From 1630 to about 1643 Puritans were coming to America for mainly religious reasons. This movement was called the Great Puritan Migration. The Puritans did like the way the Anglican Church was being ran, so they many of them came to America and set up the Massachusetts Bay colony. The leader of this Colony was John Winthrop. The Puritans believed through religion and hard work they could build a perfect commuity. The Puritans influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies using religion. The Puritans had many influences on the political outcome of the New England olonies.
The Puritans form of government was almost like a theocracy which is a form of government in which god is recognized as the ruler. Many of the New England colonies made sure that they were not allow there government to come close to this. Nathaniel Ward, in The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam (Doc G) was trying to say that the state laws should go along with the morals of the church or many bad things will happen. Even though Nathaniel Ward said this, many colonies had religious tolerance so they did not base their state laws off the churches morals.
John Cotton, n “ Limitation of Government” (Doc H) is saying that the power of government should not be that great because man will abuse it. In a way this is kind of like a democracy which the New England colonies will have governments that are very similar to it. In (Doc F) Roger Williams, is saying that a state should have only one religion, and that if you have more than one religion in a state it will only start a war. This shows that Puritans were not tolerant of other religions. But many people thought there should be religious tolerance, like Roger Williams who was exiled by the Puritans to Rhode
Island. Rhode Island was one of the first colonies to have a separation of region and state which made it a place for freedom of religion. The New England colonies were influenced moderately by the Puritans with their economy. The TOWN MAP, of COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND (DOC B) shows that all the farms and cow and ox pastures are in the out skirts of town, but at the same still very close. This helped the Puritans keep an eye on their farms and cattle easier as well as to make sure no one was doing anything wrong.
In other colonies farms would be arther away from towns so they could cover more land to potentially make more money. In A statement about education in New England, (DOC E) is trying to say that the puritans wanted place to learn which in time because of god, Mr. Harvard founded Harvard College in 1636. The college was primarily founded to train ministers. After Harvard College was built many other schools would be built throughout the New England Colonies. This was a very good source of money for the colonies. John Higginson, in “ The Cause of God and His People in New England” (Doc
J) is saying that the Puritans are forgetting that they came over to New England for religious reasons and economic reasons. This shows that the puritans are starting to lose their influence at this time and that money is becoming more important than religion in the New England Colonies. Winthrop, in “ A Modell of Christian Charity,” (Doc A) is trying to say that the overall state of the community is the most important thing and that everybody needs to work together to make it a good community. This colony was called the Massachusetts Bay company because that is the group that sponsored the voyage from England.
This influenced the New England Colonies people to want to work together better so they could build a better community. The Enlarged Salem Covenant (Doc C) is trying to show that the puritans had a great apprication for education. They promised that they would teach each kid the bible. This means kids would have to be taught how to read. This influence that the Puritans had on the New England colonies is a contributing factor of why there literacy rate was so high. Robert Keayne, in his last will and testament, (DOC l) is trying to say that as a puritan he had a very good work ethic.
Puritans believed that you should work Monday through Saturday and then on Sunday you stop your work and worship god. This influenced the New England colonies to not live such an idle life and that they should do something with their life. In conclusion, the Masschutusetts Bay colony was the prime example for the New Engalnd colonies to go by. The Puritans ideas and ways of religion had the greatest influence on the political, economical, and social development of the New England colonies. Each might not have had the same amount of influence, but all were still imporatnt to make the New England colonies.
