The Puritans AIM: Students will understand the reasons for the Puritans pilgrimage to the Americas and the differences between Plymouth and Jamestown. Do Now: Write down some things you know about the Puritans and why they came to America.

Meme of the day

The Puritans The Puritans came to the New World not for profit like at Jamestown, but rather to build a model new society and for religious freedom. Why they left: The Puritans believed that the Anglican Church was still too much like the Catholic Church. The Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church from any form of Catholicism.

The back story Those who did not want to reform the church were known as Separatists. King James I punished any Separatists that he could find. One group of Separatists, known as the Pilgrims, moved to Holland and then eventually came to the New World in 1620, forming the Plymouth Colony. Puritans believed that everyone should worship through faith, prayer, and study of the Bible. Puritans believed that the power of the church was with the congregation and not with the minister. Some Puritans wanted to reform the Anglican Church from within, but others did not.

In 1629 John Winthrop and some friends secured a royal charter to form a joint-stock company, known as the Massachusetts Bay Company. In 1630 17 ships with 1000 new colonists arrived at the new Massachusetts Bay Colony. These colonists were well prepared to start a new colony because they planned the move and had many artisans or skilled workers with them. John Winthrop, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony called this new colony a “City upon a Hill.” In the next 10 years 20,000 more English colonists immigrated to the colony.

The Puritan colony turned out to be a type of democracy. The Mass. Bay Co. allowed all male members of the Puritan church, as well as stockholders, to vote. These voters, called Freemen, voted on the members that made up the General Court that selected the Governor. Puritans came to the New World to follow their own form of worship. They were very intolerant of other religions in their colony and of those who had different beliefs.

Roger Williams believed that the Puritan gov’t had no right to punish people for their religion, and he was considered a huge threat to the Puritan way of life. He also believed that the royal charter was illegal since the land was not purchased from the local natives. The General Court ordered his arrest and removal back to England. Williams escaped and negotiated some land from the natives in order to start a new colony, which he called Providence. Williams guaranteed separation of church and state and religious freedom to all settlers.

Anne Hutchinson was also in trouble with the Puritans because she believed that the Holy Spirit was in all believers and that any believer could read and interpret the Bible. She also believed that there was no need for a church or minister for people to depend on. Hutchinson was banished from Mass. Bay and moved to Williams’ colony of Providence/Rhode Island or “Rogue Island.”

Relationship with Natives As more and more colonists began arriving and claiming land, more problems arose between settlers and natives. Settlers brought European diseases which often spread to the natives and killed hundreds and thousands. The natives realized that as soon as they died from disease the English would claim their lands. The English often tried to make treaties with the natives, but both groups had different views or ideas of treaties. The natives believed that the treaties for land use were temporary since no one actually owned the land. The English settlers look at the treaties and permanent and binding.

Bloody Battles Puritans viewed the natives as “heathen agents of the devil” who wanted to destroy them and their societies. However, the natives eventually came to believe the same things about the English. The Pequot nation arose against the colonists, but the colonists surrounded them and killed all but 5 of 600. 40 years later Chief Metacom aka King Philip started a bloody revolt, attacking and destroying colonial villages. Eventually the natives were worn down by disease and starvation and were forced to surrender. After King Philip’s War the natives were never a force of hostility in the northeastern colonies again.