Puritan New England

The Americans,

Chapter 2.3, pages 49-54

Puritans Create a “New England”

“When Anne Bradstreet and her family boarded the Arbella, the flagship of the Puritan expedition to America, the English settlement at Jamestown was still struggling to survive. Unlike the profit-minded colonists at Jamestown, however, the Puritans emigrated in order to create a model new society—what John Winthrop, their first governor, called a “City upon a Hill.”

~The Americans, page 49.

Puritans and Pilgrims • Anglican Church

– Henry VIII splits from Roman Catholic Church

– Elizabeth I forms Anglican Church

– Politically separate but religiously very similar to the Roman Catholic Church

• Puritans – Wanted to reform the Anglican

Church

– Each worshipper experiences God Through faith, study & prayer

• Pilgrims

– Puritan Separatists who wanted to form an independent Church

– Found the Plymouth Colony in 1620

The Massachusetts Bay Company • English Puritans feel increasing

religious persecution

• 1629 John Winthrop obtains charter for a new colony

• 1630 Massachusetts bay Colony established – Port of Boston becomes Capital

– 17 ships transport 1000 men, women & children To Massachusetts

• Most initial colonies do not include women & children

• Includes non-puritans

• Well-planned & large scale

• Plymouth colony becomes incorporated into Massachusetts bay Colony

“City Upon a Hill”

• John Winthrop’s Vision – Closely knit community

– Uphold each others meekness, gentleness, patience & generosity

– Work, suffer, rejoice & mourn together

– Some will be rich, others poor

– Some powerful, others in subjugation

• Political Power – Suffrage for all adult males within the

Puritan church (40%)

– Voted annually for General Court

– General Court chose the Governor

Church and State

• Theocracy – All Civic officials were members of

the Puritan church

– Officials believed they were chosen by God

– Carry out office was also carrying out God’s will

– Non-Puritans could not vote

• Puritan Laws – Outlawed drunkenness

– Outlawed swearing

– Outlawed idleness

– All sins were crimes and vice versa

Importance of the Family

• Family unit was paramount

• Community would intervene to maintain family units – Undisciplined children could be

placed in a more “God-fearing” home

– Community would perform marriage counseling

– Couples could placed in the stocks (pilloried) for not living in Marital bliss

Dissent in the Puritan Community

“Division soon threatened Massachusetts Bay. Two dissenters, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, challenged the social order upon which the colony was founded.”

~The Americans, page 52.

The Founding of Providence

• Roger Williams – Pilgrim minister

– Believed land must be purchased from the Native Americans

– Believed in freedom of religious conscience

• Williams forced to Flee – Outlawed by General Court

– Flees to Narragansett bay in 1636

– Negotiates with local tribe for land

– Establishes colony of Providence (Rhode Island)

– Establishes freedom of religion and separation of church and state

Anne Hutchinson Banished

• Beliefs – Holy Spirit enlightens the heart of

every true believer

– Individuals could interpret the Bible for themselves

– Ministers not necessary

• Exile – Banished from Massachusetts in

1638

– Travels with followers to Rhode island

– 1642 her husband dies

– Anne Hutchinson moves to Dutch Colony of New York

– 1643 dies in a war with Native Americans

Native Americans Resist Colonial Expansion

“While Williams and his followers were settling Rhode island, thousands of other white settlers fanned out to western Massachusetts and to new colonies in New Hampshire and Connecticut. However, as Native Americans saw their lands claimed and cleared for farming, they recognized that the rapid spread of the settlers meant an end to their way of life.”

~The Americans, page 53.

Disputes Over Land

• Native American way of life requires 20x land required to support a colonist

• Native Americans did not believe in land ownership

• Colonists believed in land claims and permanent ownership

The Pequot War 1637

• Occurs in Connecticut

• Colonists ally with Narraganset against Pequot tribe

• Mystic River – Colonists set fire to Pequot fort

– Shoot men , women, & children as they come out

– No prisoners

– 500-600 Pequot killed

– Ignore pleas of Narraganset to stop

King Philip’s War

King Philip’s War 1675

• Metacom – Wampanoag Chief

– Colonists call him King Philip

– Resents Puritan laws against hunting & fishing on Sundays

– Forms an alliance with other tribes

• Outbreak of the war – Wampanoag use hit & run tactics

– Burn outlying settlements

• Results – Wampanoag gradually worn down

– Metacom killed

– Puritans display his head at Plymouth

– Colonists lose 10% of male population in the war