have democracy and forms of congregationalism which took part in politically developing the New England

The Puritans arrived in the New World in the hopes of “purifying” the Church of England. They practiced certain principles that they believed in and that centered around the idea of God. The main purpose of their journey to New England was to set an example to others how the Church should be, and so their motive for settlement was solely related to religion. The Puritans positively influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s because they were a “city upon a hill” that served as an example to other parts of the world as a result of their strong belief in God.

After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor.