Puritans Part II

Hello all, honestly I don't know yet if I have anyone actually following my history blog but if you are first let me say I'm sorry that it takes me a long time in between posts, I love blogging and trying get the writing to be habitual just like brushing your teeth. So here is part two on the Puritans.

As I discussed before the Puritans left England because of persecution from the throne and the Church Of England, however that did not mean once they arrived in North America they automatically set up a colony that was tolerant of other protestant sects, on the contrary the puritans became a very intolerant persecuting church.

New Spain and New France which was the other colony's belonging of course to Spain and France at this time also had their own state sponsored religions. In New Spain which included Mexico and much of Central and South America were officially Catholic territories as was areas belonging to France such as the New Orleans are.

In the New England colonies, the government there was run by Puritan congregations, except Rhode Island which was actually formed by people who were exiled by the Puritans. I Massachusetts, the local church of a town, or city was free to run its own affairs, directed by the General Court that was composed of the governor and representatives elected by the town. Each congregation was allotted plots of land which was divided amongst themselves and laying out villages and churches that the Puritans called meetinghouses.

Unlike today were the government can't raise money for religious causes, the Puritan Churches were supported by taxes levied by the local governments. Adult males of the church made up the freemen of the town or city, and because of this there was virtually no secular authority in the New England colonies.

Contrary to what may be taught today in the schools of America, Puritan tradition was actually a mix of freedom and persecution, and even though each community had "autonomy", they were closely bound by Puritan tradition and restrictions. In no way did the Puritans have the goal of establishing a society were religion could be freely practiced; they placed severe restraints against individual religious rights and exiled many people, including Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson who questioned the religions orthodoxy of Massachusetts. Roger Williams was first exiled to Rhode Island were he eventually set up a government that was very much tolerant of other christian sects, as well as other religions including Muslims, who's population was very small in the colonies but needed someplace where they could practice their religion in peace.

Eventually the Puritan governments became so intolerant they banned Anglicans and Baptists from entering and establishing churches in Massachusetts. When they began to actually execute members of the Society of Friends who began to preach the tenets of the Quaker faith King Charles II finally stepped in and ordered a stop to religious persecution in Massachusetts, Parliament responded by passing The Toleration Act in 1689,after eleven years of Puritan resistance, in 1700 other christian sects were safe to openly practice their form of Christianity.

Picture of Roger Williams courtesy of The Ambassador John L. Loes Jr. visitors center.