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Thomas Morton provided what appears to today's observer as an almost comic alternative to the stern Puritan society. More thoughtful challenges came from Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. As time passed, church membership declined as fewer people were able to offer proof of a conversion experience, which would convince themselves and others of their inclusion among the elect.
This troublesome situation was remedied by the adoption of the Half-Way Covenant by many New England congregations. Puritanism opposed sinful frivolities, but there was some disagreement as to what role dancing might play in the social life of the colony. It is granted, that Pyrrhical or Polemical Saltation: i. Nor is the question, whether a sober and grave Dancing of Men with Men, or of Women with Women, be not allowable; we make no doubt of that, where it may be done without offence, in due season, and with moderation.
The Prince of Philosophers has observed truly, that Dancing or Leaping, is a natural expression of joy: So that there is no more Sin in it, than in laughter, or any outward expression of inward Rejoycing. But our question is concerning Gynecandrical Dancing, or that which is commonly called Mixt or Promiscuous Dancing, viz. The Massachusetts Bay Company and the colony were one and the same until , when the charter was taken away. Later, in , a new royal charter was granted to Massachusetts; the Plymouth Colony and Maine were absorbed.
Still referring to itself as the "Colony of Massachusetts Bay," the General Court declared on January 23, , that the royal governor Gage was no longer in charge and that the colony would be responsible for its own management until the King appointed an acceptable governor. Near the end of the war, Massachusetts produced a constitution for the "Commonwealth of Massachusetts," which is the name it has retained to the present time. That constitution, ratified on June 15, , remains the oldest written constitution in continuous use in the world.
The word Massachusetts is taken from a Native American word for "great hills," referring to the Blue Hills near Boston. Most importantly, colonial legislatures set up a legal system that proved conducive to business enterprise by resolving disputes, enforcing contracts, and protecting property rights. The benefits of growth were widely distributed in New England, reaching from merchants to farmers to hired laborers. The rapidly growing population led to shortages of good farm land on which young families could establish themselves; one result was delaying of marriages and another was moving to new lands farther west.
In the towns and cities, there was strong entrepreneurship and a steady increase in the specialization of labor. Wages for men went up steadily before , and new occupations were opening for women including weaving, teaching, and tailoring.
The region bordered New France, and in the numerous wars going on at the time, the British poured money into purchasing supplies, building roads, and paying colonial soldiers. The coastal ports began to specialize in fishing, international trade, and shipbuilding and, after , whaling. Combined with a growing urban market for farm products, these factors allowed the economy to flourish despite the lack of technological innovation.
Unlike most of the Chesapeake or southern colonies which were established to make a profit, New England colonies were largely established for religious reasons. Unlike most of the Chesapeake or southern colonies which were established to make a profit, New England colonies tended to be established, at least in part, for religious reasons.
One group of English people believed that the Anglican Church did not go far enough in breaking with all Roman traditions and had little hope that the Church of England would change. These people, called separatists, wanted to create their own church separate from the Church of England. In , a group of Puritan separatists known as the Pilgrims set sail for British America to escape religious persecution in England to establish religious colonies in the Americas; these people established the first colonies in what would later become New England.
Those who wanted to purify the Church of England were known as Puritans. Puritans were followers of a Protestant minister named John Calvin. He emphasized predestination, a lack of free will, and the belief that humans were depraved and needed a strong religious government to control their animal instincts. Puritans also believed in predestination and election by God of who is saved.
Puritans supported intolerance and believed that error must be opposed and driven out. The Puritans created a deeply religious, socially tight-knit, and politically innovative culture that is still present in the modern United States. In America, they attempted to create an intensely religious, thoroughly righteous community designed to be an example for all of Europe.
Puritans in colonial America were among the most radical Puritans and their social experiment took the form of a theocracy. The first Puritans of New England disapproved of Christmas celebrations, as did some other Protestant churches of the time.
Celebrations of all kinds were outlawed in Boston in Likewise, the colonies banned many secular entertainments, such as games of chance, maypoles, and drama, on moral grounds.
Puritans were to create a politically, socially, economically, and religiously perfect community. Spouses were disciplined if they did not perform their marital sexual duties, and Puritans punished drunkenness and sexual relations outside of marriage.
In Massachusetts Bay, the church members controlled the civil government, and church membership was limited to those who were predestined to go to Heaven. The church members were typically the wealthy members of the Puritan society, which meant the economic elites controlled the civil government. In 17th-century colonial North America, the supernatural was part of everyday life, and there was a strong belief that Satan was present and active on Earth.
This concept had emerged in Europe around the 15th century and spread to North America when it was colonized. Some theorize that accusations of witchcraft were a way of addressing pagan practices that were used for agriculture and domestic success, which Christianity had long associated with demons and evil spirits.
People believed that witches allied themselves with the Devil to carry out evil deeds and deliberate harm such as the sickness or death of children, the loss of cattle, and other catastrophes.
Townspeople whose habits or appearance bothered their neighbors or who appeared threatening for any reason were especially at risk of being seen as witches. Women, who were considered more susceptible to the Devil because of their supposedly weaker constitutions, made up the vast majority of suspects and those who were executed.
The first accusations of witchcraft came in , in Springfield, Massachusetts. From to , about 80 people throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of practicing witchcraft, and 13 women and two men were executed.
The most famous witch trials in American history, however, took place from February to May , in and around coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts. The first accusations came from young girls who believed they were being tormented physically and mentally by the supernatural machinations of several older women in the community.
Those women were brought before the magistrate and interrogated; those who refused to confess to witchcraft were sentenced to death. Accusations and arrests quickly spiraled out of control. Before the hysteria ended, over people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted 29 people of the capital felony of witchcraft; 19 of the accused, 14 women and five men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so.
At least five more of the accused died in prison. Many theories have been advanced to explain the trials, including greed, revenge, social conflict, and possibly hallucinogenic-tainted food. The episode is one of the most famous cases of mass hysteria and has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process.
The Mennonites were a religious group that immigrated to America from Germany because of persecution for refusing to perform military service on the basis of religious grounds. A large group came in to settle in Pennsylvania. The Mennonites had their own hymns and Psalters and tended to be very conservative.
John and Charles Wesley created Methodism in the 18th century. John Wesley was a cleric for the Church of England, and he and his brother led groups of Christians throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland.
These groups were part of what is called the Wesleyan Movement and came to form what is known as Methodism, named such because of the methodical approach to religious study.
Methodists primarily focused on bible study and living a life free of amusement and luxury. Methodism started out as a society and follower of the Church of England but was not a church itself. Methodism spread to America in the late s when preachers appointed by John Wesley traveled to the new world in to start American Methodist societies. The group left Moravia and Bohemia due to harsh persecution for their religious beliefs and practices. The Moravians wished to serve as Christian missionaries for the different ethnic groups in America.
They first settled in Georgia, then moved to Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The Moravians were deeply involved with music; they practiced hymn singing daily, and some even wrote instrumental music. Jewish people in the Americas experienced anti-Semitism from early on; in some colonies, they could not vote, hold public office, or own property. However, during the colonial period, they settled along the East Coast and in several southern colonies.
The early British American colonies were largely Protestant, and there was widespread anti-Catholic sentiment. Calvert regained control of the colony four years later, however. In , the famous Religious Toleration Act officially ended, and the assembly of Maryland established the Church of England as the official state religion supported by tax levies.
Government and college officials in the capital at Williamsburg were required to attend services at this Anglican church. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Britain and the Settling of the Colonies: — Search for:.
Settling New England. Plymouth The Puritans founded Plymouth in order to practice their own brand of Protestantism without interference from England. In , the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts under the leadership of governor and separatist William Bradford. Upon landing at Plymouth, Bradford and 40 other adult men signed the Mayflower Compact, which expressed a community ideal of working together and was notable for its bold assertion of the right to self-govern.
Puritans : A significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries, including, but not limited to, English Calvinists. The colonial Puritan leadership exhibited intolerance to other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker, and Baptist theologies. The initial economy depended on the shipbuilding, fishing, fur, and lumber trades. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area was the territory of several Algonquian tribes, including the Massachusett, Nauset, Wampanoag, Pennacooks, Nipmuc, Pocumtuc, Mohawk, and Mahican.
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