The New England Colonies1620-1754

Key Facts about the Pilgrims

• The Pilgrims were Separatists who wanted to sever all ties with the Church of England.

• The Pilgrims arrived in America without a royal charter. To ensure an orderly government, 41 men signed an agreement known as the Mayflower Compact pledging to “combine ourselves together into a civil body politick.” Their decision to make political decisions based upon the will of the people established an important precedent for self-government in the British colonies.

John Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill” Sermon (1)

• The Puritans were Protestants who wanted to reform or “purify” the Church of England.

• In 1630, John Winthrop led a felt of 11 ships and 700 Puritans destined to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England.

• While on board the flagship Arabella, Winthrop preached a sermon describing his expectations for the new Puritan colony.

• “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we shall have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”

John Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill” Sermon (2)

• The sermon expresses Winthrop’s belief that the Puritan colonists had a special pact with God to build a model Christian society.

• Winthrop’s new Christian “city upon a hill” would serve as a beacon of righteousness that would inspire reforms in England.

• Winthrop’s sermon is often cited as the first example of AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM, the belief that America has a mission to be a beacon of democratic reform.

• President Reagan often used the image of a “shining city” to express hiss ideal of America “God-blessed and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace.”

Puritan Beliefs and Values

• The Puritans were Calvinists who believed that men and women are by nature sinful. By God’s grace a few people called the “elect” will be saved. Because God is all-knowing, He has known from the beginning of time the identity of these lucky souls. This doctrine is known as PREDESTINATION.

• Like other Protestants, the Puritans yearned to directly approach god. They therefore renounced the elaborate rituals of the Church of England and argued that a hierarchy of Church officials was unnecessary. Each Puritan congregation was a self-governing church with membership limited to “visible saints” who could demonstrate receipt of the gift of God’s grace.

• The Puritans believed in the Protestant work ethic. They taught their children that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

Key Facts about Puritan Society

• Unlike the early Chesapeake settlers, the Puritans migrated to America in families.

• The Puritans lived in compact villages clustered around a community meetinghouse where they met to discuss local issues.

• The Puritans established a patriarchal society in which women and children played a subordinate role to men.

• The Puritans valued education as a means to read and understand the Bible. They required each community of 50 or more families to provide a teacher of reading and writing. Harvard College was founded to train ministers.

• The devout Puritans embraced a more vigorous faith than the Chesapeake settlers. The typical Puritan community was characterized by a close relationship between church and state.

• Puritan leaders enforced a strict code of moral conduct. For example, communities in colonial New England banned the theater.

Religious Conformity

• The church occupied a central position in Puritan society. Convinced that they were undertaking God’s work, the Puritans emphasized religious conformity.

• Although the Puritans came to America fro religious freedom, they did not tolerate dissent.

Roger Williams

• Roger Williams challenged the religious authority of Puritan leaders by arguing for the complete separation of church and state. Declaring that, “Forced worship stinks in God’s nostrils,” Williams called for freedom from coercion in matters of faith.

• Banished from Massachusetts, Williams fled to Rhode Island where he founded a new colony based upon freedom of religion.

Anne Hutchinson

• Like Williams, Anne Hutchinson advocated unorthodox religious views that challenged the authority of Puritan magistrates.

• Claiming to have had revelations from God, Hutchinson questioned established religious doctrines and the role of women in Puritan society. Outraged by Hutchinson’s claim to have had direct divine inspiration, Governor Winthrop fulminated: “We do not mean to discourse with those of your sex.” In 1638, Massachusetts banished Hutchinson to Rhode Island. Hutchinson later moved toi Long Island where she was killed by Indians.

Religious Toleration

• The Puritans were unable to stamp out religious dissent.

• Ironically, religious intolerance in Massachusetts promoted religious tolerance in Rhode Island.

The Halfway Covenant

• The first generation of Puritans was dedicated to building a model community based upon a strict moral code. Their churches only accepted persons who could demonstrate that they were among God’s “elect.”

• As the puritan communities became increasingly prosperous, the original Puritan mission became less important to second and third generation settlers. As a result, fewer adults could provide testimony of their own “election.”

• The HALFWAY COVENANT was designed to respond to the decline of religious zeal among second generation Puritans. It eased the requirement for church membership by allowing the baptism of children of parents who could not provide testimony of their own “election.”

Relations with the Indians

• The Puritan settlers did not settle in an uninhabited wilderness. As many as 100,00 Indians lived New England.

• In the beginning the coastal Indians taught the Puritan settlers how to plant corn. They also exchanged furs for various trinkets and manufactured goods.

• Smallpox epidemics soon decimated the Indian population. For example, by 1675 the population of southern New England tribes fell from 65,000 people to just 10,000.

• Surviving leaders quickly realized that the English settlers intended to “deprive us of the privilege of our land and drive us to our utter ruin.” Many New England Indians were determined to defend their way of life from the relentless growth of white settlement. Led by Chief Metacom (also known as King Philip), the Indians attacked and burned settlements across Massachusetts. Although they suffered great losses, the colonists killed Metacom and defeated his followers.