American Colonies Dbq

"In the 1600's there existed a degree of religious freedom in some colonies, while others were characterized by strict intolerance."

then go on to further explain and elaborate on the thesis. As the textbook reveals, the colonists in New England were made up of a web of families who were extremely devoted to their faith (Christianity). This is where the university of Harvard originated which was originally meant to train ministers and over half of the graduating students became congressional divines.

we can also depict the lives of the puritan women in New England. some historians depict the colonial period as a "golden age" for women. "Surviving letters indicate that men and women generally accommodated themselves to the gender roles
they thought God had ordained." (Divine..., 69)

However the colonists of the Chesapeake region were very unlike the New England colonists.
they were not a system of interrelated families but instead a mix of poor to middling farmers along with a large portion (70-85%) indentured servants. this depicts a group of peoples who did not necessarily come for religious reasons but for materialistic gain, such as money, a get-rich-quick scheme. these people were more susceptible to tolerating religious diversity seeing as they did not seek it. Ironically it was the colonies founded by people denied religious freedom in England which seemed to be less tolerant when they got to America.

and to sum it all up you should use a well stated conclusion something along the lines of:

In theory, many colonies tried to grant religious freedom, but in practice full religious freedom was never attained;however, religious freedom in the colonies was more accepted in America than in England.

Of course this is just a brief explanation compared to the real essay. i suggest you fill in the blanks with some support from wherever your source is. but for now i have to go write my own because its due tomorrow and its already very late. so good luck on the essay and hope this generally answered your
question.

Analyze the extent to which religious freedom existed in the British North America colonies prior to 1700. The New World was first established because many people in England did not agree with their religious and political ways of life. Most people in the northern colonieshad run from England due to having no religious freedom. The Puritans, Quakers, andvarious leaders created outbursts of reform to achieve freedom in New England. Each group had their own philosophy on how life should be lived. The Puritans were a group of English men who disagreed with how the Church of England was ran. The damned were allowed to sit with the saints, and the Puritans did not like this. The extreme Puritans were known as Separatists in England. Finally, these extreme Puritans left for the New World in 1620. The Puritans set up a way of government. It said, " the whole purpose of government was to enforce God's laws." Only the Puritans, the only one's eligible for church membership, could be freemen. The believers and nonbelievers had to pay taxes on the government–supported church.

Jews and Atheists were killed because they did not believe in the divinity of Jesus. Chaotic services were how the Quaker sermons went. He didn't hold back his comments and demanded very little. In the South most of the colonies were overwhelmed by the Protestants. They were offensive to the religious and political authorities. The Puritans banished her from the Bay Colony. Anne Hutchinson was another rebel who challenged the authority of the Puritan clergy. Roger Williams was a threat to the Puritan leaders. This included converted and non-converted New Englander's. After many generations, religion was not at the top of the Puritans list. The northern colonies had religious freedom, but the Puritans forced their own religion on everyone else around them. Maryland ultimately guaranteed toleration for all Christians. They set the stage for our religious freedom today. " His followers were very liberal, and not accepted.