Freedom Of Religion In The 17th Century

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a colony in what is today Boston, MA. The colony was settled in a governed by Puritans. The colony was self-governing and supported the reform of the Church of England.

The government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was simultaneously theocratic, democratic, oligarchic, and authoritarian in different ways. The Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 and wanted a well-established government, but they ended up mixing all of these together. This colony was important because it was one of the first provincial and true governments to be introduced into the colonies. It also provided an example to other colonies to base their governments on.

The Massachusetts Bay colony was an east coast colony near current day Boston. The Massachusetts Bay colony was formed as a Puritan settlement. (Massachussettes bay) Most of the original 400 settlers of the colony were Puritans. The colony celebrated its first Thanksgiving on July 8, 1629. After this, the Massachusetts Bay colony had a period of continual growth and expansion due to many ministers reacting to the oppressive religious policies of England. (the Massachusetts Bay Colony wikipedia) Many Puritan ministries developed due in part to the influx of puritans that vastly dominated

The New England colonists, except for Rhode Island, were predominantly Puritans who practiced very strict religious lives. The civil government in these colonies dealt quite harshly with those who dared to disagree with the Puritan church. People were being exiled for speaking out against Puritanism. They whipped baptists. They cropped, or cut off, the ears of Quakers. They even went as far as to hang Quaker missionaries. They did all of this in an order to proselytize and convert people to be Puritan.

Religious uniformity was very important as they were intolerant of any other religion, and only church members were part of the government at first. Citizens were required to attend Church services as part of the law. Most of the people in New England had been merchants or small farmers in England. In New England however, the rocky soil made it hard for a lot of farming, so the Puritans turned to the coast. They built up major industries such as shipbuilding and fishing, and established trade routes with England, and the Caribbean. The New Englanders were a very pious and hardworking people, very different from their southern neighbours.

However many didn’t see eye to eye with letting people of other religions have religious freedom

They were not able to change the ways in Great Britain so the group decided to move to North America. Not on the bases of Jamestown to profit of new land but to be able to practice their beliefs freely. They wanted to be self-governed and to establish education and a new rules they felt fit for their people. In 1630 the Puritans sailed to America and established the town of Plymouth County. The settlers of Massachusetts suffered the same problems as Jamestown with lack of food, disease, and issues with Natives. Jamestown however, was believers of Anglican faith, which was the Church of England. While the Puritans where the first self-governed colony. and religiously free from the mother

Religion plays a major part in many societies, especially the first 13 colonies. Some colonies were even settled solely to have freedom of religion and escape from religious persecution. Massachusetts was one example, as the Puritans first went to Plymouth in 1620 seeking religious freedom. In terms of the New England colonies overall, they remained Puritan. The idea of religious toleration was restricted to only the Puritan religion. A goal of theirs was to establish a “city on a hill”, which they succeeded at by having an atmosphere of “watchfulness” and helping each other. John Winthrop, a Puritan, served as the first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor. Anyone who did not follow this religion were known as

Although all colonies had religion play some sort of role in their daily lives, the importance of religion differed greatly among the regions. Since Puritans helped establish many of the New England colonies, it is no surprise that the majority of the New England colonists were Puritan. Religion was a major part of daily life, with many attending church and having their children baptized. Religion varied greatly in the Middle colonies. For example, in New Jersey, many different religions from many different European nations were able to coexist, while the Quakers dominated Pennsylvania, both in culture and in government. In the Southern colonies, religion did not seem to be of high importance to the colonists, as farming was of utmost importance to the Southern colonists. However, many were Catholic. In fact, Maryland was founded in order to provide a refuge for persecuted

Massachusetts Bay Colony-1625-1642, one of the original English settlements and was settled by about 1000 Puritan refugees to worship freely without persecution under the governor John

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.

16th and 17th Century Religious and Political Controversies During the 16th and 17th century relationships between major political figures were impacted due to the division of Christianity into catholic and protestant dominations. In the early 17th century everyone belonged to the Church of England. The Church of England was the considered the supreme law of the land. In the 17th century the king and parliament fought over religion. Religion in the 17th century was more important than it is today (“Tim Lambert”). It was a very important part of everyday life.