Religion in America, 1492-1790

In the colony of Massachusetts bay, around 9,000 Puritans settled down to make their own model society based on religious purity. In their community, going to church was an absolute necessity. One could not be part of the community unless they were members of the church. The government and religion were so closely woven that they were nearly the same thing. When town meetings were held, the only way to vote in

As England became increasingly unbearable to a variety of faiths, people such as the Puritans began to look to the New World as a haven. Eventually multitudes of Puritans flooded the east coast, mainly inhabiting the New England colonies. Though many factors contributed to characteristics that defined the New England colonies, Puritan values caused the colonies to grow and expand throughout the 1600’s. Their belief in a driven and productive lifestyle gave New England surprising economical success that was the envy of the English empire. Additionally, Puritan values of religion and the importance of education affected their social interactions with the Native Americans and intelligence of the New England community. Finally, Puritan values

The Puritan settler’s beliefs in the relationship between individuals, God, and the community during the seventeenth century in New England created a sense of us (the Puritans) vs. them (the Native Americans and non-Puritan colonists), who hindered the idea of a city upon a hill, the perfect Christian community. From John Winthrop’s sermon warning the first settlers of New England about the retributions God would bring to the community if individuals broke there covenant with God (Winthrop 17-20). To the way, those same beliefs, brought over by the first Puritan settlers, affected the future interactions Puritans would have with Native Americans during the times of declension, and their views towards them as seen in Mary Rowlandson’s narrative.

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.

Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society (to 1740) in TWO of the following regions: New England

The colonists had different reasons for settling in these two distinct regions. The New England region was a more religiously strict yet diverse area compared to that of the Chesapeake Bay. The development of religion in the two regions came from separate roots. After Henry VIII and the Roman Catholic Church broke away from each other, a new group of English reformers was created called the Puritans. The Puritans came from protestant backgrounds, after being influenced by Calvinistic ideas. When their reforms were thwarted by King James I of England, they fled to the New World in what is now known as the "Great Migration". The Puritans were then joined by Quakers, Protestants, and Catholics in the religiously diverse New England area. These diverse religious factions were allowed to live freely but under the laws of New England. It was due to this religious freedom that these people came to escape religious persecution back home. The New Englanders had a religion-based society and religion was based on family. As the Bible highly regarded family, it condemned adultery. Adultery was considered a punishable crime. Adulterers were marked as impure by a letter "A" stitched on their

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

While Massachusetts Bay was founded mainly for religious reasons, the Chesapeake regions were founded primarily in a wide scramble for wealth; however, both were formed with business motivations in mind. Thus, their similarities and differences affected the colonies’ formation, growth, and flourishing.

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.

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

Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of

As the Protestant Reformation lead to oppression of outside opinions and beliefs, many peoples took this opportunity to start anew in colonial America. However, each region adopted a slightly different religion. For example, New England became a stable platform for Protestants. As the Church of England underwent radical changes, some Englishmen opposed these changes due to their striking similarities to Catholicism, and therefore sought a new religion, Protestantism (Foner p.64). In order to avoid oppression and discrimination of their new religion in England, many fled to America in hopes of seeking religious tolerance. Some settled in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Protestantism preached about the importance of sermons, equality, and even adopted John Calvin’s idea of pre-determined salvation (Foner p. 65). Winthrop and the first settlers of Massachusetts set up a Commission in which Puritan beliefs governed society. For example,

In the 17th century church was the foundation of the people of New England. The main religion of the time was Puritanism which carried over when most of the colonist moved to Massachusetts. The main reason that the colonist moved was to find religious tolerance away from the strict Puritan lifestyle. Puritans believed that the smallest sin could result in a huge misfortune. They were also frowned upon for expressing their feelings and opinions, and were expected to have no individual differences. They believed in the devil just as much as they believed in God. The Puritan people constantly struggled between good and evil, which often led to giving into the temptation of Satan. Those who gave into the temptations and followed Satan were considered witches.

In the seventeenth century many people left Britain for America to seek new opportunities. Most of these colonies were segregated by religion. The Puritans settled in New England, while the Anglicans journeyed to Virginia. These sects had very different lifestyles and approaches as to how life should be in America. The Puritans were much more strict about their religious observance.

Within the colony of Massachusetts, religion played an important role in shaping the community’s people and interests. The reason for the Puritans move to North America was to escape the convictions the Christians of England were placing on them (Divine, 89). Winthrop and his followers believed that in this new land they must create a place where they could come together as a people and build the perfect religious society (Divine, 90). In a speech about his vision for the land, John Winthrop said, “We must delight in each