Massachusetts Bay Colony Dbq Essay

Erikson explains that to most English people of the 16th century, Puritans became an annoying sect of rebels. Overbearing and unrelenting, many detested the exaggeration of conventional values that the Puritans displayed. Feeling restricted by the formalities of the Church, Puritans quickly became deviant in the eyes of society. By moving to Massachusetts Bay, Puritans hoped to create their own ideas of what is “right” and “wrong”, much like any community attempting to set boundaries. However, problems arose when laws were to be mandated in a Biblical sense. God could not sit at a pulpit in a courtroom, so then how would a strictly religious group maintain itself? As Erikson states, “one of the surest ways to confirm an identity, for communities as well as individuals, is to find some way of measuring what one is not”. From this, they developed a keen sense of Devil distinction – that is, ways in which the Devil presented himself through the behaviors of individuals.

The Puritans believed that America was the promise land given to them by God and no one could take it away. They also believed that every person is born sinful, concept of predestination, Jesus died for the chosen only, God's grace is freely given, and perseverance of the saints. The Puritans’ main reason for starting a society was for religious freedom. There religious love shaped the society in more than on way. They used a lot of money that had to make churches, and church-related programs, the surrounding communities would sometimes practice the Puritan religion, and the church and the state were originally inseparable. There whole entire civilization was church centered. Their religion was also family based and they showed extreme piety. Religion was the core thing that shaped societies everywhere especially in the United States, because people were generally traveling there for free land and religious freedom.

The political principals of the Puritans were derived directly from their religious beliefs. In his work "Limitation of Government," John Cotton declared that "It is most wholesome for magistrates...in [a] commonwealth never to affect more liberty and authority than will do them good” because he believed that God had set boundaries for the power of man (Doc H). Thinkers like Cotton would pave the way for limited government to become a core element of New England society. A natural extension of the idea of limited government would be the dissuasion of monarchy and support for a democracy, which is best suited for the curtailing of government power. It is true that the Puritans were extremely zealous in their faith and

One of the major influences of the puritans in the New England colonies was their idea of a representative government, where everyone has a fair say. One of the things that Winthrop says is that everyone must work and suffer together as one (Doc A). They emphasized the needs of the community of the needs

The Puritans came to America in hopes of finding a religious haven. They were trying to separate from the thought to be corrupt Church of England in the seventeenth century. Although the Puritans agreed with some of the that views the Church of England had, most were too liberal for the them and they needed to start a more conservative church. The best place to start was a blank slate, the New World. Developing a new colony was a challenge for the Puritans, but they persevered in their endeavors.

During the 1600’s, puritans emigrated from England and made settlements in the New England regions along the Massachusetts Bay. The puritans did not primarily have much interest in economic development but rather wanted to create a pure Christian society that evolved around the community and family aspects of life. Puritans made a system based on economic ideas of life. Colonist from the Chesapeake region was more concerned about the economics, rather than religious purposes. By creating a government pertaining a great deal of religion, puritan ideas and values Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660s.

As the Quakers branched out from England in the 1650s, they brought with them to the Massachusetts Bay Colony an engrained eschatological belief of millennialism that was only further strengthened as they faced increasing religious persecution while in the Colony. Yet just a few years after the persecution, and cases of martyrdom, the Quakers began to shift their dogmatic principles from those emphasizing the impending end times, to messages of pacifism and peace. The wars of the Three Kingdoms in the mid-seventeenth century and religious intolerance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony served the Quakers’ claims of an eschatological end. This emphasis was then foregone with the intervention of British Imperial authorities forced religious tolerance in the colonies after 1660, which then gave an authoritative support for an emerging emphasis on pacifism by the Quaker witnesses in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This shifting religious emphases of Quaker doctrine can be illustrated as having been directly affected by the role British imperial authorities in the North American Colonies.

The puritans came to america in hopes of finding a religious haven. They were trying to separate from the thought to be corrupt Church of England. Although the Puritans agreed with some of the that views the Church of England had, most were to liberal for the them and they needed to start a more conservative church. What better place to start then a blank slate, the New World. Developing a new colony was a challenge for the Puritans, but they persevered in their endeavors. They came with a goal based on religion and their new colony was created on solely that. Religion affected the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies.

In 1630, John Winthrop led over a thousand Puritans to Massachusetts, with the intent to create a model of righteous living. Winthrop expressed his vision as he stated: “We shall be as a city upon a hill; the eyes of all people are upon us”. The entire lives of the Massachusetts Bay colonists were set on following their strict, “purified” religion, in everything from their family to their clothing to their courts to their education.

Puritans’ Effects on New England Colonies Throughout the 1600s, the New England colonies rapidly developed in many aspects. The development of the colonies was greatly affected by the Puritans— a group of English Reformed Protestants hoping to model a perfect Christian society. Their values and philosophies led to the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies. Politically, the Puritans’ representative government would later result in the establishment of the governing system still in place in the United States today. Economically, the idea of a part-to-whole ratio for Puritan communities was recreated throughout the colonies.

(Doc. C) Keayne’s last will and testament promotes the importance of hard work and banishment of laziness in order to live a religiously lawful life and to keep oneself from “refreshing...from recreations…”. (Doc. I) The creation of the New England colonies by the Puritans was in order to create an environment where their religious ideals would prevail. John Higginson asks his fellow Puritans to remember this and how “worldly gain was not the end.”

The Puritans that came to New England wanted to escape religious persecution in Europe. They believed in strong family units/relationships and a strong foundation in the church; but they didn’t want to follow the Church in England, they wanted to make their own rules. “The newcomers intended to build a godly “city on a hill” that would serve as an example to the world” (pg 66). A “city on the hill” is an example of status, flawlessness, and godliness (since it is closer to the heavens). They set up tightly knit family communities, farms, and churches. However, their religion was very exclusive and their “guidelines” dictated that everything that happened was according to God’s plan, which meant that they could gamble, get drunk, etc.… In their

For centuries, the citizens of many European nations were under the firm ruling of a monarch, where any kind of individualism was nearly impossible to acquire. Looking for an escape from the corrupt tyrannies, seeking religious freedom and economic gains, immigrants from different nations fled to the New World to seize the upcoming opportunities of a new life. Once a profuse amount of settlers had arrived and with adequate time, leaders within various colonies created several documents and early attempts of autonomous government, such as the Virginia House of Burgesses (1619), the Mayflower Compact (1620), and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639). Also, two large events; the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement, and the ruling of

The 17th century Puritans were known to represent a religious group migrating from England to America in order to practice religious freedom. These groups were determined to “purify” churches of England from Catholic practices. Puritans are known for their religious, social, and political influences on early America. Edmund S. Morgan’s novel The Puritan Family highlights a part of history that many would tend to look over upon- that is, the complex structural life of Puritan Families in the 17th century.

Puritans regarded New England as a place to establish a "visible" kingdom of God, a society where outward conduct would be according to God's laws. Puritanism is defined by…: "the intensity of the Puritan's commitment to a morality, a form of worship, and a civil society strictly conforming to God's commandments. ...[in colonial America] Puritanism meant the