New England Colonies Dbq Essay

Representative government was used in the form of Town Hall meetings, where officials would be elected once a year. In Limitations of Government, John Cotton wrote that “It is therefore most wholesome for magistrates and officers in church and commonwealth never to affect more liberty and authority then will do them good; and the people good.”(Doc H). Cotton’s purpose in writing this was to show that in is beneficial to limit the power of the government in order to allow for the good of the people. Puritans believed that no one should become too powerful, otherwise they might try to undermine the power of god. While this system of government promoted the liberty of the commonwealth, certain Puritan ideas withheld these liberties from a majority of the people. Since religion was a focal point in New England, only churchgoers could participate in these elections. Yet due to the belief that women should be subservient to their husbands, those churchgoers had to be men. These restrictions, followed by the requirement that these men be free and white, left a tiny fraction of the population able to exercise the right to vote. This system of government was, however, revolutionary for it’s time, and made great strides from England's own Parliamentary system.

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.

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

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

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.

Above all, Puritans believed that it was their destiny to settle in what was the New World, and set up an example of the ideal community for the rest of the world to emulate. They also believed they were sent by God on a divine mission to escape persecution and spread their religion freely. Since the United States rose to power its people have been convinced that the democratic system, equality, free markets, and its way of life are the most perfected governing methodology to date. The first trace of this was in Monroe Doctrine, then the civil war, followed by the United States? involvement in World Wars I and II, and above all

Their government was in the form of a republic, which later became a model for the United State’s future government. They came up with the idea of two houses of representatives that could pass bills and as we can see in the U.S. government today, their idea stuck (Chamber, ). Even though their government was a republic, the Puritans pushed the principles of democracy. Their ideals, such as freedom, liberty, and religion, became a base for our society today. The Puritans also left a legacy of conservatism which remains an important factor in North American government today (The Social Studies Help Center). What’s more, Puritan influence helped shape North American constitutional and common laws, such as “Congress shall make no laws establishing religion…” (McGowan et al. v. Maryland).

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.

Puritans and Pilgrims settled in the New England colonies of Massachusetts, Rode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The Puritans came to seek religious freedom and new settlements and to escape the religious persecution they were facing in England. The colonies in New England had sandy coasts with assessable ports, forest hills, and flat woodlands. The soil was thin and rocky which was bad for farming. Lumbering, trading, shipbuilding, fishing, and whaling were all common occupations in the New England colonies. Slavery was allowed In the New England colonies, however very few people had slaves. The soil made it difficult to grow crops, so most colonist had small independent farms they could care for on their own, the colonist only grew enough food to feed their families and didn't' have enough to feed slaves. (https://prezi.com/vnfchvubifzb/the-new-england-middle-and-southern-colonies/) The New England colonist was self-governed. The government was highly influenced by religion. When New England sailed over, they found a developed region with a lot of Native Americans. The English and Native Americans didn't get along very well. The English people thought Native Americans were inferior on how they lived. The English people got farming and other skills from the Native people. The four Middle Colonies were New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. English Quakers originally settled in the Middle Colonies. People from France, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Finland,

Most Puritans practiced subsistence agriculture, but some did earn a small profit by selling their crops. A more common way to support yourself was through fishing, usually cod. Also due to the huge forests in that area people created timber and shipbuilding businesses. Trade was a larger part of life in port cities like Boston, but in smaller settlement it held less importance. The self reliance of the Puritans is what held the greatest value in their societies economics.

The founders of New England had one major benefit when they were settling. The charter given to their company, the Massachusetts Bay Company, contained a provision that allowed the government of the colony to be located in the colony itself. This allowed the like-minded individuals who settled the colony, to begin with, to set their own laws, and elect their own government officials. These founders did not want the church to be controlled by the State, as they felt it was in England, so they made it illegal for Ministers and Preachers to hold Public office. They did, however, expect the community to live up to certain religious standards. They wanted to live as saintly as possible to prove they were members of the elect, destined for heaven, and they wanted to uphold Gods Laws so that God would prevent great hardship and disaster from befalling the colony.

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.

These goals that the Puritans strived to achieve both at home and abroad placed a great amount of stress on the people and community. They were always working for their model society and for them their true leader was God. “Puritans believed in the

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 introduction of the Puritans in New England, both as a society and as a culture, was necessary as a catalyst for change in early New England, and to a larger extent, British North American government.