John Winthrop Beliefs

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John Winthrop was a religious Puritan elder who led a substantial group of people from England to America in 1629. He was also the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony for twelve years after settling into New England. Winthrop and his group of followers, the Puritans, who accompanied him aboard the Arabella all believed that they would establish a pure church in the new world that would exhibit a model for other churches. In England, the Puritan population had been increasing over time up until this time. The Puritans were having conflicts with the Church of England because of disagreements with rituals. The corruption of the English government led Winthrop and his followers who served as justices of the court to enforce progressively strict punishments for those who broke the law. Harsh laws began to be put in place to try and cleanse the society of sin. After the death of James I, his son Charles I began to destroy the body of government because Parliament denied his request for money to run his programs. Charles then made a mandatory loan for the English citizens. He went on with the collection as if Parliament had added a new tax. The Puritans sensed the evil Charles I had behind him and repudiated to …show more content…

He was seeking to establish a community of people covenanted with God. Purity was essential to create the kind of society that Winthrop envisioned. To unify the Puritans as one a document called the "Model of Christian Charity" was designed. This source was from the religious views of Winthrop and the followers aboard the Arabella. The Puritans thought long and hard about the special commission which they believed was given to them by God. They believed they had special commission because God had safely guided them away from a corrupt would into a new world. So therefore, he (God) had sealed an arrangement with the Puritans to carry out His good will in their new