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Religion in the new england colonies
Religion in colonial american
Religion in colonial american
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Colonists who came to America differed greatly in backgrounds and settled for various reasons: Colonist in the New England Colony came to America primarily because they were religious reformers and separatist seeking a new way of life; the Middle Colony was inhabited by a tolerant and diverse group of people with different backgrounds; And the Southern Colony was mainly inhabited by English aristocrats, small farmers, and slaves. Because each colonial region inhabited different groups of colonists the social development differed greatly in each region. New England was founded on the Puritan faith and maintained a strong sense of faith, family, and community. New Englan was very strict on enforcing a strong sense Puritan religion, the lifestyle of colonist revolved around the puritan faith, so much so, it was referred to the "city upon a hill". Contrasting greatly with the New England Colony, the Middle Colony was greatly social and religiously diverse.
The religion in the southern colonies was mainly Catholics and Protestants while the religion in New England was for the most part
The Middle colonists growing wheat and flour, were a mixture of religions, including Quakers, Catholics, Lutherans and Jews. The southern colonists had plantations, tobacco, rice, or cotton,
Written freedom of religion laws were present for new arrivals from various protestant denominations. Settlers in middle colonies came from England, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and German states. along with being tolerant to Europeans these middle colonies were also much more hospitable with the natives when they first settled. slavery was frowned upon by most and was felt that it went against gods law. This made for a melting pot of races and religions all working towards a permanent and successful colony.
Religion played that of a great role in the colonial regions. This is so, as colonies, mostly in New England, the colonial settlers were actually driven by religious intolerance in England. As stated in “Puritan New England: Kahn Academy”, “During the 1620s and 1630s, the conflict escalated to the point where the state church prohibited Puritan ministers from preaching. In the Church’s view, Puritans represented a national security threat because their demands for cultural, social, and religious reforms undermined the king’s authority. Unwilling to conform to the Church of England, many Puritans found refuge in the New World.”
Taylor, Bradstreet, and Edwards plainly delineates the overwhelmingly power of religion in Puritan New England, yet contrasts in reason uncover a radical distinction between the tone of the sonnets and the tone of the sermon. Puritanism was a religious change development, that emerged inside the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. The most grand Puritan perspectives was their view of total depravity and civil magistrate. Likewise, when it comes down to chapel and state, the puritans give it a Biblical view, as the church does not answer the state and the state does not answer to the church, but both they both have to reply to God. Through the ballads, Huswifery by Edward Taylor, To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet
The earliest English colonies of the 17th century held strong religious beliefs. The different religions the colonists had, influenced and determined certain rule within a colony. Some colonies believed that religious and state rule should be combined while other colonies believed it needed to be separated. Many early english colonists believed it important to abide by religious rule and cast others out that decided to rebel against the religious norm. All of these things contributed to the way religion affected the rule in the early english colonies of the 17th century.
Life before the infamous Salem Witch Trials was very mundane and normal. The village and society was based and founded on the Puritan religion. The people had a very set lifestyle. They were taught to work and pray. When they weren't working, they were praying.
For those who did not share their same religious approach were not welcomed at all. What made it more difficult for people who were not welcomed was the lines between church and state were very blurred. The citizens of these colonies would often take matters into their own hands such as taxes and even consequences for people who did not fit their way of life. These punishments included civil penalties, exile, disqualification of voting and even death. Puritans also believed in witches and demonic possession which fueled the fire for what we know as the Salem Witch Trials which lead to many imprisonments and executions of people accused of witchcraft.
New England’s founders were strict Puritans who did not have much tolerance for any religion except their own. Over time, as more and more immigrants came with increasingly diverse beliefs, the once stable foundation began to crack. Conflicts broke out and certain religious groups were banished which led to the development of other nearby colonies, for example Rhode Island and Connecticut. In the Chesapeake region, it was easier and there was not as much controversy over religion. The area started out as a refuge for Catholics, but over time many Protestants immigrated there and soon became the majority.
The English colony mostly accepted diverse religious beliefs and had an easy free flow environment for religion. The People that settled their believed in practicing their own religion, their own way. The diversity of religious ideas also
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was estimated to have a population of 506 in the 1630s. The population then grew quickly, probably because Boston was a popular port city. The population grew to 55,941 between 1630 and 1700. Most of the immigrants that migrated to Massachusetts were from England. The majority of these immigrants were Puritans and their religion meant a lot to them.
The other colonies consisted of Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, Jews, and others. “The middle colonies were most tolerant of and ethnic diversity.” – Lecture “Family Life” Family life was important to the northern and middle colonies. In fact in 1691 Virginia was virtually an all male colony, that consisted of prostitutes.
More than 80% of Americans have Puritan ancestors who emigrated to Colonial America on the Mayflower, and other ships, in the 1630’s (“Puritanism”). Puritanism had an early start due to strong main beliefs that, when challenged, caused major conflict like the Salem Witch Trials. Puritanism had an extremely rocky beginning, starting with a separation from the Roman Catholic Church. Starting in 1606, a group of villagers in Scrooby, England left the church of England and formed a congregation called the Separatist Church, and the members were called The puritans (“Pilgrims”).
Demographically, English settlements were more family oriented than that of the southern colonies. The majority of settlers consisted of families of six children per household and overall the amount of men and women equaled each other as well as the amount of adults to children. The settlers that lived in the New England colonies were dissenters from the Church of England. Predominantly consisting of Puritans, religious freedoms did not exist throughout the northern colonies. They established a congregational church, which is where meetings regarding government policies would take place.