Puritans Part I

Who were the Puritans in American history? I know many of you remember them from your Jr. High and High school days. They were a Christian sect in England at the time when England declared themselves independent of the Catholic Church and the Pope, in the process it was almost a requirement for all people living in England must be members of the new Church Of England the official church of the King.

There were many groups of Christians who did not follow the Church of England were often persecuted, a group of English Christian who followed John Calvin were know as Puritans. They were know as Puritans because they wished to purify and reform the English church from within. These Puritans became very influential during the last years of Queen Elizabeth's reign toward the end of the sixteenth century.

When Queen Elizabeth died, King James I assumed the throne, this is were problems began for the Puritans, Queen Elizabeth had been very tolerant of religious differences. King James I was not! Almost immediately he began persecuting the Puritans, however his persecution only made the Puritans stronger and they turned to open political opposition. During King James I rule they had a strong voice in Parliament,.

The Puritans were still a minority in Parliament when King Charles I, King James I son took over the throne in 1625 and began supporting the Church of England or the "High Church" and married a Roman Catholic princess, these caused the Puritans in Parliament to heavily criticize King Charles I. In response to the criticism the king dismissed Parliament and began a policy of repression against the Puritans.

King Charles I campaign against the Puritans and other protestant groups in England is what set off a mass migration of English Protestants to New England. The first group of Protestants to leave for the New World were the group we affectionately know as the Pilgrims, however by the English government and crown they were know as the Separatists because rather than reform the English church which they believed was terribly corrupt they had to leave England to protect there congregations. There Mayflower Compact was the first document of self-government in North America.

In 1629 the "Great Migration" began, when a royal charter was granted to the Massachusetts Baby Company, this was an advance group of Puritans who left England to begin colonizing New England, as time went by there group formed the eventual colony and state of Massachusetts.

The interesting note I wanted to comment on the Puritans was that they left England for the purpose of setting up a colony that was tolerant to there beliefs, however it turns out when other protestant groups arrived in Massachusetts the Puritans became very In-Tolerant of there beliefs and greatly restricted their rights in there colony, these groups eventually broke away from Massachusetts and formed the colony of Rhode Island which is another subject I will cover later.

I hope you enjoyed this little post, there will be more on the subject of the Puritans soon, this is just part one.