Catholic Influence In The Massachusetts Bay Colonies

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled by Puritans who wanted the freedom to practice their religion without Catholic influence which the Church of England had. They did not seek to settle a colony for religious freedom and believing what they wanted that was not Protestantism. They wanted to be able to eliminate Catholic influence from their Protestant beliefs. They did not want to have to deal with the Church of England changing between Catholic and Protestant or having to go through the Religious War with Spain. They became a self-governing colony founded on religion and were governed by a man named John Winthrop. He was from a privileged class of English gentry. They were not the super wealthy like that of the family’s kin to the ruler
If someone spoke against the Church they were banished from the colony never allowed to return. Roger Williams and Anne Hutcheson were two of the main people who spoke against the church about teaching and practicing the religion wrong. Williams believed they should not have taken over the Natives lands and that people should be allowed to believe what they wanted. He was found guilty for spreading dangerous ideas. He fled the colony and founded Rhode Island where other dissenting Puritans could live, and they had good relations with the natives. Hutcheson was not very liked by Puritan authorities for her criticism of the evolving religious practices. She was found guilty of holding false beliefs and was excommunicated from the colony. She went to live in Rhode Island also. The Puritans were also very spiritual people an believed that whenever something went wrong in their colony it was the act of witches and witchcraft. They believed women to be more susceptible to being influenced by the devil and becoming witches, so they were the majority that were accused and killed. This was the start of the Salem Witch Trials where hundreds were accused and killed due to the fear that they were witches causing harm to the
The Algonquian people wanted to ally with the Puritans due to potential conflicts they were having with other rival native groups. The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth allied with other native groups to fight against Pequot. The Puritans attacked the Pequots and massacred all but a handful of men and women. Their native allies were horrified to witness that amount of violence and the trust with their allies were weakening. The Puritans worked to expand their colony to no end even taking over their once allies land leaving them with nothing. This upset the natives who in turn wanted to fight and end this expansion. This battle is known as King Philips War. The natives succeeded in destroying many Puritan cities, but unfortunately, the English prevailed due to the help from their other allies. The war brought racial hatred between the Indians and English. In writings after the war the Puritans wrote that the Natives were evil, brutal savages when in reality it was looking more like the Puritans