Religion in Colonial America Essay

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

John Winthrop, the first governor sought to establish a “city upon a hill” or a model religious and civil society based on a covenant with God and one another

John Winthrop led the English Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the New World embarking the ship Arbella. John explained his desire to “…work as one man”, (Doc. A) Majorly wanting a message of equality to get across and the hope to make it successfully as a group. Unity as such was strongly needed in the journey to the New World. The beginning of the founding of the colony came to a rough start with the desire for many different things, the messy beginning called for a leader,

Religion has always had a dramatic effect on any colony, country, or time period. The religion in the early colonial age not only affected the people in that era but affected modern day religion and politics in American society. To begin, religious ideas shaped our land. This is because, when the first explorers came to America, they tried to spread their religious ideas. This affected modern day population and minority numbers in many places. For example, when the Spanish first came to America, they tried to spread their religious ideas among the native people there. The natives didn’t like this and so they fought back. This shaped the major religion and political systems in the parts that the Spaniards explored. Also, some of the first colonies,

A religious group wanted to break away from England to practice and relish in their religion their own way. They were call the puritans and set sailed out to America for their religious reasons. With what little they had they believed strongly in God that he will help them out through everything they need. Religion being taken seriously as if it was a law was noticeable in two texts, William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, where religion over the years help the colonists and so forth help shape America’s identity.

In the early 1600’s, John Winthrop grew up in a very wealthy family. He attended college at 15 and at 17 he was married. Winthrop loved his wife very much but at times he thought maybe too much (he remarried 3 times because his first 2 wives passed away). As a Puritan, Winthrop dedicated his life to God, but as he got older, England’s government made it harder and harder to be a Puritan, due to the fact that the king said outright he hated Puritans. Winthrop went on to study law and eventually became a common attorney in the court of wards; though Winthrop was happy to get this job, it kept him away from his family. After a short while in this position, Winthrop began to feel less and less important, as Puritans were the

A major influence in the formation of their society was a Puritan named John Winthrop. A member of the first group of Puritans to sail to the Americas, Winthrop’s goal was to be something of a beacon of purity for the rest of colonial America. He believed that if they worked in unity, they

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

Throughout history, a variety of religions have came and gone due to dislike and uncomfort. Before 1492, a majority of Europe was a part of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church controlled every aspect of a human’s life, for example: education, social status, and family matters. In 1517, Martin Luther had created the Protestant Reformation, which limited the power of the Catholic Church. Europe was now religiously divided, which created a larger diversity of religion to the colonies. Reasons such as Henry VIII decisions with the Catholic Church, English immigrants, and religious groups affected the relationship between religion and the colonies.

Although European colonists traveled to colonial New England for a variety of reasons, they embraced Christianity as the primary purpose for their journeys. Furthermore, religion had a profound effect on everyday society and political hierarchies. From enforced morality to Indian conflicts, religion tended to destabilize numerous colonies and even led to unjustifiable atrocities like the Salem Witch Trials. Nevertheless, without a religious influence, the timeline of New World progression and territory would have been suspended indefinitely. Because religion primarily influenced the establishment of the colonies and numerous aspects of politics, it played an integral role in colonial New England society.

It is a fairly well known fact that the colonization of the New World in general, and more specifically, what would become eventually become the United States of America, was heavily based upon commercial endeavors. However, it was also heavily influenced by the desire of people to possess and preserve religious independence. Placing the potential for commercial success aside and focusing on the religious aspects of colonization, the proliferation of various religions over the course of colonial history is quite extensive and, by proxy, its’ influence upon developing colonial societies was far-reaching. Because of the historical significance of many different religions throughout the colonies, it would also suggest that religious diversity was likely equally impactful in eliciting change. All of this leads this author to speculate about how much influence religion had upon colonial upheaval over time and whether or not the ensuing dissent was a major factor in the lead up to The French and Indian War and eventual revolution of the American colonies. To uncover the significance and role religion played in the American colonies, a number of different articles were reviewed, each representing different perspectives, points of view, and empirical evidence about religion in colonial America.

Although John Winthrop was part of the Court of wards, he knew that it was all a huge scam. Winthrop was part of the Court of Wards and benefited greatly from the amount of money he earned. Because John was able to balance working as part of the Court of Wards and worshiping God so successfully, the Puritans supported their view on the English Society.

While the Puritans are generally perceived as hard working and God fearing people, they were also a highly educated people and their education found its expression in their writings. Their writings reflected their engrained beliefs, especially religion which was integral to their existence and hence early American literature is infused with religiosity.

The influence that Winthrop’s speech had could easily be seen throughout the northern colonies. Because many of the northern colonies were founded for religious reasons, religion played a large role in everyday life during these times. If you were found to violate your contract with god you were kicked out of the colony, forced to live in the woods with the Indians where, more often the not, they would kill you. Roger Williams was an example of this. He criticized many of Winthrop's views on the Puritan society such as the right of the Puritans to seize Native American land (Henretta, 47). Williams and his followers were exiled from the colony, and ended up starting their own colony, named Rhode Island, where inhabitants would have the freedom to practice whatever religion they wanted too. This is yet another example of a colony founded purely for religious purposes. Other colonies were also founded for the same reasons as Rhode Island. Thomas Hooker, for example, founded Connecticut, for almost the exact same reasons Rhode Island

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.