What Role Did Religion Play In The First Colonies
The present is created from the past. In order for the world to get to where it is today, it had to have a past. Spin the globe backwards and see how America was formed with colonies and religion. Religions played a huge role in the settling and government of New England and Chesapeake. New England was one of the first colonies to be settled in.
The desire for a settlement in the new world was a huge thing. During the time of King James I of England, the Virginia Company allowed Separatists to be in their territory once they got to the new world. When they finally reached the new world with the puritans, they missed their landing spot and decided to just form their own colony. They settled down and called it New England. During this time, Puritanism was the main religion in England, so this was the religion of New England. After the first winter, many left, but the separatists stayed and now the colony was for non puritans. In 1691, New England was still charertless and only made of seven thousand …show more content…
people so they made the decision to merge with their huge neighbor, the Massachusetts Bay Colony. If they were charterless, than what was their government like?
When the pilgrims first settled in New England, they were all alone. They were originally going to be in a part of Virginia Company’s territory and that would mean that they would have to follow their government style. Since they made their own colony on unchartered land, they made their own government. This involved the men of the colony. They would have town meetings to figure out what they wanted to do next. After the horrible winter, the colony was very small. It was mainly separatists who had their own way of being puritans. The scholar among them, William Bradford, was chosen as governor thirty times. Over the course of their government, people were only allowed to worship in one specific way, puritan. When they joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they were even more strict on this. Their government was ran by a puritan king so that meant they had to worship as a puritan. In the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth, there were many religious toleration acts passed within several colonies. This allowed everyone to be able to worship how they pleased. They were finally coming together in peace.
New England began as an unexpected colony. It was charterless and very tiny, but never gave up. They had their religion, government, and life style. They stayed fairly small for a long period of time and joined a chartered colony. What was it like in Chesapeake?
The Chesapeake colonies began with the Virginia Company. King James I gave them a charter and let them gather people to go to the new world in 1609. The Church of England was established in the Chesapeake colonies which meant that they were puritans. However, there were very few clergymen and churches. This made it difficult for anyone to attend church. The Chesapeake colonies also had multiple religions and not everyone believed the same exact thing. Religion became second in the list of importance. The first was their type of government.
The Chesapeake colonies were controlled by England and this gave them their style of government underneath the Church of England.
The clergymen were the most important and everything they did was based off of religion. They believe that God’s law was the way to go. Their law was based off of this and they on let certain people be “free”. These people were the puritans who were eligible for church membership. There were quakers that lived in the colonies who did not have it easy. If they did not do as the clergymen said, they were banished, flogged, taxed insanely, or even hanged. They also became very strict on who would be part of the government. Salem Minister, Roger Williams, believed that they should break away from the Church of England. He also believed that civil government should not regulate religious behavior. That resulted in him being banished. Their government was purely based on religion and there was no other way for them to rule over their
people.
Chesapeake colonies were ruled over by puritans. They believed that law should be God’s law. Everything was about religion and if you did not follow this, there were horrible repercussions. People were defying the fact that their government was based off of the religion, but it never really changed anything. Religion was the key to their way of life.
There is a huge contrast between New England and Chesapeake. The way they used religion within their government, they’re types of religion, and how religion shaped around their colonies. New England was more about trying new things and seeing what fit them best. Chesapeake was about sticking to the books and keeping it the way they were taught. Two very different ends of the spectrum have shaped America into what is it today. We still these exact attitudes in those specific areas today, even though it may be about different topics. The past always comes back to haunt the present.
The desire for a settlement in the new world was a huge thing. During the time of King James I of England, the Virginia Company allowed Separatists to be in their territory once they got to the new world. When they finally reached the new world with the puritans, they missed their landing spot and decided to just form their own colony. They settled down and called it New England. During this time, Puritanism was the main religion in England, so this was the religion of New England. After the first winter, many left, but the separatists stayed and now the colony was for non puritans. In 1691, New England was still charertless and only made of seven thousand …show more content…
people so they made the decision to merge with their huge neighbor, the Massachusetts Bay Colony. If they were charterless, than what was their government like?
When the pilgrims first settled in New England, they were all alone. They were originally going to be in a part of Virginia Company’s territory and that would mean that they would have to follow their government style. Since they made their own colony on unchartered land, they made their own government. This involved the men of the colony. They would have town meetings to figure out what they wanted to do next. After the horrible winter, the colony was very small. It was mainly separatists who had their own way of being puritans. The scholar among them, William Bradford, was chosen as governor thirty times. Over the course of their government, people were only allowed to worship in one specific way, puritan. When they joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they were even more strict on this. Their government was ran by a puritan king so that meant they had to worship as a puritan. In the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth, there were many religious toleration acts passed within several colonies. This allowed everyone to be able to worship how they pleased. They were finally coming together in peace.
New England began as an unexpected colony. It was charterless and very tiny, but never gave up. They had their religion, government, and life style. They stayed fairly small for a long period of time and joined a chartered colony. What was it like in Chesapeake?
The Chesapeake colonies began with the Virginia Company. King James I gave them a charter and let them gather people to go to the new world in 1609. The Church of England was established in the Chesapeake colonies which meant that they were puritans. However, there were very few clergymen and churches. This made it difficult for anyone to attend church. The Chesapeake colonies also had multiple religions and not everyone believed the same exact thing. Religion became second in the list of importance. The first was their type of government.
The Chesapeake colonies were controlled by England and this gave them their style of government underneath the Church of England.
The clergymen were the most important and everything they did was based off of religion. They believe that God’s law was the way to go. Their law was based off of this and they on let certain people be “free”. These people were the puritans who were eligible for church membership. There were quakers that lived in the colonies who did not have it easy. If they did not do as the clergymen said, they were banished, flogged, taxed insanely, or even hanged. They also became very strict on who would be part of the government. Salem Minister, Roger Williams, believed that they should break away from the Church of England. He also believed that civil government should not regulate religious behavior. That resulted in him being banished. Their government was purely based on religion and there was no other way for them to rule over their
people.
Chesapeake colonies were ruled over by puritans. They believed that law should be God’s law. Everything was about religion and if you did not follow this, there were horrible repercussions. People were defying the fact that their government was based off of the religion, but it never really changed anything. Religion was the key to their way of life.
There is a huge contrast between New England and Chesapeake. The way they used religion within their government, they’re types of religion, and how religion shaped around their colonies. New England was more about trying new things and seeing what fit them best. Chesapeake was about sticking to the books and keeping it the way they were taught. Two very different ends of the spectrum have shaped America into what is it today. We still these exact attitudes in those specific areas today, even though it may be about different topics. The past always comes back to haunt the present.