Religion in New England and the Mid-Atlantic
...matically going to heaven, and they constantly sought signs of “conversion” in themselves or in other people. Puritans believed that only “visible saints” should be allowed to be a member of a Church. The Church of England allowed all of the King’s subjects to be members. Because of this, a group of Puritans known as Separatists broke away from the Church of England, traveling first to Holland and then to America, “where they could live and die as English men and women.” (Textbook pg. 42) They landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620. More moderate Puritans, or non-Separatists, tried to reform the Church of England without breaking away. These non-Separatists formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. Thousands of Puritans immigrated to Massachusetts, a big difference from the 102 people that originally landed at Plymouth Rock. The first settlers of the colony believed that they “had a covenant with God to build a holy society that would be a model for human kind.” (Textbook pg. 44) Different parts of New England attracted settlers too. Immigrants came to Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island. Rhode Island was much more religiously tolerant than the rest of New England. There was complete freedom of religion. While Rhode Island was far ahead of it’s time in terms of religion, the rest of New England was not. Church and state were not separated, and only males that belonged to Puritan congregations were allowed to vote. Both nonbelievers and believers had to pay tax to the church. Puritans believed that the purpose of the government was to enforce God’s laws. Laws were even passed to prevent kissing in public. For a non-Puritan living in New England, life could be difficult. Advocates of other religions were sometimes punished. Puritans were suspicious of outsiders, something shown all too clearly by the Salem witch trials that ended in 1693. The Mid-Atlantic colonies (New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania) were originally settled by the Dutch. In 1664, they were taken over by the English. These colonies were known for their religious and ethnic diversity, almost the complete opposite of the religiously intolerant New England. Many Quakers settled in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. Quakers were dissenter that arose in England during the 17th century. They didn’t support t...